tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919830713421123632024-02-21T05:49:35.857-08:00Save the BookA discussion on where books are heading and finding books which are different.Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.comBlogger271125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-9844062979461150462020-12-01T00:08:00.003-08:002020-12-01T00:20:26.908-08:00Reply to racist Pauline Hanson<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> Australia's chronic racist politician Pauline Hanson has joined the crusade against China. I like to give my Hanson short story another run when she p[ops up spewing more filth.</span></p><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">CODPIECE &
CHIPS</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Prince of Wales Hotel, Nundah,
Brisbane, March, 1996</span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">A MAN’S voice from behind me
whispered four numbers in my ear. I turned around to see a short Asian man,
neatly though casually dressed in a blue polo shirt and brown slacks. He
repeated the four numbers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">‘That’s what I thought,’ I said and
echoed the numbers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">He nodded. ‘Take them in the quinella
and the trifecta.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">I retreated to a far corner of the
PubTAB, turning to nod slightly at him. Lonely people, usually blokes, approach
strangers in a betting agency to discuss the chances in the next race. He had
made no effort to follow me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">His tips ran 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 10th.
I did the math. If I had bet one unit on a box quinella and a half-unit on a
box trifecta, I would have collected $1900 and change for an outlay of $18. I
looked across at him and his face held no expression apart from a hint of
sorrow.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">He was beside me again five races
later, minutes before a Brisbane event. Four more numbers he gave me, again for
the quinella and trifecta.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">‘Thanks,’ I said and made other
wagers which lost. His numbers had won again. This time my collect would have
been $1450 or so on $18 of bets. I sought him out.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">‘You must be going well.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">His face was blank. ‘I cannot afford
to bet. The next race won’t work out. I will tell you when.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Taking tips from a man who can’t
afford to bet is pretty dumb, but I did, anyway, when next he tapped me on the
shoulder. I missed out on the trifecta where you need to back 1st, 2nd and 3rd
in the right order. The best three of his four horses ran 1st, 2nd, and 5th,
instead of 3rd. I collected $82 on the quinella ─ backing 1st and 2nd in either
order ─ for a win of more than $60.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">I offered to buy him a beer and he
took lemonade instead before we perched on adjacent bar stools. We introduced
one another. I was Steele Hill. He was Mat bin Wardi. He was a 39-year-old from
Malaysia. I was not interested in much of that. ‘Too bad, you are short of a
dollar when your luck’s running hot, Mat.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">He sipped his lemonade. ‘I have money
but not for gambling.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">‘You could have had a lot more,’ I
said. He was a rare punter without regrets, could’ves and should’ves, we
gamblers call them. The traditional riposte to should’ve-ers is ‘if me Aunty
had balls’. The rest of the admonition ‘she’d be me Uncle’ is left understood.
Mat was no should’v-er.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">‘I only need what I have ─ $10,000
and enough to live on for two months.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">I looked for eavesdroppers. ‘I
wouldn’t mention ten grand too loudly. That sort of dough makes some people do
nasty things.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">He had already pledged the big money.
‘It’s for the Racing Minister.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">I imagined why Mat would give the
Queensland Racing Minister 10 large but I came up empty. ‘See you later,’ I
said and walked over to study the form sheet stuck to the wall.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">He tipped me another quinella on the last
race in Brisbane, $115 collect this time, but no buckets of gold from that
elusive trifecta. It was time to go home, have dinner and maybe hit the Hendra
TAB for the night’s trotting races.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">I saw him walking down the footpath
off Sandgate Rd in the opposite direction to where I was heading. I swung the
EH around and pulled up beside him. ‘Wanna lift?’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">He pointed down the footpath. ‘I can
walk to Aspley.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">I suppose he could. ‘Bother, that’s
gotta be seven or eight kilometres. Hop in.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">He put comfort ahead of
self-reliance. ‘Thank you, Mr Hill.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">‘It’s Steele, and, if you’re worried
you told me about that 10 grand, I’ll drop you near your place.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">‘Ten grand? Drop me?’ <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">‘Let you off. She’s a tough old emu,
our version of the English language.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">He laughed. ‘I love it. It’s just
like Australia. Free.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">He gave me directions to the Aspley
Caravan Park. We pulled up beside his rented van.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">‘Would you like an early dinner?’ he
said. He saw my look which pondered whether he could afford to shout. ‘Nothing
special but tasty,’ he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">We entered the van and he flicked on
the tiny screen of a television set perched on a round cane table. ‘The six
o’clock news will be on soon,’ he explained.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">We had rice, pieces of fish and
vegetables with both chili and soy sauces ─ tasty indeed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">We talked; mostly he did, over
dinner. Mat bin Wardi had been in Australia for fourteen months. He was a
medical registrar in Malaysia and his wife was a nurse. Their two teenage
children were in high school. By national standards, the family was doing all
right. Middle class, he said. Asian stiffs, I thought.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">It was the usual story. The kids have
to do better than us. Take them to Australia to study medicine. Happily ever
after, I think that’s how it finishes. You’ve probably seen the movie.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">He interrupted himself when the news
bulletin started. He turned up the volume on the television. I continued to eat
and waited for him to re-kick his bio into action.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Both parents tried for permanent
residence in the free Land of Oz, as a couple and as individuals. No go, they
had preferred occupations but other things were not quite right. Mat came over
alone on a 12-month visa to find work and sponsors. He found little of the first
and none of the second.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">A news item made him leap to his feet
and point at the screen. ‘That’s her.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">I looked up to see a 40-something
red-haired woman I had never seen before, but I watch little television.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Mat was winding himself up and the
words flew from his mouth. Her name was Pauline Hanson. She had been kicked out
of the Liberal Party for saying illiberal things about Asian immigration into
Australia. She was still running for the Federal election as an independent.
She owned a fish and chip shop. Sounded pretty mundane stuff to me – Mr and Mrs
Bigot and the Bigot kiddies having a whinge around the barbie.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">One aspect was a little strange and I
asked about it. ‘Is it relevant she owns a fish and chip shop?’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">‘No, I bought the fish we are eating
from there and it reminded me I had read it.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">‘You bought fish and chips from
Pauline Hanson’s shop? Did she serve you?’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">‘Not from her shop which is way out
in Ipswich. From a fish shop near here. I asked what sort of fish they had and
the man said cod or whiting but they were out of whiting. I ordered a codpiece
and chips. In Malaysian markets, you can choose from many species of fish. I ate
the chips at lunchtime with the batter I cut from the codpiece which we are now
eating.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">‘Delicious,’ I declared, thinking Mat
must have heard someone in front of him order a piece of cod and chips. His
version of the order was close enough not to need correcting. He continued with
his story of trying to bring the family to the Great Southern Land of
Opportunity. Mat was desperate.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Can you adam-and-eve his luck? He met
a man in a PubTAB. His new friend would see the Queensland Racing Minister,
and, 10,000 of Mat’s dollars later, he would have permanent residence. Can you
adam-and-eve it? Can you believe it?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">I could see no point in explaining
immigration was a Federal, not a state, responsibility. The best thing I could do
for Mat was to meet this politically connected hustler about to relieve the
would-be New Aussie of 10K. I changed the subject to his racing system.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Mat bin Wardi was using numerology to
pick the placegetters in races. Certain numbers are connected. More than that,
they are the same number, only different. When that number, or series of four
numbers, which are actually the one number, will come up is determined by
previous results. I know it sounds complicated but it is reasonably straight
forward when an Asian numerologist such as Mat explains it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">You are probably saying it is all
hoodoo-guru-voodoo tripe and I agree. But I still win on the system from time
to time, so I am not sharing any more details, in case you follow the system
and erode my winnings.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">We finished dinner and I wrote down
my phone number in case Mat wanted a lift to a TAB.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">I tried his system on the horses over
the next month. Sometimes, I used just Mat’s numbers. Other times, I mixed his
numbers with my own scientific selections. During the third week, I finally
cracked the trifecta, a $2500 collect at the Mooney Valley trots. I lost half
my winnings during the next week. Betting on the greyhounds from home on a
Thursday night, I received the call. The bloke who knew the Racing Minister had
disappeared along with Mat’s $10,000. Mat was skint and needed unemployment
benefits. Could I help? We met the next day at the Prince of Wales pub. He
looked spent and I asked him if he had walked. He denied it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">He explained why he needed my help.
‘I have no money to pay anyone to get me unemployment relief and I don’t know
how to do it any other way,’ he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">I promised to ring someone. Sexy ambitious
public servant Cassie Billings had almost got me killed five years earlier. She
owed me. The Nundah dole office told me still-20-something go-getter Cassie had
moved to head office. I phoned her there.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">She remembered me. ‘Oh, right, you’re
the beno I exchanged tongues with a while back on the top floor of our
building.’ I was glad I was memorable for my speaking in tongues.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Five years on, I was again sucked
into a verbal joust with Cassie Billings. ‘Cassie, I thought you weren’t
allowed to use the b-word as in beno for unemployment beneficiary.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">She seemed to be sucking on a
lollipop or a biro while she spoke. ‘I’ve made a unilateral exception for a
spunky beno like you. How you doing?’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">I was owed, that’s how I was doing.
‘You almost got me killed.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">She made a sympathetic sound in her
throat. ‘Almost, as in you’re still alive. How can I help you?’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">I explained about Mat. She said she
expected a more exciting request but she would post the application and
identity forms. She could not process the forms herself. She would line Mat up
with a Chermside assessor who would play nice. ‘Jamie Harris, remember that
name; he’s kosher.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">‘Thanks,’ I said, wondering what
kosher meant in public-servant speak apart from consuming too much American
culture.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">The forms arrived in the post below a
With Compliments slip. ‘Call me, Sweetie,’ Cassie Billings had written on the
with-comps. I wrote ‘why would I call you Sweetie?’ below her message before I
decided the jest was lame. I binned the note.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Mat and I went through his caravan
looking for all the items you need to make up the points for identity. We came
up a little shy so I rang people I know in the industries of printing and
forgery.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Within a few days, Mat’s proof of
identity was sweet. We even had a notice of termination of employment and a
glowing reference, both courtesy of my illegal bookmaker mate, Con Vitalis. It
seemed Vitalis also had a lawful business in office supplies. That sideline
business existed only on very convincing paper.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">I coached Mat to be respectful but
not too nervous when he applied for the dole. He needed to ring beforehand and
make sure he would be interviewed by Jamie Harris. Mat was to mention Cassie
Billings. If Harris did not respond positively, we would have a re-think.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Mat attained his interview with Mr
Harris. Mat said it appeared to go well. Harris asked about his other work
besides his stint in office supplies. Mat answered truthfully about his lowly-paid back-breaking farm work of vegetable picking, north of Brisbane. Harris
asked about his family in Malaysia. The public servant appreciated Mat’s
fervent wish to earn enough to bring them all to Australia, the land of the
free. Harris said Matt should have his first cheque in the mail in three weeks.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">He waited three weeks and nothing
turned up. Another week passed and still nothing. Mat asked me what to do and I
was unsure. We decided to wait another week.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Two days later, it was I who received
a phone call from Jamie Harris. He wanted to see me at the Chermside
unemployment office.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Harris was in his late 20s, of
average height and skinny. He wore all black from top to toe, including long
black hair in a ponytail. He spoke in a deep warm voice. ‘Come in, Steele.
You’re quite a character from what Cassie Billings tells me.’ He guided me to a
seat at a desk opposite him in a private cubicle.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">We spoke about the weather. We talked
about Cassie Billings. The conversation moved to music and he was in a
bluegrass band. ‘You should come see us play. I will put you down for
one-plus-one on the door.’ I thanked him for the offer of two free tickets to a
gig. After that, we were down to business.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">He asked me how I knew Mat bin Wardi.
I was figuring the odds and decided a half-truth was the way to go. I would
sort of say we met at the TAB. ‘We both turned up for work at the same place.’
He guessed the end of the tale. ‘No luck with the work, ay?’ I shook my head.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">‘Not that day, no.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">He looked down at the desk in
embarrassment but raised his head with a smile. ‘It is going to be Mat’s lucky
day, today. He is a good bloke. I worked in a country office for a few years.
Like Mat, I did a bit of vegetable harvesting to raise a few extra shekels as
pub gigs in the bush pay shit.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">I nodded in agreement, knowing, for
most bands, pub gigs pay shit, city or country.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">His expression became more serious,
but still friendly. ‘The thing is, I did not wish to worry Mat, but my superior
is holding up the application. I tell you; three times I’ve tried to hide it
under her nose by slipping it among straight-forward payments. She has caught
me out every time.’ Harris tapped his own nose twice, with a finger, as if that
meant something to me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">I felt my own index finger move
towards my nose but I retracted it, not seeing value in exchanging obscure
signals. ‘What’s the problem?’ I asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">He shook his head and waved his arms
to show he had no problem with Mat or me. ‘He forgot to put in his passport.
Mat has sufficient identification, but in cases like his, we need to see his
passport.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">‘Is that it?’ I said. ‘Mat just has
to bring his passport in and you will give him a counter cheque.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">He gave me a vigorous thumbs-up.
‘That’s it. You can even bring the passport in for him. I’ll photocopy it and
phone you, Steele, when Mat can come in for his cheque. He has absolutely nothing
to worry about.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">I thanked him and said I would see
Mat immediately and have the passport for copying within the hour.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Mat took some time to find his
passport. I asked him why he had not thought of it when we put his identity
together. He said he did not know. ‘I give you my passport and I will get paid,
Steele? And you’ll bring it back straight away.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">I laughed at Mat’s worrying nature
and at his relief when I brought the passport back within 45 minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Immigration officials came for him,
two days later.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">They worked fast and said he would be
on the plane to Malaysia within two months, after they had interviewed him
thoroughly.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">They allowed me to visit him in his
detention cell. It was funny. He was the calmest I had seen him. ‘It’s not your
fault, Steele. I should have told you why I did not want to give you my
passport when we first looked for identity documents. You tried to help me, but
you were too trusting. It’s not your fault. Your personality is in the numbers.
We are friends. When I come back to Australia, I will meet you at the Prince of
Wales.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">I said I’d like that.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">I rang the bluegrass man. Harris said
it was nothing personal but the Australian ecosystem needed zero population
growth. ‘It is all our land can sustain,’ he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">I asked him about the rigmarole of
calling me into his office and making me get Mat’s passport.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">‘You won’t help another one of them,
after this,’ he said and hung up.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Another one of them, the phrase rang
in my ear.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">___o0o___<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">PAULINE Hanson was elected to Federal
parliament before Mat was deported. I took a little more interest in politics
after that and asked Gooroo to send me a copy of her maiden speech.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">She was still banging on about her
favourite sore points. ‘I believe we are in danger of being swamped by Asians.
They have their own culture and religion, form ghettos, and do not assimilate.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">‘If I can invite whom I want into my
home, then I should have the right to have a say into who comes into my
country.’ She said her views were based on ‘common-sense and my experience as a
mother of four children and as a businesswoman running a fish and chip shop’.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VsM6SQUYWjM" width="320" youtube-src-id="VsM6SQUYWjM"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/M_DHwp5vYBI" width="320" youtube-src-id="M_DHwp5vYBI"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><br /></p><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span><p></p>Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-7316018940139242872020-07-17T06:30:00.001-07:002020-07-17T06:30:23.580-07:00Bush Poem 8: Seniors' Resistance<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Day 8 bush poem 8:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Here is a John Best original about the Seniors’ Resistance<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">John Best: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="line-height: 107%;">Contemporary Bush Poetry reflects Australia’s life today and
historically has provided a powerful vehicle for social change. Maybe not this
poem, but who knows? I wrote this in 2002 and now we have a national inquiry.
I’ve called it: <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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Are the Elderly Revolting? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I have reached the autumn of my life which
wasn’t that flash in its summer. <o:p></o:p></div>
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That’s me, you see, I have always marched
to the beat of another drummer. <o:p></o:p></div>
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But I like to think I can end my days, and
round this great land roam, <o:p></o:p></div>
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For I’ve a dread of the living dead, locked
up in a bad nursing home. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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To the aged it’s a sensitive issue, to the
young just a smile, maybe shrug <o:p></o:p></div>
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But I know you seldom find answers to
problems swept under the rug. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So if laughter be the medicine, let’s
tackle this with humour. <o:p></o:p></div>
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What’s he on about? Let me spell it out and
dispense with the myth and rumour. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Those caring honest operators – this is not
about you, I should stress. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s those few, the heartless and greedy,
who attract all the unwanted press. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Yes, you’ve a problem Canberra and my
thoughts on the problem I’ll share. <o:p></o:p></div>
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There’s a need to review the one you have
who is responsible for aged care. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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For a start there’s the problem of image
which should be addressed with vigour. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Who can reconcile that aggressive style
with a caring mother figure? <o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ve no doubt she’s a very nice person but
on TV she makes me go tense. <o:p></o:p></div>
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She purses her lips, seems to shoot from
both hips. She’d be far better off in defence! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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From defence, it’s not far to travel back
to, dare I mention, a war? <o:p></o:p></div>
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When the Poms built a camp concentration,
you know in that blue with the Boer. </div>
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From there it’s only a hop step and jump
if you leave your thoughts free to roam <o:p></o:p></div>
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And what do you get? Your worst nightmare
yet – you guessed it, a bad nursing home <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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In some homes you’ll find shelter and
comfort and their owners should all be applauded. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Yet others deserve to be closed down, for
they’re not what the doctor ordered. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Or are they? Who owns all these places?
Whose is the money invested? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Do their interests conflict? Some may, I
predict, and this certainly needs to be tested. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Now I’ve spoken at length to these seniors.
I do poetry for them, then chat, <o:p></o:p></div>
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And slowly I’ve reached a
conclusion–there’s other places they’d rather be at. <o:p></o:p></div>
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There’s a groundswell of disenchantment,
now a whisper, it’ll soon be a shout </div>
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It’s not good enough. They’re doin’ it tough. I can picture a
mass breakout.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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See I’ve checked out their library records
and these lines you should all read between –<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Three most popular books? “The Great
Escape”, “Papillon” and “Stalag 17”. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The local TAFE’s not unsympathetic:
anti-nursing home protests they’ve staged <o:p></o:p></div>
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To show that they care they’ve sewn bags
for hot air and taught tunnelling to the aged. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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So, don’t be surprised if, one morning,
balloon squadrons float over your fence. <o:p></o:p></div>
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There’ll be no spring chickens in these
baskets and the hot air? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Yeah, flatulence. And don’t ring the law,
please just ignore those depressions in your front lawn. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s a tunneller, mate. When he reaches
your gate by tomorra, he’ll be gone <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Should they not have the strength to leave
on their own, this issue I will not shirk. <o:p></o:p></div>
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They’ll just laptop their mate in a
wheelchair. Please note here the genius at work, <o:p></o:p></div>
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Vision impairment? No problem! I’ve a
scheme I admit I’ve not tried, <o:p></o:p></div>
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See, I’m breedin’ these bloody big guide
dogs. They’ll just hop in the saddle and ride! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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And you mob, if drivin’ near nursin’ ‘omes
spot someone a little bit older, <o:p></o:p></div>
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They’re not hard to pick –<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they’ve a walker or stick with a furtive look
over their shoulder. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Do the right thing! Lend ‘em a hand, render
whatever assistance. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Your turn’ll come ‘round, now known
underground “Paid up member of Senior Resistance”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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As you’ve gathered by now, I’m across this.
Those that can flee will have flown.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve
no doubt solved most of their problems and those left behind, “Home Alone”. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Yes Minister, you’ve done some good work.
Give credit where credit is due, <o:p></o:p></div>
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But I think, and I’m not alone thinkin’,
that we should do better. Don’t you? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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For these folk and their like forged this
nation, this country of which we’re so proud. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Some gave up their youth for Australia,
others gave up their lives, brave, unbowed. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Minister, is this how we repay them? For
this did they work, fight and die? <o:p></o:p></div>
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We can and we must do this better, or is
“Lest We Forget” now a lie?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>YOU CAN ORDER TALL TALES</b> from your
physical bookstore (author Long John Best, publisher Bent Banana Books) or in
paperback or eBook from online-retailers including <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://amzn.to/3gHuWko">https://amzn.to/3gHuWko</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(paperback and Kindle)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://bit.ly/3iN3Wld">https://bit.ly/3iN3Wld</a>
(Barnes&Noble paperback)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://www.fishpond.com.au/c/Books/q/Tall+Tales%3A+The+Verse+of+John+Albert+Best">https://www.fishpond.com.au/c/Books/q/Tall+Tales%3A+The+Verse+of+John+Albert+Best</a>
(paperback)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/tall-tales-15">https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/tall-tales-15</a>
(eBook)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Proceeds to animal welfare, RSPCA QLD<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>Lest We Forget</i> is the motto of Anzac Day
the Australian equivalent of Memorial Day in the US.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We started our first day of Long John Best
bush poetry with a Beatles song and we will conclude our eighth day with
another. For decades I thought the line was “Will you still heed me . . . “<o:p></o:p></div>
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I don’t want to usurp the genius of this
rock group but I do think “Will you still heed me . . ." is a better lyric.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzuUuY87Dftg4QEIbyLioPPZAkhQa4aO8CcLJaMRjPSwgOdnPehX65GtwMZ6NvdqA6JvKTYGVhcfuBsY0xlpA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<br /><br />Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-79403621698676230572020-07-16T04:14:00.000-07:002020-07-16T04:14:02.865-07:00Another dog poem from Long John Best<div class="WordSection1">
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">8 Days a Week<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Day 7 bush poem 7:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUIq98CECL31DEFyqZMTZDyKfjU2y_jW2E9torEWIVmpTFbJMzjuqEB27-POkEbV0w_OdGpoqwixpXV9kNE3xA6QTXkXwNyz7KZfnHlfQBbLdVCC0xFMSwndvDJaEJ4ppwtPT5cvFBDU2v/s1600/dog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUIq98CECL31DEFyqZMTZDyKfjU2y_jW2E9torEWIVmpTFbJMzjuqEB27-POkEbV0w_OdGpoqwixpXV9kNE3xA6QTXkXwNyz7KZfnHlfQBbLdVCC0xFMSwndvDJaEJ4ppwtPT5cvFBDU2v/s1600/dog.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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Long John Best has that rare gift of being
able to create a poem which is both sad and uplifting.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here is one:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Long John Best:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Inspired by a piece called A Dog’s
Purpose. Anonymous. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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The Vet <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Ron and Lisa’s dog was Bluey, part Blue
Heeler, nearly ten, <o:p></o:p></div>
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Real good mate, more like a brother, to
their six-year-old son, Ben. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m their vet, I’ve known the family, I dunno,
for quite a while, <o:p></o:p></div>
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Watching boy and dog grow closer, one of
Life’s joys, makes me smile. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Only school days find them parted, faithful
friend waits by the gates. <o:p></o:p></div>
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But Life’s unfair, cruel. Cancer comes,
claws deep and devastates, <o:p></o:p></div>
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And it’s now my task to tell them, all
their prayers have been in vain, <o:p></o:p></div>
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Euthanasia, only option, to relieve poor
Bluey’s pain. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Ben had asked if he could be there, which I
thought strange for a kid, <o:p></o:p></div>
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But Ron and Lisa had agreed, and I’m so
glad that they did. <o:p></o:p></div>
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For not before or ever since, have I
witnessed such a scene, <o:p></o:p></div>
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At the passing of a loved one, sort of
spiritual, I mean. <o:p></o:p></div>
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He seemed so calm when patting Blue, who
looked up and licked Ben’s tears, <o:p></o:p></div>
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Respect and love and dignity, shown way,
far beyond the years <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Of their short lives spent together. Then
we sat and wondered why, <o:p></o:p></div>
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Bad humans live a long, long time, and good
dogs too soon must die. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Then Ben spoke, “I know the answer.” He is
six, what would he say? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
He gave us words of wisdom, that I dwell on
to this day. <o:p></o:p></div>
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“Most people have to learn to live a good
life, to love, be kind, <o:p></o:p></div>
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To be nice to one another, and I think that
you will find, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
That this really is the reason, but I’m six
I could be wrong. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
See dogs already know that stuff, so don’t
have to stay as long.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<b>YOU CAN ORDER TALL TALES</b> from your
physical bookstore (author Long John Best, publisher Bent Banana Books) or in
paperback or eBook from online-retailers including <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://amzn.to/3gHuWko">https://amzn.to/3gHuWko</a> (paperback and Kindle)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://bit.ly/3iN3Wld">https://bit.ly/3iN3Wld</a>
(Barnes&Noble paperback)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://www.fishpond.com.au/c/Books/q/Tall+Tales%3A+The+Verse+of+John+Albert+Best">https://www.fishpond.com.au/c/Books/q/Tall+Tales%3A+The+Verse+of+John+Albert+Best</a>
(paperback)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/tall-tales-15">https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/tall-tales-15</a>
(eBook)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Proceeds to animal welfare, RSPCA QLD<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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The Drover’s Dog is a mid-1980s parody by
Redgum, a folk/bush band. Former trade union boss Bob Hawke deposed Opposition
Leader Bill Haydn just before the 1983 election which Hawke won. A somewhat
bitter Hayden said a drover’s dog could have won that election against Prime
Minister Malcolm Fraser.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br clear="all" style="mso-break-type: section-break; page-break-before: always;" /></span>Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-35120921939554637562020-07-15T06:32:00.000-07:002020-07-15T06:32:49.887-07:00Bush Poem Day 6<div class="WordSection1">
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Day 6 bush poem 6:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_dSfNEWyzWWZ5gX7EwSv2bikyMiKsoWDKZSVciZMuq9u32RIqDUq_4JnjJyGp7vnNQJ-FEOGbRNtuHWBwC8U32E6HdNPCHs-EERYGdWcypLhlSFRf_jmsrxjRVqHijgxLyjKctF6aCest/s1600/_JB_Cropped_IMG_1560.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1386" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_dSfNEWyzWWZ5gX7EwSv2bikyMiKsoWDKZSVciZMuq9u32RIqDUq_4JnjJyGp7vnNQJ-FEOGbRNtuHWBwC8U32E6HdNPCHs-EERYGdWcypLhlSFRf_jmsrxjRVqHijgxLyjKctF6aCest/s320/_JB_Cropped_IMG_1560.JPG" width="277" /></a></div>
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Here is another rofl-job with a Long John
Best original from his collection, <i>Tall Tales.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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Henry’s Passing <o:p></o:p></div>
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There’s a look you get when dying, startled
headlights on a deer, <o:p></o:p></div>
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And that’s the look old Henry had. Oh, he
knew the end was near. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Family gathered round his bedside, vultures
waiting for the end, <o:p></o:p></div>
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Only Naïve Nev his night nurse, Henry
figured, was his friend. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Henry’s hour was fast approaching, time to
leave this mortal coil, <o:p></o:p></div>
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With the wisdom born of Rhinehart, he would
allocate the spoil. <o:p></o:p></div>
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“Wife, I leave to you all Pitt Street,
Eldest Son, you get The Cross; <o:p></o:p></div>
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Michael, Mossman, most of Manly, toss in Bondi;
that’s no loss.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sisters, Sophie and Sofia, divvy up the
CBD. <o:p></o:p></div>
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My Mercedes goes to Neville, for the
kindness he’s shown me.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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Barely had these words been spoken, when
his eyes closed with a sigh, <o:p></o:p></div>
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For all ties to Earth now broken, Henry’s
time had come to die. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Well Nurse Neville was astounded, at what
he had seen and heard. <o:p></o:p></div>
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That one man in just one lifetime, could
acquire so much. <o:p></o:p></div>
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“My word,” He said, “This man, your
Husband, Father, of him you must be proud, <o:p></o:p></div>
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So much property he leaves you.” Wife said,
“For crying out aloud, <o:p></o:p></div>
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He was useless and a skinflint, for us
didn’t give two hoots, <o:p></o:p></div>
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All’s left’s a clapped-out car, no money,
and his bloody paper routes!”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<b>YOU CAN ORDER TALL TALES</b> from your
physical bookstore (author Long John Best, publisher Bent Banana Books) or in
paperback or eBook from online-retailers including <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://amzn.to/3gHuWko">https://amzn.to/3gHuWko</a>
(paperback
and Kindle)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://bit.ly/3iN3Wld">https://bit.ly/3iN3Wld</a>
(Barnes&Noble paperback)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://www.fishpond.com.au/c/Books/q/Tall+Tales%3A+The+Verse+of+John+Albert+Best">https://www.fishpond.com.au/c/Books/q/Tall+Tales%3A+The+Verse+of+John+Albert+Best</a>
(paperback)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/tall-tales-15">https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/tall-tales-15</a>
(eBook)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Proceeds to animal welfare, RSPCA QLD<o:p></o:p></div>
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Love that bit about “Sisters, Sophie and
Sofia”. If the sisters Sophie and Sofia, were teenagers in the 1960s, they
might have been taking in the Kroo Brothers at their local Australian milk bar.
They do not look much like brothers, maybe because they are not. A milk bar was an Australian cafe where milkshakes were a favorite of the teenage clientele. And yea the Kroo Bros did perform at milk bars.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br clear="all" style="mso-break-type: section-break; page-break-before: always;" /></span>Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-15102508933249105962020-07-14T05:18:00.000-07:002020-07-14T05:18:51.808-07:00Bush poem 5 from Long John Best<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Day 5 bush poem 5:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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As a teenager and young man, Johnny served 15
years in the Royal Australian Air Force.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here is one of his poems about a World War
II veteran.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Long John Best:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Someone told me this was illusory,
whatever that means it sounds pretty flash. It’s called: <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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Verandah Dreaming <o:p></o:p></div>
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Good to see you, old mate, I've missed you
of late, have you been just a little bit off? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Pull up a chair, oh you've got your own
there, twenty-eight inch wheels. Bloody cough. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Hey remember as kids, we used to do skids
on our pushies with big wheels like that? <o:p></o:p></div>
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No pneumatics of course, solids; bucked
like a horse, but Jesus they never went flat. <o:p></o:p></div>
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These kids of to-day, they dunno how to
play, they say Gramps put TV on, we’re bored, <o:p></o:p></div>
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Then they up and they prance, like they've
ants in their pants, that music’s a crime to record. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So what's with this chair, you've still got
your legs there, aren't you bunging it on a bit, Fred? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Them legs saved your life, when you got
into strife, with that farmer, I thought you were dead! <o:p></o:p></div>
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He must have seen me, though I hid up a
tree when he lined up that 12-gauge on you. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Well struth, I knew you could run, but
outrun a gun. Christ mate, you bloody near flew! <o:p></o:p></div>
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Proved a decent old bloke, liked a bit of a
joke, and showed that he wasn't no dobber, <o:p></o:p></div>
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Left Mum a box with a note, still remember
he wrote, "melons for felons", your cobber. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Oh but we never knew, when he lined up on
you, and let one fly in the air out of fun, <o:p></o:p></div>
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That in only three years, with me hiding me
fears, we'd be lined up again, by the Hun. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Oh, we'd joined up real fast, just in case
the chance passed, who wouldn't want to be in it? <o:p></o:p></div>
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We drilled and we trained, but excitement
soon waned, with bad news from the Front; can we win it? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Fred, I wasn't so sure, but you'd just
ignore the doom and the gloom, get stuck in. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Me, I went with the tide, hoped, with you
by my side, at the end of the day, mate, we'd win. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Cobbers eh, Freddy, weren’t all staunch and
steady, a coupla right mongrels we knew, <o:p></o:p></div>
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"Reckitts" you dubbed 'em, and
when Jerry near scrubbed 'em, they turned out quite white in the blue. <o:p></o:p></div>
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"Weak pair of bastards", you
said, "they'll both wind up dead", a prediction, which wound up spot
on, <o:p></o:p></div>
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Both blown to the khazi outside of
Benghazi, and there weren’t a lot left, when they’d gone, <o:p></o:p></div>
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We crept in, out of Crete, near dead on our
feet, couldn't picture us getting much older, <o:p></o:p></div>
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But you Freddy mate, oh Jeez you were
great, I got scareder, and you just grew bolder. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The terrible two-some they called us, but
mate you knew some, if not all of my fears, <o:p></o:p></div>
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Like, late at night when I cried, having
dreamt I had died, a secret you kept down the years. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The next few dragged by, it's just in
hindsight they fly, and I come back home, pretty right. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Oh, it's nothing you'd notice, but Jesus
don't quote us, see I still wake up bawling at night. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m burnt out now of course, what you’d
call a spent force, bastard banks took the deeds to the station. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Have we come such a ways, since our Middle
East days, when you gave up your life, for this Nation? <o:p></o:p></div>
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I get feelings of guilt that this country
we’ve built,might of done better with you here than me, <o:p></o:p></div>
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And quite often I wonder if this younger
mob understands what it costs to be free. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Am I losing it, Fred? Am I better off dead?
Seems the world of our youth's come behind. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Though your body's not near, your spirit is
here, it's why I talks to you see, in me mind. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I suppose there's been others who had
better brothers, but no one I've met ever did. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This long life I have led, is down to you,
Fred, still sleeping in Libya, still a kid. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m fading fast, Freddy. I think I am
ready, to take up where last we left off. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Put the billy on, mate, I've not long to
wait, got this pain in me chest---bloody cough. <o:p></o:p></div>
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"Come in now please Dad, it makes me
so mad, when you're jibbering to old Uncle Fred, <o:p></o:p></div>
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You know he's long gone, gee, you do carry
on . . .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, Sweet Jesus, my Father is
dead."<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<b>YOU CAN ORDER TALL TALES</b> from your
physical bookstore (author Long John Best, publisher Bent Banana Books) or in
paperback or eBook from online-retailers including <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://amzn.to/3gHuWko">https://amzn.to/3gHuWko</a>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(paperback
and Kindle)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://bit.ly/3iN3Wld">https://bit.ly/3iN3Wld</a>
(Barnes&Noble paperback)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://www.fishpond.com.au/c/Books/q/Tall+Tales%3A+The+Verse+of+John+Albert+Best">https://www.fishpond.com.au/c/Books/q/Tall+Tales%3A+The+Verse+of+John+Albert+Best</a>
(paperback)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/tall-tales-15">https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/tall-tales-15</a>
(eBook)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Proceeds to animal welfare, RSPCA QLD<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Here is a 1969 hit about a young man going
to the Vietnam war. At the end of the song, stick around to see a very skinny,
very young Bee Gees covering Bob Dylan. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /><br />Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-3539429218102892892020-07-13T02:14:00.000-07:002020-07-13T02:14:20.882-07:008 Days a Week: Bush Poem #4<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Day 4 bush poem 4:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFvfkhL06_UH-eJw3Ej0uv7xXUyXC_mtpmf5wyAtK3NZ7LC310NbLF33stfzP3wMekMzRd3dpBlZtjW8J3kdSfAB5GwLj9xJ58odxmL6KcHi02eMgt-jycG5mwuFpMAkywIPGr2iA5PEyE/s1600/_JB_Cropped_IMG_1560.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1386" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFvfkhL06_UH-eJw3Ej0uv7xXUyXC_mtpmf5wyAtK3NZ7LC310NbLF33stfzP3wMekMzRd3dpBlZtjW8J3kdSfAB5GwLj9xJ58odxmL6KcHi02eMgt-jycG5mwuFpMAkywIPGr2iA5PEyE/s320/_JB_Cropped_IMG_1560.JPG" width="277" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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Some of Johnny Best’s bush poems are
rofl-funny. Here’s one.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Long John Best: <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>This is a factual account of an incident
that occurred to me in my late teens and altered the direction my life took
from that day forward. Only the locations have been changed to protect the
townsfolk from the notoriety that descended on the good citizens of Lourdes in
France. I called it: <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<b style="font-size: x-large; text-align: center;">Horse Sense</b></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Far out beyond the Great Divide, lay
another world to me, <o:p></o:p></div>
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Son of suburbia that I am, from a city by
the sea. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
My academic achievements were greatly
admired on the coast, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
But way out there, I must declare, it’s
horse sense that counts the most. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Oh, I’d travelled West, with youthful zest,
in search of the Great Outback, <o:p></o:p></div>
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When the ute tossed it in outa Quilpie,
along the Windorah track. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
In the old girl’s sparse shade, I ponder,
what could be possibly wrong? <o:p></o:p></div>
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And try as I might, what I do is not right,
and nobody comes along. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Five long hours creep slowly by, can the
heat be affecting my brain? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
For I swear I can hear someone talking;
there, I can hear it again. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
I’m standing now, and I’m looking, but the
only creature I see<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Is an old grey horse across the road, and
he’s staring straight at me. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
He sorta grins and then he begins to talk
in a voice quite low, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
“It appears to me that your carby’s
blocked, clean it out and yer ute’ll go.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
I stand amazed, and somewhat dazed as he
saunters off out of sight. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
I’ve no other recourse but have faith in
the horse and hope I can put it right. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
I did as he said, God Bless him, she
started first turn of the key. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
I’m off down the track with no looking
back, a miracle’s happened to me. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Windorah’s first pub finds me braking, my
God what a story I bear, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Like shot from a gun, up the front steps I
run, the bar’s empty, there’s nobody there.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Only the barman is present, bored,
polishing glasses away. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Thinks I, just you wait, the tale I relate
will certainly liven your day. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
He poured and polished, I ranted. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Never into my story, he broke, Struth, you
could have knocked me down, with a feather, when finally spoke. “My word,” he
said, “You struck the grey, you should count your lucky stars, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
The bay was out there last week, he knows
bugger all about cars.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<b>YOU CAN ORDER TALL TALES</b> from your
physical bookstore (author Long John Best, publisher Bent Banana Books) or in
paperback or eBook from online-retailers including <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://amzn.to/3gHuWko">https://amzn.to/3gHuWko</a>
(paperback
and Kindle)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://bit.ly/3iN3Wld">https://bit.ly/3iN3Wld</a>
(Barnes&Noble paperback)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://www.fishpond.com.au/c/Books/q/Tall+Tales%3A+The+Verse+of+John+Albert+Best">https://www.fishpond.com.au/c/Books/q/Tall+Tales%3A+The+Verse+of+John+Albert+Best</a>
(paperback)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/tall-tales-15">https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/tall-tales-15</a>
(eBook)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Proceeds to animal welfare, RSPCA QLD<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Place means a lot to most people and it is
essential John’s story is set in the Outback.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Many successful songs reference a place.
Few reference as many as this 1962 Australian song from Lucky Starr.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzPCsyEyprNGlgeDjVXpjVrpfBrvRwhpJpvo0Y19Th4155aFMhOKvFNPrGTLOTsJnRc1ccQOLI4W1MmMm2D4w' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<br /><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
Johnny Cash Americanized the song but he
could not name-check as quickly as Lucky.<o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hank Snow had a hit with the first American
adaptation.</span>Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-28344901517654141092020-07-12T14:46:00.000-07:002020-07-12T15:13:51.497-07:008 Days a week: Day 3<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Day 3 bush poem 3:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
This is a confronting original work from
Long John Best’s first print collection, <i>Tall Tales</i>.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
You will see in the poem how Bestie
incorporated audience response to it.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
P(rovisional) Plates indicate the new
driver has a restricted license.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Long John Best: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<i>I wrote this to try to slow down the
senseless road deaths of our young people. Young people who are on the
threshold of life. They have been nurtured and loved to get to this stage, they
have taken on board an education to enable them to make their way in this
wonderful world, only to see it thrown away needlessly. For what? <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;">
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">P Plates </span></b></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Heading home from, doesn’t matter, driven
further than makes sense, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
When this car, coming towards me, leaves
the road, ploughs through a fence. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Hits a tree, this far above ground, then
explodes, disintegrates. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
I pull up, you have to, don’t cha, might be
me, could be me mates. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
I run back, I’m far from certain, not too
keen on what I’ll find, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
While ’s not my problem, do not get
involved, keeps running through my mind. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
And the sight I see before me is not one
that I’ll forget, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
And the fact I couldn’t help at all, still
fills me with regret. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Five, yeah five, lay in and round the
wreck, all gone, I stood there, numb,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Settling dust and eerie silence, broken by
a cry for, “Mum.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
One survivor, it’s the driver, makes you
wonder, don’t it though. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Didn’t let on ‘bout the others, didn’t
think he’d wanna know. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
I held him close but gentle, ambulance
wailing through the night, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Though he’d still not asked about his
friends, I think he knew all right.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
I
feel, I felt his soul departing, as he let go, his last breath,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
“Tell their parents I’m so sorry.” Then he
passed, from life to death. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
But does “I’m so sorry,” cut it? It’s a
feeble, weak excuse, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
For five families that are gutted, no, it’s
not much bloody use. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Never ever, can they be the same, though
their demeanour’s brave, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Their sense of loss, their sadness, they
will carry to their grave. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Kids, a Life is not some kind of game that
you switch off or on. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Sure, you can turn it off all right, just
once, and then it’s gone For ever. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Think, before you drink or drive, and never
mix the two, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Or this story you just heard from me, may
one day feature you. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Forgive me if I’ve upset some, I see tears,
some eyes are red. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
But I’ll take upset any day, it’s far
preferable to dead<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<b>YOU CAN ORDER TALL TALES</b> from your
physical bookstore (author Long John Best, publisher Bent Banana Books) or in
paperback or eBook from online-retailers including <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://amzn.to/3gHuWko">https://amzn.to/3gHuWko</a>
(paperback
and Kindle)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://bit.ly/3iN3Wld">https://bit.ly/3iN3Wld</a>
(Barnes&Noble paperback)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://www.fishpond.com.au/c/Books/q/Tall+Tales%3A+The+Verse+of+John+Albert+Best">https://www.fishpond.com.au/c/Books/q/Tall+Tales%3A+The+Verse+of+John+Albert+Best</a>
(paperback)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/tall-tales-15">https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/tall-tales-15</a>
(eBook)</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<o:p> </o:p>Proceeds to animal welfare, RSPCA QLD</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Here’s Long John Best performing:</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxKl3U8X7MHSjip2CJId-mTfAZ2IkP0-S1ve4Ja17b5zh0c0Fg0ejNBQtAJzcpD4OLJit22QAlDO0WGyDSR5w' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-33301980976963056662020-07-11T03:04:00.000-07:002020-07-11T03:04:12.053-07:00Bush Poem Day 2<div class="WordSection1">
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Day 2 bush poem 2:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
I AM YET TO FIND ANYONE who does not love
this week’s original bush poem by Long John Best from his anthology, <i>Tall Tales
</i>available in paperback and eBook. To me the poem is about loss, loyalty, and
doing the right thing. You might see something else in it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJkdoCpHYRFlCTa8HcfMM2VWV1DCYljfJ8ykBoB7t6FE5e_VO1eFb1PHPEkbGNeVxkHzbwQE-Y4NK3hC2NbI8me5qt3Ui6i5kG73Wl_Ksawtkvc8mldobSyWeImMqKuByTCLoOv8hEnTvr/s1600/_JB_Cropped_IMG_1556.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1342" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJkdoCpHYRFlCTa8HcfMM2VWV1DCYljfJ8ykBoB7t6FE5e_VO1eFb1PHPEkbGNeVxkHzbwQE-Y4NK3hC2NbI8me5qt3Ui6i5kG73Wl_Ksawtkvc8mldobSyWeImMqKuByTCLoOv8hEnTvr/s320/_JB_Cropped_IMG_1556.JPG" width="268" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Long John Best : <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<i>An old letter written to a Publican and
his response. I now know him to be Paul Nielsen, mine host at The Tatts Hotel
in Winton., Queensland. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Hotel Letter <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Dear Sir, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
We wish to stop at your hotel, we will book
in for a week,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
If you can only grant me, the permission
that I seek <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
</div>
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
To allow my dog to stay with me, each
evening, in my room. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Though I realise I’m biased, he is well
behaved and groomed. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
He’s the only family I have left, we’re sad
if we’re alone. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
We have planned to leave the thirteenth,
can you let me know by phone? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
He rang back, and said,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
“Mate, I’ve run pubs for many years, and I
cannot recall <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
One dog stealing sheets or towels or
pictures off the wall. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
And I’ve never had to bounce one in the
middle of the night, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
For being drunk, disorderly and bunging on
a fight. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
And mate, no dog ever bolted with his hotel
bill still due, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
So if your furry friend’ll vouch for you,
why you’ll be welcome too.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN3k3KIyytpJUhH5zIu7h6LvgXnlxm1XdZX0xsxTJ5EsV_9euctslc9b94CeEQhVDoRkPV1hKXQ4RJ1OHgaYTMEWJVMEL7lLc4sylUleLtRjyqEh-GFM_W6QH5VutXD_Tnj_aeZ2Cx7Yn8/s1600/LJB+front+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1134" data-original-width="806" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN3k3KIyytpJUhH5zIu7h6LvgXnlxm1XdZX0xsxTJ5EsV_9euctslc9b94CeEQhVDoRkPV1hKXQ4RJ1OHgaYTMEWJVMEL7lLc4sylUleLtRjyqEh-GFM_W6QH5VutXD_Tnj_aeZ2Cx7Yn8/s320/LJB+front+cover.jpg" width="227" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<b>YOU CAN ORDER TALL TALES</b> from your
physical bookstore (author Long John Best, publisher Bent Banana Books) or in
paperback or eBook from online-retailers including <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://amzn.to/3gHuWko">https://amzn.to/3gHuWko</a>
(paperback
and Kindle)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://bit.ly/3iN3Wld">https://bit.ly/3iN3Wld</a>
(Barnes&Noble paperback)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://www.fishpond.com.au/c/Books/q/Tall+Tales%3A+The+Verse+of+John+Albert+Best">https://www.fishpond.com.au/c/Books/q/Tall+Tales%3A+The+Verse+of+John+Albert+Best</a>
(paperback)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/tall-tales-15">https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/tall-tales-15</a>
(eBook)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Proceeds to animal welfare, RSPCA QLD<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
On the subject of letters, I do love
2-minute rock songs, and this is one of my all-time favorites:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
(Check
out the keyboardist making fun of the miming at 1:30. Check out the Joe Cocker
version, too, which should follow this one on YouTube).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HIWY8UyW9bw/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HIWY8UyW9bw?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<br />
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br clear="all" style="mso-break-type: section-break; page-break-before: always;" /></span>Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-70864455739407088322020-07-10T05:19:00.000-07:002020-07-10T05:19:42.414-07:008 Days a Week<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Day 1<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bush poem 1:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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EACH DAY FOR THE NEXT EIGHT DAYS, I will
present a bush poem from premier Australian bush poet Long John Best. The poems
are all originals from Long John Best’s first print collection, <i>Tall Tales</i>.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have known Long John, now in his 80s, for
about 20 years, perhaps not coincidentally, around the time he began to apply
himself seriously to the craft of bush poetry, known as cowboy poetry in the
United States. I say, not coincidentally, because we met when I was doing the
entertainment round for the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pine Rivers
Press and the Northern Times newspapers </div>
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I have been privileged over the years to write
stories about Long John or Johnny or Bestie, as various friends and family call
him.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Long John has helped me out too, performing
at the launch of my novel, <i>Iraqi Icicle</i>. Through his group the North Pine Bush
Poets, he raised money to buy my intellectually disables son, Kevin, an iPad to
communicate with. </div>
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John seemed to be always raising money for someone. As you
will read in one poem, one of his favourites was the Royal Flying Doctor
Service which has a long history of providing medical services to rural
Australia. Proceeds of <i>Tall Tales</i> support the Royal Society of Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA QLD) another of his favorites.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Long John’s poetry ranges from the comic to
the sentimental. He is not afraid to tackle controversial issues but he has the
gift of uniting rather than dividing his audiences of various political and
philosophical impulses.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I am proud to call Long John Best my friend
and I am happy Bent Banana Books was able to assist him in publishing Tall Tales. Let the tales begin. On the first tale of tallness, Long John wrote and
performed <o:p></o:p><i>Tasha, a Gift of a Dog</i>.</div>
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Long John Best: <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>This is the story of an uninvited
visitor to our home who stayed for fifteen years. She proved herself to be a
wonderful warm and loyal companion. Honest and non-judgmental she was a great
listener. We loved her then as we love her still. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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Tasha, a Gift of a Dog <o:p></o:p></div>
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A puppy’s paw print, placed in concrete,
nearly forty years ago,<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
was dirty when she did it, but no more, how could I know? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Now, every time I see it, takes me back, to
reminisce <o:p></o:p></div>
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‘Bout them two young girls, who lived here,
‘bout Old Tasha, I still miss. <o:p></o:p></div>
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She came; a gift we did not want, a golden
fluffy ball. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We had Samantha, six months old; no love to
spare, at all, <o:p></o:p></div>
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Or so we thought, but as dogs do, they
creep inside your heart, <o:p></o:p></div>
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And when our Kylie came along, it was much
too late to part. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Two darling daughters and their mate, they
were like them Musketeers, <o:p></o:p></div>
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They were all for one and one for all, we
never held no fears <o:p></o:p></div>
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A snake would maybe take them or perhaps
they’d wind up drowned. <o:p></o:p></div>
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No, you’d never entertain the thought,
while Tasha was around. <o:p></o:p></div>
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She was like some hairy shadow; she’d not
let them out of sight. <o:p></o:p></div>
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She’d cry, when they went off to school,
but the welcome home at night, <o:p></o:p></div>
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She’d be leaping, barking, grinning, and
though some may think us daft, <o:p></o:p></div>
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We all swore, when they got back from camp,
that big old dog, she laughed. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Oh! The years fly by so swiftly, young
girls grow, move out, and wed, <o:p></o:p></div>
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Too soon their kids were wiggling,
giggling, snuggling in our bed. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Then I’d walk ‘em up the driveway, to the
spot where Tasha trod, <o:p></o:p></div>
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Tell ‘em tales of two Princesses, and their
dog who’s gone to God. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Then I’d show ‘em where she’s buried, by
the fence in our back yard. <o:p></o:p></div>
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“Gramps how come she’s here and up there
too?” it all got far too hard. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So, I promptly changed the subject, and I
herd them all inside, <o:p></o:p></div>
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And show ‘em photos of their Mums, from
babyhood to bride. <o:p></o:p></div>
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But old Tasha kept appearing, and it soon
became a game, <o:p></o:p></div>
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They’d flick quickly through the pictures
‘til they’d spot her, shout her name. <o:p></o:p></div>
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They’d cry, “Tasha, Tasha, Tasha,” like
their Mothers used to call, <o:p></o:p></div>
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And I’d half expect Old Tasha, to come
flashing down the hall. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Slipping, scratching at the polished
boards, she’d let out her worried bark. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Yeah, wherever you look ‘round our place,
old Tasha’s left her mark. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Three great mates, who grew together, sadly
one grew old too fast, <o:p></o:p></div>
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Wasn’t easy, telling young girls why such
friendships cannot last. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I grow older, tears come quicker, hindsight
wisdom’s far too late.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I shoulda told you that I loved you more,
while you were here, old mate. <o:p></o:p></div>
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There’s a green patch in our paddock, that
I talk to when I mow, <o:p></o:p></div>
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And a puppy’s paw print, set in concrete,
nearly forty years ago.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Listen to Long John performing </div>
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<b>YOU CAN ORDER TALL TALES</b> from your
physical bookstore (author Long John Best, publisher Bent Banana Books) or in
paperback or eBook from online-retailers including <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://amzn.to/3gHuWko">https://amzn.to/3gHuWko</a>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(paperback
and Kindle)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://bit.ly/3iN3Wld">https://bit.ly/3iN3Wld</a>
(Barnes&Noble paperback)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.fishpond.com.au/c/Books/q/Tall+Tales%3A+The+Verse+of+John+Albert+Best">https://www.fishpond.com.au/c/Books/q/Tall+Tales%3A+The+Verse+of+John+Albert+Best</a>
(paperback)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/tall-tales-15">https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/tall-tales-15</a>
(eBook)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Proceeds to animal welfare, RSPCA QLD.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Today’s song celebrates the first of eight
days of bush poetry from Long John Best.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-62405665835275013012019-10-10T22:31:00.000-07:002019-10-10T22:31:52.334-07:00The Outlier: a short story<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is a short story from our upcoming anthology <i>From the Edge</i>. Enjoy.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">THE OUTLIER</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Bernie Dowling </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">In memory of
more than 2000 people who suicided, after receiving computer-generated ‘robo
debt’ demands – many erroneous – from the Federal Government Centrelink social
security organization.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">South-east Queensland, September 1998<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">IT WAS
BARBIE THE BARITONE who recommended me.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Barbie the baritone suggested you
might talk to him, Steele,’ the Gooroo said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> We were sharing tea and scones on a
bright spring morning in Con’s Tweed Heads unit. The Gooroo had just turned 68
and he had decided to retire from his somewhat illegal SP bookmaking business.
It was fun while it lasted but legal corporate bookmakers had begun to compete
with the previous trilogy of government totalisators, on-course bookies, and
the dwindling numbers of illegal SPs like the Gooroo.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I had given my best mate, Con Vitalis,
35 years my senior, the nickname the Gooroo after the Local Aboriginal word for
deep place or something like that.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘I've created a spreadsheet to map all
the punters who owe me money,’ the Gooroo said. ‘I’ve worked out probabilities
of people paying me back and also the percentage they are likely to pay if they
refuse to fork out the full amount.’ He smiled. ‘I was pleasantly surprised at
the results and I have only one outlier.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I took a sip of tea before I inquired
if the Gooroo was talking to me. ‘Are you talking to me or to yourself? Because
I don't know what a spreadsheet is and I don't know what an outlier is. I
pretty much understand the stuff in the middle and it's good that it looks like
you’ve got a pleasing result coming your way.’ </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘You know what a spreadsheet is, Steele.
It's got information and maths calculations on it. A bookmaker’s ledger is a
spreadsheet. You’ve been working with spreadsheets for 10 years. Just not as
sophisticated as the modern computer ones. An outlier is a result far different
to the average.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Like an outsider in a horse race,’ I
said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Yair, something like that and Charlie
Barra has come up as an outlier with me having next to no hope of collecting
what he owes me.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘How much does this Charlie Barra owe?’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Three grand.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Write it off,’ I advised.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘This may surprise you, Steele, but
writing off bad debts without trying earnestly to collect is frowned upon in
the business world.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Then talk to him,’ I said</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘I was going to, but Barbie the
Baritone was concerned he was emotionally fragile.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I saw what the problem was. ‘Charlie’s
dropped three grand betting on the ponies. Of course he is emotionally fragile.
Once he’s wiped the slate clean, he will feel much better.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> The Gooroo was not convinced. ‘I don’t
know so much. Barbie is concerned.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Did Barbie offer to clear his slate?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘She isn't that concerned. She suggested
you talk to Charlie Barra.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I might be 6-foot tall but I wasn't
coming at this. ‘I’m not heavying a bloke about a gambling debt. No way.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> The Gooroo was offended. ‘Who said
anything about heavying anyone? I’m just asking you to talk to him so I know
what the score is. I'll give you a couple of hundred even if we have to write
off the whole 3-gees.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I was embarrassed after being
reprimanded for my dark thoughts. ‘Awlright, I'll give it a go but I don't need
any money for it. I’ve had a good week on the punt. Maybe Charlie Barra has
too. Where does he live?’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Dunno,’ the Gooroo said, reaching into
his wallet for $40, what he called ‘petrol money’. ‘We did business on the
telephone and settled debts in cafes.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘I thought it was frowned upon in
business not to know the address of customers.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Barbie’s mum called her Barbara and I
called her Barbie the Baritone because it always made me laugh or, at the very
least, smile to hear the moniker. She was the lead singer of an all-girl pub
band which moved up financially to do cabaret and play corporate gigs for the
big money. As a novelty, the blue-eyed blonde sang a set of songs usually
performed by baritone or bass vocalists. She would do <i>The Superman Song</i> by Crash Test Dummies, <i>Better Get a Lawyer </i>by the Cruel Sea, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ <i>Fight Like a Brave</i>, <i>It's Midnight </i>by Elvis, <i>Light
My Fire </i>by The Doors, <i>16 Tons</i> by
almost everybody, and even way back to <i>Old
Man River </i>by Paul Robeson.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> The punters loved Barbie’s baritone/
bass set and why wouldn’t they? It was way cool.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> She opened the door to her unit beside
the Brisbane River and I admired the views outside, through the patio window,
and in. ‘So, this is your new place. Wow, you done all right for a girl.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Barbie drummed her fingers on the back
of the open door to an old Melanie tune, and invited me in. ‘You know you're
not supposed to quote song lyrics without permission,’ she said. ‘How's
Natalie?’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘We’re kind of taking a break at the moment,’
I said. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Why does that not surprise me? You
know, Steele, you'd be a good catch for any woman. If you were not such a
hopeless arsehole.’ On cue, Barbie's CD player gave us the satirical <i>Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)</i> from
pop-punkers the Offspring’s new album<i> Americana</i>.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> ‘And </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">what brings you to my humble abode?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I scoffed. ‘Humble abode, that new
group of yours, Barbie and the Beetroots, must be going sensationally.’ </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘It's Kirsty and the Kalettes. We were
going to call ourselves the Scalettes but that was taken. So, we went with the
vegetable.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Like in that prickly stalky cabbage
stuff. That tastes yuk. That kale will never take off. Kirsty and the Kalettes
is cool for a band name, but.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Way cooler than what you called us. As
a name, Barbie and the Beetroots wouldn’t work, not even in those pub dives you
frequent.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘You mean those pub dives where you
learned your trade, Barbie.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Fair point but I’ve told you not to
call me Barbie.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘I always call you Barbie.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘And I always tell you not to.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> We bantered about this for a minute and
it led to good band names and great song titles and killer lyrics. We had to
stop so the whole morning was not done before we talked about a more serious
matter.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Barbie was still playing the pubs for
peanuts when she first noticed Charlie Barra at one gig. He was at others and
he always sat in the same spot to her right, three tables back. He never tapped
his knee in time with a song or mouthed the words. At the end of a number he
would only clap politely. It was quite disconcerting.’</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I nodded. ‘I bet it was. For Charlie.
Sounds like you were stalking him.’</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘That's not funny, Steele. You can get
some creepy guys at gigs. That's how I met you, remember.’ </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> She got me there. I raised my hands in
surrender, and sat mute as she continued her tale.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘He surprised me one night when he came
over during the break between sets to buy one of our EPs. He said he really
liked the sad song I had just done.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Barbie appreciated the compliment
because the song was an original she had performed in public for the first
time. It normally takes quite a few listens before a punter catches onto a song
and decides they really like it. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Charlie seemed safe enough and Barbie
talked to him at gigs and occasionally they met over a coffee. Small world and
all that, it turns out Charlie bets on horse races with Con Vitalis who is
Barbara’s grandmother’s second cousin. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> When I ask, Barbie does not know what
Charlie does for a living. She suspects he may be on a pension as his complexion
is pale and he is prone to bouts of coughing. She does not pry into any medical
issues. At one time, he mentioned working in an air-force base, maybe as a
civilian, Barbie thought.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Do you have his address?’ I ask.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> She sat silent for a while. ‘What do
you want with him?’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘I thought you said to the Gooroo I
should talk to Charlie.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘No, that’s not what I said. What I
said was you and Charlie probably spoke the same language.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I had some idea what Barbie was driving
at and was not really offended but it was only fair to embarrass the successful
performer. ‘What's that supposed to mean?’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Barbie’s face tinged reddish but she
was saved from attempting an awkward response. Dexter Holland, vocalist of the
Offspring, burst into the song <i>Why Don’t
You Get a Job?</i> Barbie laughed.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I laughed. ‘Don't like that song much,’
I said. ‘I suppose it's about the band inheriting a bunch of hangers-on since
their success. It just comes across as judgemental. Nice tune, but.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘It’s a hit with a lot of people,’
Barbie said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> She got up and walked towards a coffee
table with one CD and a sheet of note paper on it.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">‘Sure is,’ I said to her back.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Barbie handed me the CD and the paper
with an address on it. The CD was <i>Dream’s
Up</i>, Kirsty and the Kalettes’ new album. ‘I was supposed to post this to
Charlie. You can take it to him if you like. I’ve got a copy for you, too. Just
promise me you won’t ask Charlie for money until you come back to see me. Maybe
we can work something out. I’ve a bit of cash at the moment but you know what
the music biz is like, Steele. One day you’re a bird of paradise, the next day
you’re compost.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Brendale is an industrial suburb north
of Brisbane in the shire known as Pine Rivers named after the north and south
Pine Rivers. The north and south branches merge into just the plain old Pine
River before it empties into the sea. Everything's pine, up that way.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Brendale has lots of industrial
buildings, mostly small. But also modest houses and flats for some of its
thousands of workers to live in. I was visiting an octet of brick flats, one of
which might contain Charlie Barra. The flats looked like they were built on the
cheap with bricks of varied colour. Some bricks were cracked and a few jutted
at dangerous angles to the horizontal. Moss stained the base of the two-storey
building. Some brick buildings lasted hundreds of years. This one would be
lucky to see fifty.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I knocked on the thin wooden door of
ground floor flat n0. 4 and a tall man, maybe 6 foot 3, stooped over me, and I
was looking at his forehead and the receding grey hair above it.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Hi,’ I said. ‘I'm Steele Hill and I
was driving out this way so Barbie asked me to deliver this CD.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> The man straightened his head but his
shoulders still appeared hunched. ‘Who’s Barbie?’ he asked warily.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘I mean Barbara,’ I corrected. ‘Barbara
Truscott, Kirsty.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘But I already paid for the CD.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘I know, Charlie. I'm a friend of
Barbara’s and I’m delivering it for her. There’s no charge.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> He was trusting enough to invite me in.
It was a one-bedroom flat which despite its small size looked larger because of
the lack of furniture. A television set and a CD player sat on a round cane
table. One lounge chair faced the entertainment devices. Another cane table had
two cane chairs underneath. In the kitchen was a thin stove, a noisy old
refrigerator, a single washbasin, and a bench running along one wall with a
single set of drawers underneath. On the bench were an electric jug and a
toaster.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Would you like a cup of tea, Mr. Hill?
I only got tea. Coffee is very expensive except for the cheap stuff which
doesn’t taste nice and I would rather go without.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Tea’s fine, thanks. No milk, no
sugar.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> He indicated one of the cane chairs for
me to sit in and retrieved tea bags and cups from one of the drawers beneath
the kitchen bench.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> As we sat drinking bland tea and
munching plain biscuits, I realised I would need to lead the conversation as
the man had exhausted his dialogue with his observations on cheap coffee. Looking at him, I would say he was about 50, which made him 15 or so years my
senior. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I decided not to mention the Gooroo.
‘You go to a lot of Barbara’s shows?’ I asked.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘A few. What about you, Steele? Did you
ever go to the Storey Bridge Hotel when Barbara was in her other band? You look
familiar to me.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘In ’94, ’95?’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> He nodded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Probably. Yair, for sure,’ I said</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> He seemed satisfied at his memory. ‘At
first I thought you were from the Air Force. Undercover. But you don't look
like you're Air Force.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘No I'm not in the Air Force. Are you
in the Air Force Charlie?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘No. I'm in dispute with them.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Over what?’ </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘I used to work for them. As a civvy in
the F-111 Deseal/Reseal section.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Sounds heavy,’ I said. ‘What's that?’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Cleaning and patching up the fighter
jets’ fuel tanks. That’s what I did for 12 years, the 12 years from 1981 to
1993. For 12 years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘I’ve always been a big bloke but I
would crawl into those F-111 jet fuel tanks. I would scrape off all sorts of
toxic shit and patch up holes with other sorts of toxic shit and seal the whole
thing with different toxic shit.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Charlie sounded more regretful than angry. ‘Do
you ever get depressed, Mr Hill.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Call me, Steele. I guess we all do
sometimes.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> A wave of sadness crossed Charlie’s
face. ‘People who say that, who say everyone gets depressed at some time, are
usually the lucky ones. They don’t get real depression. They don't get so
anxious they can't open the door to collect the mail. How old do you think I
am, Steele?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I replied truthfully I was no good at
ages but he insisted. I decided to be kind and shave a couple of years off what
I thought his age was. ‘47-48,’ I said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> It turned out he was 38-years-old. ‘I
have grey hair. I have emphysema and I've never smoked in my life. I have
depression, migraines, and anxiety attacks. I take seven types of medications
every day. Some of my medicines are not subsidized on the pharmaceutical
benefits scheme. After I started to get depressed, Amy took the kids and left.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> This was not going well. I could not
see any lead-in to questions about Charlie’s debt to the Gooroo.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">‘Doesn’t the Air Force pay for your
medication?’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘I've been battling them for
compensation for three years. They keep saying it is under assessment but my
condition could have been caused by something else. I never had a day's
sickness in my life before this. I thought that would work in my favor but
they say they haven't got my medical records to eliminate other possibilities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘They have their own medical records on
me. The Air Force won't give them to a journalist following my story. They say
they're protecting my privacy. Even my specialists are having trouble getting
information from the Air Force. I'm just about at the end of my tether. If I
can put enough money together, I’m going to Vietnam. It's cheaper to live over
there and I’m hoping I get to keep my invalid pension. I don't think I've got
that long anyway.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Not knowing what to say, I sat silent
for a while. ‘I probably can't do much, Charlie. But if there's anything,
here’s my phone number. There is one thing, though.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Yes.’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘If I leave you 20 bucks, will you
promise to buy yourself two giant jars of expensive coffee?’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> He smiled ruefully and the deal was
done.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I knew the Gooroo would anonymously
send Charlie the money for the airfare to Vietnam and some more to set himself
up there. Who knew what tall tale Con concocted to explain why Charlie was
receiving the windfall?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I did drop back into Barbara’s place. I
stopped calling her Barbie because she probably didn’t like it. I told her the
Gooroo had written off Charlie’s debt and she was pleased.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Charlie and I corresponded for a while
– neither of us owned a computer for those new emails thingos – and I was most
pleased when he wrote he was seeing a young woman.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> His last letter to me told how he had
lost his latest review for compensation and he was not sure if there were many
anymore appeal avenues to travel down.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> My last letter to Charlie was returned
to me along with a note from the Vietnamese police. Charlie Barra had hung
himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The anthology <i>From the Edge</i> will be launched at Pine Rivers Art Gallery at 1pm on Saturday October 26. All are welcome. Here is our song:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br clear="all" style="mso-break-type: section-break; page-break-before: always;" /></span>Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-28850438311248099332019-04-19T23:47:00.001-07:002019-04-19T23:47:51.295-07:00A hard Rain still has heaps to say<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: x-large;">Hard rain falls</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_wPJ_ry-KCZIKPG0eMwXOfWZWw7HJocGZA68I9EazcWm2FAFfSyvVg5fmbvHuHtZx2LeM2Z7595v6GmDw-HyUyy7Na1OpkyklBoqq6Vnlck1HHWQRRzRgW94A25BvPl5jbmvdyGKxk_Wy/s1600/rain+new.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1115" data-original-width="1500" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_wPJ_ry-KCZIKPG0eMwXOfWZWw7HJocGZA68I9EazcWm2FAFfSyvVg5fmbvHuHtZx2LeM2Z7595v6GmDw-HyUyy7Na1OpkyklBoqq6Vnlck1HHWQRRzRgW94A25BvPl5jbmvdyGKxk_Wy/s640/rain+new.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Rain <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(</b></span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">1932) is
likely to remain as one of Hollywood's most underrated films though it could
appeal to a modern audience with its dominant themes of the abuse of power by
men over women, and the oppressive effects of religious intolerance. If enterprising
film-festival directors defied historical convention and put Rain on noir
bills, appreciative viewers might find it.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid2xvwJfhg5FhgzzZJCpJnauSog9F6ktSfzhk6OIO8SBtStf2agsL73XR5-VHotBOcfIBfkjtuAj6LqgJlHoVt61w3Bi5ynt8KPgqBbw00SInyaQjBzwz4gh3LR8FhJLlB1Gap0YQ9pglQ/s1600/rain+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="334" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid2xvwJfhg5FhgzzZJCpJnauSog9F6ktSfzhk6OIO8SBtStf2agsL73XR5-VHotBOcfIBfkjtuAj6LqgJlHoVt61w3Bi5ynt8KPgqBbw00SInyaQjBzwz4gh3LR8FhJLlB1Gap0YQ9pglQ/s400/rain+poster.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">As I have said, in past previews, I am
not much of a stickler for the notion film noir began in 1941 The term film
noir was coined by French critic Nino Frank to describe four films made in
Hollywood during World War II (1939-45) which only made it to French screens
after the war. Frank wrote,</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://www.rememberninofrank.org/chapters/6-nino-frank-and-the-fascination-of-noir">‘</a></span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://www.rememberninofrank.org/chapters/6-nino-frank-and-the-fascination-of-noir">These"noir" films</a> no longer have anything in common with the usual kind of
police reel. They are essentially psychological narratives with the action –
however violent or fast-paced – less significant than faces, gestures, words –
than the truth of the characters.’ </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
four films were </span><em><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Maltese
Falcon</span></em><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, (1941
director, John Huston) <em><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Laura</span></em> (1944 director, Otto
Preminger) <em><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Murder, My Sweet</span></em> (1944 director, Edward Dmytryk) and <em><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Double Indemnity</span></em>, (1944 director, Billy Wilder). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The four films
have come to be regarded as noir classics and they all arrived in France after
the war but it does not follow that noir began in the 1940s.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The description
of a “psychological narrative with the action less significant than" faces,
gestures, words" fits </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Rain <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(</b></span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">1932) to a T.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I notice Wikipedia now says, “</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Hollywood's classic film noir period is
generally regarded as extending from the early 1920s to the late 1950s.” I am
not sure how accurate that statement is. M</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">ost
noiristas would agree with the end date but I am not sure how much consensus
there is for the early 20s as the start of noir.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Rain</i> is our earliest movie among the 30 in our public domain noir
series.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Rain</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> director Lewis Milestone (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Strange Love of Martha Ivers,</i> 1947,
not long before his blacklisting) and cinematographer Oliver T Marsh (the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>noir <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rage
in Heaven, </i>disappointing, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>despite the
cast of </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Montgomery_(actor)"><span style="color: #0b0080; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Robert Montgomery</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingrid_Bergman"><span style="color: #0b0080; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Ingrid Bergman</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, and </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Sanders"><span style="color: #0b0080; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">George Sanders</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">) dabble effectively in the use of light, extreme close-ups,
unusual angles and sets, as well as shadows, and vertical lines, some of the
tricks European Expressionists brought to Hollywood in the 1920s. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilkqIeP-JRd3uHBY_NkB-Kn9q_gn4cLTljqxFHZR__8c5fpdfAcsDEJbExQoc6Ir9fz8kD94APNRbq62w55IvrztT8uY1i10_iWRKqfBTVuQIhXcYsF6YrY5JC_jrtDC_9rMy1dX7y9yxP/s1600/rain17.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="243" data-original-width="300" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilkqIeP-JRd3uHBY_NkB-Kn9q_gn4cLTljqxFHZR__8c5fpdfAcsDEJbExQoc6Ir9fz8kD94APNRbq62w55IvrztT8uY1i10_iWRKqfBTVuQIhXcYsF6YrY5JC_jrtDC_9rMy1dX7y9yxP/s400/rain17.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Unequal power</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The plot of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rain</i> added to these techniques the central theme of unequal power, a
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>favorite of 1940s noir.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Themes of sexual and religious assault were bound to strike resistance in the 1930s, just as they would likely do
today. That <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rain </i>passed the censors
was due to it being filmed in period between when the Hays office and its </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Motion Picture
Production Code</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">were set up in 1930 and when the censors become very strict in 1934. In 1932,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rain</i> came to the screen with the
message at the beginning that it had been passed by the National Board of Review.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The film, a faithful translation of a Somerset Maugham story, was resisted by audiences, who had made a
success of the more sanitized 1926 silent version starring Gloria Swanson
period.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Joan Crawford who was a very popular actor
at the time was advised not to take on the role of prostitute Sadie Thompson. As
it turned out, she incurred the wrath of many of her fans who expressed their
displeasure through letters. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Crawford said her performance was
dreadful and blamed director Lewis Milestone who she said gave her no
guidance as to how to play the role. Critics concurred that the part was a miss
for Crawford with one reviewer even criticizing her over-the-top attire as a prostitute. That reviewer did not say male lead
Walter Huston looked too puritanical for his role as a missionary.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_itQsYOf0b1ATYRYlvwsDUYLpKuYdUYuMdU6CwPEc7G1eJ-DgXRX_QA7NYPCPizMBrFFuCwTfZiJxr_fRe_LfpAZ-1chklfHVjx3CMKXMyP35BYYOCGQ9eXhNmumennIsG4Quilv68dDw/s1600/rain+10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="321" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_itQsYOf0b1ATYRYlvwsDUYLpKuYdUYuMdU6CwPEc7G1eJ-DgXRX_QA7NYPCPizMBrFFuCwTfZiJxr_fRe_LfpAZ-1chklfHVjx3CMKXMyP35BYYOCGQ9eXhNmumennIsG4Quilv68dDw/s320/rain+10.jpg" width="267" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Professional and public critics were
probably a little squeamish about a story of missionary </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Alfred Davidson</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> (Huston)
using his political influence, righteousness, and even physical height to
intimidate a young woman. The film centralizes </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Davidson’s</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> repressed
sexuality but scenes such as <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Huston atop
stairs hectoring Crawford below emphasize that sexual abuse by males is
usually a perversion of power.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The movie is set in the America Samoan
capital of Pago Pago, one of the wettest places on earth but with a large
harbor making it a stop-over port for passenger ships such as the one, carrying </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Alfred Davidson</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> and Sadie
Thompson. The Americans had set up a naval base at Pago Pago but left the rest
of the south Pacific island as they found it, creating a contrast between
transient Europeans and Americans, and the Native population.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Religious fundamentalist Davidson is
charged with looking after the moral welfare of Natives of lands other than
American Samoa. But his political influence extends across the Pacific and to
the American-Samoan Governor whom he persuades to deport Sadie Thompson to
America. That decision is the catalyst for tragedy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The beating of the drums and the
incessant rain symbolize natural urges clashing with puritan civilization but there
is a more subtle reading of the movie. It is when Davidson breaks Thompson’s spirit
and turns her into a disciple that the missionary develops sexuul urges for her.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiNGizoPQ0k24vuDFi6Xhm_nRNNngPB9V9u-LomfoDONYdU6qHJelYGRpPm4PawS6jus1QCNnPo9sdtgP0euVt-Y3W1KEZ7QQTq8gSuE-kaTZTi5Ui2saed7kVL2Ubgktp07RIfyfVC071/s1600/rain+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1000" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiNGizoPQ0k24vuDFi6Xhm_nRNNngPB9V9u-LomfoDONYdU6qHJelYGRpPm4PawS6jus1QCNnPo9sdtgP0euVt-Y3W1KEZ7QQTq8gSuE-kaTZTi5Ui2saed7kVL2Ubgktp07RIfyfVC071/s320/rain+7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">This is an enthralling film with some
excellent photographic innovations. Despite Crawford’s self-criticism, her
acting is more than adequate and Milestone's direction keeps us interested all
the way through.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">As it was based on a play version of
Maugham’s story, some viewers night find it to0 talkie. I am somewhat biased
towards loquacious films if the dialogue is good and some is excellent here.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Good lines</span><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<em><span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: normal;">“We live in the day of the new commandment– thou
shalt not enjoy themselves.”<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“He will break your back to save your soul.</span><em><span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“ the evil of too much work.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">The players</span><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">JOAN
CRAWFORD</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> was very successful Hollywood actor by
1932 and she had specialized in playing determined working-class young women in
dramas, comedy, and musicals. While successful with a loyal following, she had
amassed a portfolio of unremarkable films except for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Grand Hotel</i> (1932) which was a series of vignettes set in the title
establishment. Grand Hotel was based </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">on a 1929 novel by Vicki Baum who also wrote the story which became the noir <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Great Flamarion</i> (1945)</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It seems Crawford took on the role Sadie
Thompson to add credibility to her
acting career, a decision <a href="http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/161058%7C161060/Rain.html">she regretted</a> the rest of her life.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Crawford’s career recovered from the
critical and box office failure of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rain, </i>only
to fall into the doldrums in the late 1930s. In the 1940s, Crawford rose
from the trough of fickle fame to become an icon of film noir </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Her first 40s noir was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Woman's Face</i> (1941) directed by George
Cukor. Crawford played a bitter disfigured woman. The movie was a critical and
commercial success. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Four years later <i>Mildred
Pierce</i> (1945) based on a novel by </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_M._Cain"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">James M. Cain</span></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> and directed by </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Curtiz"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Michael Curtiz</span></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> won Crawford the best actor Oscar for a film which
has become recognized as a noir classic </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Noirs to follow were
</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possessed_(1947_film)"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Possessed</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> (1947) with Van Heflin, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisy_Kenyon"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Daisy Kenyon</span></i></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> (1947) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamingo_Road_(film)"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Flamingo Road</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> (1949) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Damned_Don%27t_Cry"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">The Damned
Don't Cry</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, (1950) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Craig"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Harriet Craig</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> (1950) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Woman_Is_Dangerous"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">This Woman Is
Dangerous</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> (1951) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Bee_(film)"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Queen Bee</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> (1951) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden_Fear"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Sudden Fear</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> (1952) with Gloria Grahame, and </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn_Leaves_(film)"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Autumn Leave</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">s (1956).</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Canadian
actor <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">WALTER HUSTON</b> won
the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the
noir <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (</i>1948),
directed by his son, John Huston.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
may recall the scene in the first film John Huston directed, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Maltese Falcon</i> (1941) where the ship’s
captain delivers the Falcon to Sam Spade. The captain was Dad Walter in an
uncredited role. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Walter Huston is excellent in a restrained
role in Rain, as the repressed missionary, unaware of the evil in his heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Trivia </span><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">You will recall the 1947
noir </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dishonored_Lady"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Dishonored Lady</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, starring Heddy Lamarr and based on the play
by<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Sheldon"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Edward Sheldon</span></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> and </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Ayer_Barnes"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Margaret Ayer
Barnes</span></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">. The playwrights sued
the makers of the 1932 film </span><i><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Letty
Lynton </span></i><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">for plagiarism. The
film was a success and Joan Crawford was praised for her performance in the lead
role. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However,</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> the film has been unavailable since a federal judge ruled on January 17, 1936 that the script used by MGM followed too
closely to the play. Maybe film versions were jinxed as the 1947 Hedy Lamarr
vehicle, of which she was was a
producer, went over budget and was a box office failure because of this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Trivia 2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Journalist Mollie
Merrick <a href="https://www.joancrawfordbest.com/filmsrain.htm">wrote </a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="https://www.joancrawfordbest.com/filmsrain.htm">in the Los Angeles Times </a>of
September 10, 1932,</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Shock of Paul Bern’s suicide and the tragic
circumstances surrounding Jean Harlow cut social life to a minimum
and will undoubtedly dim the most brilliant opening scheduled for the season:
“Rain” having its world premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theater tonight. </span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">German-born American
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Bern">film director and producer Bern</a> was only married to star Jean Harlow for two
months when he reportedly suicided because of a night of impotence. One story
said MGM faked the suicide note which read, “This is the only way to make
good the frightful wrong I have done you and to wipe out my abject
humiliation.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Bern
died on September 5, so we might speculate whether the event did decrease the audience for the September 10 premiere or whether journo Merrick had other
reasons for suspecting a smaller than expected turnout to a film given a glowing review.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">The verdict<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">The full film</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Noir spoof</b></span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Rain</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> (1932) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beat the Devil</i> (1953)
were films which flopped at the box office and in the review pages. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beat the Devil</i> unlike <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rain </i>recovered to be a cult hit. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rain</i> remains an historical oddity not
worth putting on at classic-film festivals. To my mind, this is an injustice as I
consider <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rain</i> much superior to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beat the Devil</i>. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In 1951, director John Huston and
actors Humphrey Bogart and Robert Morley combined in the adventure comedy <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The African Queen</i> which was both a
critical and financial success and has gone down in history as a classic.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">They were unable to repeat the dose two
years later with another adventure comedy<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
Beat the Devil </i>which contained noirish elements.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The story goes director John Huston was
unhappy with the script he was presented to film in Italy where a stellar
cast was assembled – Humphrey Bogart Robert Morley, Jennifer Jones (Academy
Award for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Song of Bernadette</i>,
1943) Peter Lorre and Englishman Bernard Lee).</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">As funny as Cornel Wilde</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Huston brought in young novelist Truman
Capote who was living in Italy at the time to doctor the script. To my mind, that
was a mistake. With a story set in Europe and with some Brits in the cast, Capote
tries to be witty like Oscar Wilde but ends up as funny as Cornell Wilde.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Critics and cinemagoers who turned <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beat the Devil </i>into a cult hit a decade
after its release claimed 1953 audiences did not get the parody.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the film was obviously a comedy from the
start and therein lies the problem. Capote says he was delivering a spoof on
films such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Maltese Falcon</i>.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">However, there was very little tension or
realism underpinning the <span style="text-indent: 33.2667px;"> </span><i style="text-indent: 33.2667px;">Beat the Devil</i> which ruled it out as a comic reflection of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Maltese Falcon</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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A
lot of the humor is labored or appears self-conscious. Jennifer Jones, an
American, is most entertaining as an Englishwoman and she maintains her accent throughout. But she is obviously a comic invention rather than a rounded character.<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Bogart seems to be unsettled in his
role as he tries to find the right note. He had been adept at playing wry
comedy in crime films but he is far less convincing trying to inject a measure
of toughness into the weak comedy on offer here.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="text-indent: 33.2667px;">Beat the Devil </span><i style="text-indent: 33.2667px;"><span style="background: white; color: #121212;">(L-R) Robert Morley, Ivor Barnard, Bernard Lee, Maro Tulli, Jennifer Jones, Humphrey Bogart, and Gina Lollobrigida</span></i></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><i style="text-indent: 33.2667px;"><span style="background: white; color: #121212;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">We are led to believe Morley and Lorre
are deadly but they come across as more ludicrous than dangerous. Morley is given so much of the light (as in comic) lifting, the talents of the other
character actor villains – Lorre, Ivor Barnard, and Marco Tulli – seem wasted.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">There was talk of late-night poker
games and drinking after the days’ filming and you wonder whether some of the
filming was conducted during the day after the night before. Two characters
surprisingly pronounce the word “demise” as dem-ease rather than dem-eyes. In
the scene at <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>52.40, there is an empty
chair which at 54.12 has Bogart sitting
in it.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The best part of the movie begins at
59.15 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>when the ship is in blackout and
the set is constructed in an expressionist style. The next fifteen minutes are
quite fun but it is a case of too little, too late.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am surprised at later critics praising the film. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a 2014 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2014/sep/24/beat-the-devil-bfi-john-huston-truman-capote-humphrey-bogart">article in </a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2014/sep/24/beat-the-devil-bfi-john-huston-truman-capote-humphrey-bogart">The Guardian</a> </i>article Truman Capote <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is quoted as saying the film was great fun and
the writer goes on to say this is probably why audiences enjoy the film. That is a shaky statement as
you can see by the later film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sabrina </i>(1954)
where Bogie clashed with director Billy Wilder whom he found autocratic rather
than fun-loving like Huston. Yet Sabrina was a popular and critical hit though
Bogie was cast against type in a sophisticated comedy. Far more important than
a cast having a relaxing time during or after filming is a well-structured script
to ensure a good film.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Respected film critic Roger Ebert gave
the film five stars and to be fair to him we should look at why. </span><span style="background: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">First Ebert plays (Beat the)Devil’s Advocate.
"Beat the Devil" went straight from box office flop to cult classic
and has been called the first camp movie, although Bogart, who sank his own
money into it, said, "Only phonies like it." I’m hearing you,
Bogie.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“The plot is an afterthought. This is a movie about
eccentric behavior,” Ebert says. “The movie has above all effortless charm.”</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I have to disagree. I thought everyone was trying
to be clever and waiting for the applause and they forgot you have to work
damned hard to get sustained laughs in a comedy.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/j-hoberman"><b><span style="background: white; color: #333333;">J. Hoberman</span></b></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> writing in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New
York Times </i>of March 29, 2019, does the film no favors by comparing it to the movie often regarded as the worst Hollywood comedy of all time. </span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Thanks to Bogart’s perplexed
underplaying and the anticlimactic ending, “Beat the Devil” was misunderstood
in much the way that Elaine May’s not dissimilar anti-thriller “Ishtar” would
be in 1987.”</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Some readers will recall the Gary Larson cartoon of Hell’s Videos Store which
has copies of only one movie. You guessed it, <i>Ishtar.</i></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">The Director</span><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>JOHN HUSTON</b> has a
quite remarkable place in the history of film noir. His very first film was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Maltese Falcon (</i>1941). The film was
nominated for a 1942 Academy Award for best picture and writer Huston was nominated
for best adapted screenplay. Sidney Greenstreet in his first film role
was nominated for best supporting actor.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From 1941 to 1950 John Huston made eight films
and four are among the greatest noirs ever made: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Maltese Falcon</i> (1941) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Treasure of Sierra Madre</i> (1948) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Key
Largo</i> (1948) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Asphalt Jungle</i>
(1950). </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Huston was a successful scriptwriter who struck a
bargain with Warner Brothers that if he wrote one more successful film he would be
given a chance at directing. The winning script was for the 1941 noir <i>High
Sierra</i>, starring Ida Lupino and Humphrey Bogart. Later that year Huston chose T<i>he Maltese Falcon </i>to direct.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The film was low budget
but the director scrupulously planned the entire movie and was fortunate to
attract aging siren Mary Astor and two character actors Peter Lorre and Sydney
Greenstreet to support Bogie who did not mind playing in a B again as he liked
working with Huston. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Huston received 15
Oscar nominations including for best Director at 79 years of age for </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prizzi%27s_Honor"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Prizzi's
Honor</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> (1985) for which
his daughter Angelica won best actress. He won two Oscars, for directing and
writing the screenplay for </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Treasure_of_the_Sierra_Madre_(film)"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">The Treasure
of the Sierra Madre</span></i></a><span style="background: white; color: #4c4c4c;">.
His father Walter won best supporting actor for the movie.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">The verdict<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 21.3333px; text-indent: 33.2667px;">The full movie</span></span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xB4ifYWFvDA/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xB4ifYWFvDA?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our next noir double is</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Five minutes to live</i> (1961) and</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Whistle Stop </i>(1946)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our song is from the star of </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-indent: 33.2667px;">Five minutes to live</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 33.2667px;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 33.2667px;"><br /></span>
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<br />Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-89034396677520983242019-03-01T20:00:00.000-08:002019-03-01T20:00:03.485-08:00Free noir double shows the classics <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Enjoy two classic gritty noirs</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">FOR ME, <i>KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL</i> (1952) ticks all the boxes for an excellent little noir. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">It is produced on the cheap by Edward Small Productions for an established but financially troubled distributor United Artists which, at the time, does not have a production studio of its own. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The cast is full of no names with the exception of lead John Payne who says he commands 25% of the profits to be in the thing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The director is Phil Karlson who is an assistant director for 12 years and no one wants to give him a crack at sitting in the director’s chair so he goes off to fight World War II.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">WHEN HE COMES BACK FROM WAR, Karlson works his way up to a major studio hit, the noir <i>Scandal Sheet</i> (1952). It should have made him but instead studio politics boots him back to the Bs where <i>Kansas City Confidential</i> awaits him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24.95pt;"> The New York Times film critic </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24.95pt;">Bosley Crowther</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24.95pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24.95pt;">says the screenplay is illogical, the directing is routine, and the acting is lousy though none of these criticisms are true.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Now let’s look at the real picture. Can you believe who are the three young actors playing the crucial roles of two-bit but pathologically violent crims? They are Neville Brand, Lee Van Cleef and Jack Elam. This is like a Shakespearean stock company of noir. We have met Brand and Van Cleef before in our public-domain series but this is Elam’s first appearance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6uOhxek8mQLDZdce1oz24bQ2dYQBzGwXdYWPcwJjCzZAbnL2NG9UY9u0zvfzH6SBPJhOZbCOstA-CmfNl6mgRXsRBXzAZcDBWB7K8ZhxZbwlmEUiU6lRl5BU1vDAO7292tEqnRYAL3HWw/s1600/Kansas5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="169" data-original-width="300" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6uOhxek8mQLDZdce1oz24bQ2dYQBzGwXdYWPcwJjCzZAbnL2NG9UY9u0zvfzH6SBPJhOZbCOstA-CmfNl6mgRXsRBXzAZcDBWB7K8ZhxZbwlmEUiU6lRl5BU1vDAO7292tEqnRYAL3HWw/s640/Kansas5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">JACK ELAM</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> IS MY PICK of the three pscychos. We meet him rummaging through dozens of cigarette butts looking for a choice one. (BTW, the first cigarette is on the lips of John Payne at 2.21, fashionably early as it should be in noir). Then the camera closes in on the face of Pete Harris (Elam) who is seriously strung out, maybe a junkie or physically or psychologically seriously ill. At one stage, Harris blurts out, “I’m not that sick”, but he’s not fooling anyone, certainly not himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Elam’s main claim to fame was as a villain in westerns but he had honorable bits in noirs, too, His first uncredited role in a noir was as a “man at a bar” in <i>Quicksand </i>(1950). He was also uncredited in <span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: rgb(248, 249, 250); color: #0b0080;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Way_Street" title="One Way Street"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">One Way Street</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> (1950). Elam had a substantial role in the 1953 noir </span></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: rgb(248, 249, 250); color: #0b0080; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_the_Hours" title="Count the Hours"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Count the Hours</span></a></span></i></span><i><span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></i><span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">directed by Don Siegel. His other Siegel noirs are </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Face_Nelson_(film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Baby Face Nelson</span></a></span></i></span><i><span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> 1957 and </span></i><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gun_Runners"><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Gun Runners</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: rgb(248, 249, 250); color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> (1958). </span><span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">He had a small part in one of the great noirs </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: rgb(248, 249, 250); color: #0b0080; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_Me_Deadly" title="Kiss Me Deadly"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Kiss Me Deadly</span></a></span></i></span><i><span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></i><span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">(1955).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Elam died in 2003, aged 82.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi22ZVzHFaA_rR6xAt6uLNR-eY8-esDIcRVsLleBO7p8V5xO7DIt0cUbWnW1az0A9nAsR8Exo0P3AzPMxDCkl7lFGulYT2EmGoBimMIFiIm6T95vvHqs_IYhs0BWls-zJ2tJamqbck1DhiK/s1600/kansas-city-confidentia+payne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="1023" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi22ZVzHFaA_rR6xAt6uLNR-eY8-esDIcRVsLleBO7p8V5xO7DIt0cUbWnW1az0A9nAsR8Exo0P3AzPMxDCkl7lFGulYT2EmGoBimMIFiIm6T95vvHqs_IYhs0BWls-zJ2tJamqbck1DhiK/s640/kansas-city-confidentia+payne.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">I HAVE OFTEN THOUGHT <b>JOHN PAYNE,</b> like Cornel Wilde, had too bland a face for noir. Robert Mitchum, Humphrey Bogart, and Peter Lorre had lived-in faces. Wilde and Payne had visages rented out on Hollywood billboards. But Payne is good in </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Kansas City Confidential</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> where he is called upon to express stress, bitterness, toughness, and charm as the war-hero ex-con </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">Joe Rolfe, </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">toiling diligently in a menial job to show the world he is reformed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Unfortunately redemption does not cut it in the noir sub-genre I have called “Fate torturing the working stiff”. (I tend to dismiss the debate of whether noir is a genre. Genre simply means kind and noir is a discernible kind of Hollywood film).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Payne was under studio contract from 1936-47, successively with Goldwyn, Warner Brothers, and 20<sup>th</sup> Century Fox. None of the studios established a public identity for him as a “star” though he played in A-pictures. His last film with Fox was the smash hit and perennial favorite </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_on_34th_Street" title="Miracle on 34th Street"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Miracle on 34th Street</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> (1947) with </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalie_Wood" title="Natalie Wood"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Natalie Wood</span></a></span></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">, </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maureen_O%27Hara" title="Maureen O'Hara">Maureen O'Hara</a>,</span></span></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> and </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Gwenn" title="Edmund Gwenn"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Edmund Gwenn</span></a></span></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Working as an independent, he decided to toughen his image in noirs just as Dick Powell had successfully done. Payne, the former wrestler and boxer starred in </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: rgb(248, 249, 250); color: #0b0080; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larceny_(1948_film)" title="Larceny (1948 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Larceny</span></a></span></i></span><i><span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></i><span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">(1948)<i> </i></span><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Saxon_Charm" title="The Saxon Charm"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Saxon Charm</span></a></span></i><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> </span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">(1948)<i> </i></span><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crooked_Way" title="The Crooked Way"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Crooked Way</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> (1949) before </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Kansas City Confidential</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> and <i>99 River Street</i> (1953) both with Karlson directing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">As a free agent, Payne was shrewd enough to negotiate percentages and often all the residual rights for a film which made him a wealthy man thanks to the voracious appetite of the new television medium for content.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">He also became a conspicuous supporter of the Republican Party.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">COLLEEN GRAY</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> PLAYS THE FEMALE LEAD in <i>Kansas City Confidential</i> and shows you do not need a femme fatale to have a very good noir.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Gray plays the pretty, determined, soon-to-graduate law student, trying to help John Payne. Her positive role is important to the film as she represents the rule of law, even civilisation itself struggling against a corrupt dangerous world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Some critics see the romance between Payne and Gray as representing director Karlson’s optimistic side. But that’s just window-dressing for the tourists. We residents of Noir City know that “happily ever after” stuff is just not happening even if the camera tries to con us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Gray appeared in the noirs </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_of_Death_(1947_film)" title="Kiss of Death (1947 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Kiss of Death</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> (1947) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightmare_Alley_(film)" title="Nightmare Alley (film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Nightmare Alley</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> (1947) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sleeping_City" title="The Sleeping City"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Sleeping City</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> (1950) and </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Models_Inc._(1952_film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Models Inc.</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> (1952).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Like Payne, Gray was a staunch Republican creating the irony they were the leads in such an uncompromising anti-establishment film.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">CHARACTER ACTOR <b>PRESTON FOSTER</b> brings some deft subtlety to the role of disgruntled ex-cop Tim Foster. A confident planner at the start of the film, he becomes the unsettled embodiment of the John Lennon aphorism that life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Foster, who was also a vocalist, played in mainly B-pictures, sometimes as the male lead, from 1929 to 1967. His other interesting though not universally well-regarded noir is </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Night_(1951_film)" title="The Big Night (1951 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Big Night</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> (1951) the last American film by blacklisted director Joseph Losey who continued a celebrated career in Europe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">Joe Rolfe (reminded of how he received the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart for valor in World War II): “Try buying a cup of coffee with ‘em.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light", sans-serif;">Phil Karlson and Dean Martin on the set of a Matt Helm </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri Light", sans-serif;">movie </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri Light", sans-serif;">(James-Bond </span>spoofs, <span style="font-family: "Calibri Light", sans-serif;">1966-69) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">DIRECTOR <b>PHIL KARLSON</b> gave a great <a href="http://cine-resort.blogspot.com/2014/10/phil-karlson.html">1973 interview </a>with </span><span style="background: white; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Todd McCarthy and Richard Thompson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">As a child in Chicago during Prohibition, Karlson was employed as a cockatoo outside an illegal brewery so he grew up conscious of crime and violence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">Karlson tells a funny story how comedian Lou Costello financed the first film he actually directed rather than assisted. It was called </span><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">A Wave, a WAC and a Marine</span></i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1944). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“It was a nothing picture, but I was lucky because it was for Monogram and they didn't understand how bad it was because they had never made anything that was any good.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">It was funny but somewhat unfair on Monogram a relatively long-lasting B-studio that did foster good storylines and creative photography though on skimpy budgets and shooting schedules as low as a couple of days.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Anyway, Karlson’s second Monogram picture <i>G.I. Honeymoon</i> (1945) was a financial success as Karlson expected.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Monogram paid Karlson $250 a week and one year he made 18 pictures for them. ($250 a week is $3500 in today’s values, pretty good for a working stiff, but not the stuff of Hollywood excess for long hours and high creative demands.) Still, working for the Bs had benefits. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“It was a lot nicer working for the smaller studio because there wasn't any committee to worry about. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“When they gave it to you, you were in charge. You did it. Nobody told you what to do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“Really, it was the greatest teacher in the world for me, because I could experiment with so many things doing these pictures.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Karlson started to sneak in subversive scenes which went over the heads of his employers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“I was trying to sneak in these things that they weren't ever conscious of. In fact, they were just the opposite. They were the most conservative, right-wing guys you ever could see. They had no idea what was going on as far as the actual content was concerned.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">We need to view Karlson’s pessimism in context of speaking out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pessimism</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“I believe that you've got to speak up. It's unfortunate that I have to show it with a person. I would love to see a community get up. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“This goes back to Carl Foreman's and Freddie Zinnemann's <i>High Noon</i> (1952, with Jack Elam in a minor role) where the entire community walked away from the guy. They did the same thing with Buford Pusser, (Karlson’s successful biopic </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking_Tall_(1973_film)" title="Walking Tall (1973 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Walking Tall</span></a>,</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> 1973),<span style="background: white; color: #333333;"> they walked away from him. Once they elected him sheriff and they saw what he was doing, nobody wanted to back him up.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Kansas City Confidential</span></i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> is probably the first Hollywood film to depict extra-judicial police violence (albeit, off-camera) against a suspect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“This was so far ahead of itself that I say these pictures have been copied and recopied so many times. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“Unfortunately, Phil Karlson never got the credit for it because I've never been a publicity hound. I come from the school where what we want to be judged by is up on the screen, not by how well I know so-and-so or so-and-so.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Despite differing political outlooks John Payne and Karlson worked as a noir team,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“He's (Payne) got a wonderful creative mind himself. <i>Kansas City Confidential</i> was written in here with he and I loaded with a bottle of Scotch. We wrote the entire script and then we turned it over to a writer to put it in screenplay form. I did three pictures with him, and all three we did the same way. I did <i>99 River Street</i> and <i>Hell's Island</i> [1955] with him. With <i>Hell's Island</i>, we took <i>The Maltese Falcon</i> [1941] and we did... <i>The Maltese Falcon</i>! In our own way.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ZT1e7OQ1k15w_d9j1KPoVnEWYBTWDuroKY4CgoeNrr5opkiqJQ00kkE7GXG8n1pWJjSGXbsCv6dtbN8DRno61ASppIaFHaxdpGC0HI4hwyGNSRcQ9Fwhs0b3RPk_RiJIelp5uDjNdNVE/s1600/Black+gold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="781" data-original-width="1044" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ZT1e7OQ1k15w_d9j1KPoVnEWYBTWDuroKY4CgoeNrr5opkiqJQ00kkE7GXG8n1pWJjSGXbsCv6dtbN8DRno61ASppIaFHaxdpGC0HI4hwyGNSRcQ9Fwhs0b3RPk_RiJIelp5uDjNdNVE/s640/Black+gold.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">KARLSON MADE WHAT HE BELIEVED what was one of Hollywood’s first social-statement movies, </span><b><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Black Gold</span></i></b><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> [1947].</span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It is loosely based on a true story of a Native American bred and owned horse – Anthony Quinn is its fictitious trainer, Charley Eagle – prepared for the </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Kentucky Derby<span style="color: #222222;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The Monogram film under the studio’s new name of Allied Artists had the unheard of budget of $400,000 and took a year to make because Karlson wanted to film across the four seasons (Of course he shot five other films for Monogram that year). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Quinn, of Mexican/ Irish descent, was not known to possess any Native American ancestry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">TRIVIA #2 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">I WOULD LIKE TO THINK TWO CHARACTERS were named so </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Siletti" title="Mario Siletti"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Mario Siletti</span></a> as Tomaso <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">could introduce them to each other “</span></span><em><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #6a6a6a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal;">Señor</span></em><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> Foster, </span><em><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #6a6a6a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal;">Señor</span></em><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> Kane.”</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Charles Foster Kane was the Orson Welles character in <i>Citizen Kane</i> (1941).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Our second feature<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJgrvf5WiNXAry3aR-T3AJSHpjj2gj8FZu3SMYUKV9YZ3BFjpqtqS_TyYfF1fncjQmU9Ey_9XARXAiiv-8rZ2s8nZ3bj5kgUn6nA_pyQLDeqnZkbrFL01c0dyYMvC8zHqQTbcoBFxNvmgw/s1600/Martha+Ivers2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="873" data-original-width="580" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJgrvf5WiNXAry3aR-T3AJSHpjj2gj8FZu3SMYUKV9YZ3BFjpqtqS_TyYfF1fncjQmU9Ey_9XARXAiiv-8rZ2s8nZ3bj5kgUn6nA_pyQLDeqnZkbrFL01c0dyYMvC8zHqQTbcoBFxNvmgw/s640/Martha+Ivers2.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">THIS 1946 FILM is my third favorite noir after <i>Detour </i>(1945) and <i>D.O.A.</i> (1949). We have already seen the first two on our way to viewing 30 noirs in the public domain, that is, free to watch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">I have explained I gave extra merit points to noirs of low budget and with unfashionable cast and crew.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">Unlike the low-budget <i>Detour </i>and <i>D.O.A. The Strange Love of Martha Ivers </i>is an A-picture, produced by Hal Wallis,<i> Casablanca</i> (1942) directed by Academy award winning Lewis Milestone, <i>All Quiet on the Western Front </i>(1930) and starring Barbara Stanwyck (<i>Double Indemnity</i> (1944).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">I have been unable to find the film’s budget but I suspect it would not have been too exorbitant as supporting Miss Stanwyck were character actor Van Heflin and newcomers Kirk Douglas (first film) and Lizabeth Scott (second film). I would guess a budget about the $1m for a return at the box office of $3.25m.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Great debut<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVrVdvwS6iy4yGgdAWcek5jLhJncVYQ5MABIAOLbWs1NoH6bQcNxP2jM2nuyj1ozKeptto8eLsMT2t2n-quDonc1FKISEWo57VXVPTVgPXiwJCjt7v0jyspuMqtbVLyUFDhGaIjPP_4HPL/s1600/MarthaIvers5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="661" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVrVdvwS6iy4yGgdAWcek5jLhJncVYQ5MABIAOLbWs1NoH6bQcNxP2jM2nuyj1ozKeptto8eLsMT2t2n-quDonc1FKISEWo57VXVPTVgPXiwJCjt7v0jyspuMqtbVLyUFDhGaIjPP_4HPL/s400/MarthaIvers5.jpg" width="302" /></a></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">KIRK DOUGLAS SEALED HIS ENTRY into a long career with his debut role. In some measure he could thank writer Robert Rossen for creating such a meaty part as Stanwyck’s weak husband, given a powerful position of district attorney by his wife, Martha Ivers, who owns the small city, which bears her name, Iverstown.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">Could any actor emulate such a stunning debut? Well yes, one actually preceded it – Sydney Greenstreet, at the age of 61, in <i>The Maltese Falcon </i>(1941) which also marked the debut of director John Huston.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZty2T7pcOd-iK8uJDJdHiZ0p32ffIGtmKInmurGJJwX7oywip-cLwGtROBZggNEn3KreV1typgX4CuZwBO6lBcvGYPZH9sx2yU1-n9USZZJq94ogylSEpUUQnpZ059mZhAiVAnMaOMx50/s1600/martha-ivers4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="980" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZty2T7pcOd-iK8uJDJdHiZ0p32ffIGtmKInmurGJJwX7oywip-cLwGtROBZggNEn3KreV1typgX4CuZwBO6lBcvGYPZH9sx2yU1-n9USZZJq94ogylSEpUUQnpZ059mZhAiVAnMaOMx50/s640/martha-ivers4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">TWO ICONIC NOIR FEMMES FATALE are in <i>The Strange Love of Martha Ivers – </i>Barbara Stanwyck and Lizabeth Scott. But you can have only one femme fatale and that's Ms Stanwyck so the beautiful, husky-voiced Scott becomes the ex-country girl, abused first by her father, and then by a cynical legal system eager to take away her freedom. It is a nice turn by Scott. Though she swallows her words in a couple of scenes, she extracts aching sympathy from the viewer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">Scott’s other noirs included </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Reckoning_(1947_film)" title="Dead Reckoning (1947 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Dead Reckoning</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> (1947), </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Fury" title="Desert Fury"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Desert Fury</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> (1947), </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Walk_Alone" title="I Walk Alone"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">I Walk Alone</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> (1948), </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitfall_(1948_film)" title="Pitfall (1948 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Pitfall</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> (1948) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Too_Late_for_Tears" title="Too Late for Tears"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Too Late for Tears</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> (1949) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_City_(1950_film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Dark City</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> (1950) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_of_a_Kind_(1951_film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Two of a Kind</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> (1951) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Racket_(1951_film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Racket</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> (1951 </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_Face"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Stolen Face</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> (1952).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">For many of her roles, Scott was (unfairly IMO) criticised for her understated acting style.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnwsrUY-NGw7qh6MjUOmEPl9mq3vWzvxleCUWt9yqcNVxBfN9q9tT8xsK2wRdhtGyfW27zxsjb2dWZyDE5JIijA6IlBTc1oyHtuFA5L1Zd01c5jcpHt-ImFKZlstDOAfBHiZuOJ2K9bPfF/s1600/ivers10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnwsrUY-NGw7qh6MjUOmEPl9mq3vWzvxleCUWt9yqcNVxBfN9q9tT8xsK2wRdhtGyfW27zxsjb2dWZyDE5JIijA6IlBTc1oyHtuFA5L1Zd01c5jcpHt-ImFKZlstDOAfBHiZuOJ2K9bPfF/s400/ivers10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">In addition to </span><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, </span></i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Barbara Stanwyck starred in two other classic noirs, </span><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Indemnity_(film)" title="Double Indemnity (film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Double Indemnity</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> (1944) as femme fatale and </span><i><u><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorry,_Wrong_Number"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Sorry, Wrong Number</span></a></span></u></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> (1948) as victim.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Other noirs include </span><i><u><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Other_Love"><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Other Love</span></a></span></u></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> (1947) </span><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lady_Gambles" title="The Lady Gambles"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Lady Gambles</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> (1949) </span><i><u><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_File_on_Thelma_Jordon"><span style="color: #0b0080;">The File on Thelma Jordon</span></a></span></u></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> (1950) </span><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Man_of_Her_Own" title="No Man of Her Own"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">No Man of Her Own</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> (1950) </span><i><u><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_with_a_Cloak"><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Man with a Cloak</span></a></span></u></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> (1951) </span><i><u><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clash_by_Night"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Clash by Night</span></a></span></u></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> (1952) </span><i><u><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeopardy_(film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Jeopardy</span></a></span></u></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> (1953) and </span><i><u><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_of_Passion_(1957_film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Crime of Passion</span></a></span></u></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> (1957).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Van’s the noir man<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpZIxPhFyJO8pOvLenVGbamlIXn3rsblmyLSVWitgd0_gmpRdYpmzb3tgEDLKCQWi5Lcx0Cs-1ytTQfTB4f-1NNFaqEUOj33Ts-0hmMWH9PZ9p6NZZB8XK-whHMnAEkqPPYTtX6PKG0FJ6/s1600/Ivers12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="313" data-original-width="400" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpZIxPhFyJO8pOvLenVGbamlIXn3rsblmyLSVWitgd0_gmpRdYpmzb3tgEDLKCQWi5Lcx0Cs-1ytTQfTB4f-1NNFaqEUOj33Ts-0hmMWH9PZ9p6NZZB8XK-whHMnAEkqPPYTtX6PKG0FJ6/s640/Ivers12.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">VAN HEFLIN HAD A TOPSY-TURVEY FILM CAREER, perhaps shown by his 1950s ventures into television and European films. But he always had the habit of turning up in interesting noirs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">He won the best support Oscar for the noir </span><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Eager" title="Johnny Eager"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Johnny Eager</span></a></span></i><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> (1941) </span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">which led to prominent roles in films which mainly failed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Returning from World War II, he landed the part of professional gambler and war veteran Sam Masterson in </span><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">The Strange Love of Martha Ivers.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglI7iFtPnDiTRhF8t2Goqzj0Hvema15gPySiIG4iFU2reBB4Sn4EWsl8_a4RWZPj4zn-yMezZVYpvobkAWKhrDntdG90hsJp8Cd7FPmSkSbUexjgTok_ZmkltKukvZt77b6DXmFGY60PaI/s1600/MarthaIvers1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="620" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglI7iFtPnDiTRhF8t2Goqzj0Hvema15gPySiIG4iFU2reBB4Sn4EWsl8_a4RWZPj4zn-yMezZVYpvobkAWKhrDntdG90hsJp8Cd7FPmSkSbUexjgTok_ZmkltKukvZt77b6DXmFGY60PaI/s640/MarthaIvers1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">Stanwyck was clearly the matriarch of the movie and told Heflin not to upstage her with that bit he learned from George Raft of twirling a coin in his fingers. Stanwyck threatened retaliation with her own bit. She previewed it by lifting her skirt and adjusting a garter. Heflin mostly kept the coin twirl to scenes without the female lead. What was even better than the business with the coin was Heflin’s sardonic lopsided grin, a persistent unspoken comment on human foibles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">The acting stakes end up a three-way tie of Douglas, Heflin, and Stanwyck and thus the viewer is the winner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">Heflin starred alongside Joan Crawford in the noir </span><i><span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possessed_(1947_film)" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">Possessed</span></a> </span></i><span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">(1947). His next noirs were </span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_Violence" title="Act of Violence"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Act of Violence</span></a> (</span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">1949, directed by Fred Zinnemann and <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prowler_(1951_film)" title="The Prowler (1951 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Prowler</span></a> </i>(1951, directed by Joseph Losey).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Gone with the Creeper<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">JANIS WILSON</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> PLAYS MARTHA AS A TEENAGER in the long but crucial 16min preamble which blows out the movie run-time to almost two hours. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Wilson is very good and excellent in excitedly delivering the portentous line, “Did you steal it?”, when young Sam brings here a sandwich he has paid for. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Wilson was in two movies with Bette Davis before <i>The Strange Love of Martha Ivers</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">After appearing in the horror movie <i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040254?ref_=nmbio_trv_2"><span style="color: #70579d; text-decoration-line: none;">The Creeper</span></a></i> (1948) aged 18, she gave up acting saying she didn't photograph well. You would hope no-one in cinematic authority told her she was not pretty enough for the movies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Wilson became a pianist, organist and choir director.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The screenwriter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS</span></i><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> received an </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Academy Award<span style="color: #222222;"> nomination for </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Patrick_(dramatist)" title="John Patrick (dramatist)"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">John Patrick</span></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> for </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Best Writing, Original Motion Picture Story (Patrick’s <i>Love Lies Bleeding</i><span style="color: #222222;">).</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The screenwriter was Robert Rossen, a polymath of noir as a writer, director, and producer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">He was severely injured by the real-life noir of the </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Un-American_Activities_Committee" title="House Un-American Activities Committee"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">House Un-American Activities Committee</span></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> (HUAC) and its attendant blacklists.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">He wrote the noirs </span><i><span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_the_Fog_(1941_film)" title="Out of the Fog (1941 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Out of the Fog</span></a></span></i><span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Rossen#cite_note-FOOTNOTENeve200557-18"></a> (1941, with John Garfield and Ida Lupino) and <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Fury" title="Desert Fury"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Desert Fury</span></a> </i>(1947, with Lizabeth Scott).<i> </i>He wrote and directed <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_O%27Clock" title="Johnny O'Clock"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Johnny O'Clock</span></a> (1947) </i>and wrote, directed, and produced<i> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_the_King%27s_Men_(1949_film)" title="All the King's Men (1949 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">All the King's Men</span></a> </i>(1949, winner of three Academy Awards).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">All this success could not prevent his being blacklisted for two years from 1951 until he made the humiliating decision to name 57 communists.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">His career and health never recovered though he co-wrote, directed and produced the neo-noir classic <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hustler_(film)" title="The Hustler (film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Hustler</span></a> </i>(1961).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Robert Rossen died in 1966, aged 57.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The director<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">Famed director</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Lewis Milestone with famed cinematographer James Wong Howe (not the shooter of Martha Ivers).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">RUSSIAN-BORN DIRECTOR LEWIS MILESTONE received the first Academy Award for directing for </span><i><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Arabian_Knights" title="Two Arabian Knights"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Two Arabian Knights</span></a></span></i><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> (1927) and repeated the effort with the anti-war film <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Quiet_on_the_Western_Front_(1930_film)" title="All Quiet on the Western Front (1930 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">All Quiet on the Western Front</span></a> (1930)</i>. He was also nominated for the first film version of the newspaper comedy <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Front_Page_(1931_film)" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Front Page</span></a> (1931)</i>. He also directed the controversial <i>Rain </i>(1932) which some regard as an early noir or what others might call a proto-noir.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">During and after World War II Milestone expressed his anti-fascism through war movies. These displays of patriotism ironically may have worked against him as quite a few Republican and some Democrat politicians were ambivalent or opposed to America’s entry into the war.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">During the 1950s, Milestone was gray-listed (unofficially blacklisted) by the studios. He found little work, went overseas and reluctantly ventured into television. One consolation of his TV work was that it included noirish series such as <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Hitchcock_Presents" title="Alfred Hitchcock Presents"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Alfred Hitchcock Presents</span></a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspicion_(TV_series)" title="Suspicion (TV series)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Suspicion</span></a>, </i>and the western <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_Gun_%E2%80%93_Will_Travel" title="Have Gun – Will Travel"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Have Gun – Will Travel</span></a></i>.<span style="background: rgb(248, 249, 250); font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: #F8F9FA; color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Trivia (or is it?)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">AS WE FOUND WITH <i>THE STRANGE WOMAN</i> (1946) “strange” derives from the Bible and means promiscuous. It also has the connotation of its more modern meaning of outsider. I mean, surely only strangers like the Heflin and Scott characters could be responsible for the impropriety in the sweet little city of Iverstown. Surely.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I wonder how many cinema goers would have picked up on the Biblical allusion in the title </span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>The Strange Love of Martha Ivers. </i>One scene </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;"> explained it in </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">The Strange Woman</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">. Maybe it was mainly meant for one man who would have understood – Joe Breen, Catholic layman and chief censor from the Hays Office.</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">SAM MASTERSON IS LOOKING AT A PHOTO of Martha’s husband, Walter O’Neil, who is running to be returned as District Attorney and is tipped to become a Governor and run for President: “You still look like a scared little kid to me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">I LOVE THIS MOVIE.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEuRO7_MPRqwCCM1wgpzVn-MnPFWSO58z5_ghyphenhyphenMDI2fNXUDv_enZoN91NNSD7MiIkr_gs6KLIfe7jJhuRg7vcAxezbaBLZMzcHQVLUNlhqpmd5WZ9rE1aS2wNwUk4JSct-papH1zv1dzqk/s1600/5+stars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="852" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEuRO7_MPRqwCCM1wgpzVn-MnPFWSO58z5_ghyphenhyphenMDI2fNXUDv_enZoN91NNSD7MiIkr_gs6KLIfe7jJhuRg7vcAxezbaBLZMzcHQVLUNlhqpmd5WZ9rE1aS2wNwUk4JSct-papH1zv1dzqk/s320/5+stars.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">MUSICIAN <b>DANIEL ROSSEN</b>, solo artist and member of the bands </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly_Bear_(band)" title=""><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Grizzly Bear</span></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> and </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Eagles" title="Department of Eagles"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Department of Eagles</span></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">.is the grandson of Robert Rossen</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">Some might consider our next noir double a little controversial as <i>Rain </i>(1932) screened well before the accepted debut of noir in 1941. The second feature is <i>Beat the Devil</i> (1953) often considered a parody of noir.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Calibri Light"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin;">Both films, like the other 28 in our series, are in the public domain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-26210438331575355912019-02-08T19:54:00.000-08:002019-02-11T15:54:01.675-08:00Free films put the noir into film noir<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Take a walk on the dark side</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">A NOIR blending violence, sentimentality, and comedy may struggle for balance and <i>Johnny One-Eye</i> (1950) certainly does.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">I could not recall having seen this movie before and I was expecting the Johnny in the title to be a gangster, somebody sprouting wise-cracks and New York slang, given the movie is based on a Damon Runyon short story. A fair way into the movie we find Johnny is not a gangster, not even a person.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">We watch and hear murder, shoot-outs, threats of revenge, and animal cruelty before the plot-twist that telegraphs the picture is morphing into a sentimental weepie. Earlier, we had been given a hint of the schizoid nature of the film when would-be Broadway star Lily White (Dolores Moran) performs a dance which is meant to be sexy and funny at the same time, an uneasy combo. Even the sardonic name Lily White seems strange. Hollywood felt obliged to transform gangster’s widow and single Mom Lily onto a sweet, even-tempered young woman with a well-modulated, middle-class accent. Not quite the sort of woman you would expect to have a sweetheart like vicious crook Dane Cory (Wayne Morris).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pat O’Brien plays another gangster turned wealthy political fixer Martin Martin. The silly names work well in print but, like other aspects of the short story, offer little screen value. I mean a cute kid on the page can end up quite annoying on the screen as does Elsie White (Gayle Reed). Gayle had one more crack at the cute kid in the noir melodrama <i>Because of You</i> (1952) before acting and she parted company forevermore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Suspense is the saving grace of Johnny One-Eye. The moral standards of 1950 censors predict pretty much how the movie will end but it is constructed efficiently enough to have us eager to see what comes next. The scene in the pet shop is a pleasant surprise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">DAMON RUNYON</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> WAS A NEW YORK</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> sports journalist and short-story writer who had great success with his fiction about the city’s demiworld. He engaged in the literary reformation of humanity from the unsavory (gangsters, gamblers, grifters, pimps, prostitutes, pick-pockets) into the colorful (of language and leisure pursuits.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Twenty of Runyon’s stories became Hollywood films and most were successful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Typical of the successes were </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_for_a_Day" title="Lady for a Day"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Lady for a Day</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1933) directed by Frank Capra, </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Miss_Marker" title="Little Miss Marker"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Little Miss Marker</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1934) introducing Shirley Temple, and </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guys_and_Dolls_(film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Guys and Dolls</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1955) based on the 1950 Broadway musical. These movies played for laughs and pathos and were rewarded for doing so. The gangsters were spruced up and spring cleaned. The mobsters of </span><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Johnny One-Eye</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> are more realistic and hence less appealing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif;">A day at the races for Pat O'Brien, Spencer Tracy, and Bing Crosby</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">THE SON OF IRISH IMMIGRANTS, <b>PAT O’BRIEN</b> was lifelong friends with two other Irish actors, Spencer Tracy and James Cagney.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">After a decade in theatre, O’Brien became a movie star in the 1930s, top-billing in a diverse portfolio of films. In 1940, he left Warner Brothers and ended up at RKO which meant films of lower budgets and inevitably film noir as well as war movies and stories about priests. His string of noirs included </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: rgb(248 , 249 , 250); color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crack-Up_(1946_film)" title="Crack-Up (1946 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Crack-Up</span></a></span></i></span><i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">(1946, definitely the best in this list<b><i>)</i></b><i> </i></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riffraff_(1947_film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Riffraff</span></a></span></i></span><i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">(1947)<i> </i></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Dangerous_Profession" title="A Dangerous Profession"><span style="color: #0b0080;">A Dangerous Profession</span></a></span></i></span><span class="fn"><i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1949) </span></i></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: rgb(248 , 249 , 250); color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_One-Eye" title="Johnny One-Eye"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Johnny One-Eye</span></a></span></i></span><i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1950) </span></i><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: rgb(248 , 249 , 250); color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_Lawyer_(1951_film)" title="Criminal Lawyer (1951 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Criminal Lawyer</span></a></span></i></span><i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1951) </span></i><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_People_Against_O%27Hara" title="The People Against O'Hara"><span style="color: #0b0080;">The People Against O'Hara</span></a></span></i></span><span class="fn"><i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="fn"><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">(1951, in an MGM film which O’Brien was cast in at the insistence of his old mate and Star Spencer Tracy) and<i> </i></span></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: rgb(248 , 249 , 250); color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Detroit" title="Inside Detroit"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Inside Detroit</span></a></span></i></span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">(1956, with Dennis O’Keefe as O’Brien’s foe which makes the film compulsory for some Noiristas.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">BEFORE WORLD WAR II, <b>WAYNE MORRIS </b>was being groomed for stardom with the title role in <i>Kid Galahad</i> (1937) alongside Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart. Morris returned from the war and his was a falling star which he was unable to catch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">As the villain of </span><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Johnny One-Eye</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">, Morris is easy to boo</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">, but not memorable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Morris had a key role in Stanley Kubrick’s critically acclaimed <i>Paths of Glory </i>(1957).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">He starred beside noir hero Ida Lupino in the melodrama </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Valley" title="Deep Valley"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Deep Valley</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1947) and the next year in the noir </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Punch_(1948_film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Big Punch</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1948).</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Morris died of a heart attack, aged 45, in 1959.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">DOLORES MORAN,</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> TOO WAS PRENCILLED in for stardom with second female lead in </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: rgb(248 , 249 , 250); color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Have_and_Have_Not_(film)" title="To Have and Have Not (film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">To Have and Have Not</span></a></span></i></span><i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">(1944, with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in her first starring role.)</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Stardom did not pan out and Moran had smallish parts in the noirs </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_I_Love_(1947_film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Man I Love</span></a></span></i></span><i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">(1947, starring Ida Lupino) and </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: rgb(248 , 249 , 250); color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_the_Hours" title="Count the Hours"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Count the Hours</span></a></span></i></span><i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">(1953).<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Her film career ended in 1954.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The director</span><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">AFTER JOHNNY ONE-EYE, DIRECTOR <b><i>ROBERT FLOREY</i></b> gave up his film career to direct in television. He was 50-years old at the time, and he was to live for another 30 years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> With </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_in_the_Rue_Morgue_(1932_film)" title="Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Murders in the Rue Morgue</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1932) French-born Florey used expressionist sets and camera techniques by cinematographer German Karl Freund (</span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_(1927_film)" title="Metropolis (1927 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Metropolis</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1927), </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula_(1931_English-language_film)" title="Dracula (1931 English-language film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Dracula</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1931). Florey directed </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daughter_of_Shanghai"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Daughter of Shanghai</span></a> (</span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">1937) which featured Asian-American actors </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_May_Wong"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Anna May Wong</span></a></span></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> and </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Ahn" title="Philip Ahn"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Philip Ahn</span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> as the leads.</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> He directed the horror noir </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Face_Behind_the_Mask_(1941_film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Face Behind the Mask</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1941 with Peter Lorre) followed by </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Gangster" title="Lady Gangster"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Lady Gangster</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1942) and </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Touhy,_Gangster"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Roger Touhy, Gangster</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1944) and </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danger_Signal" title="Danger Signal"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Danger Signal</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1945). </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> His noir before the disappointing <i>Johnny One-Eye</i> was the acclaimed </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crooked_Way" title="The Crooked Way"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Crooked Way</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1949).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> He wrote a dozen books on movie making.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The shooter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">FRENCH-BORN CINEMATOGRAPHER LUCIEN ANDRIOT has some compelling but sinister shots of New York at night with the neon lights looking garish and the slanted skyscrapers appearing threatening. In expressionist tradition, they reflect the mental unease of Pat O’Brien’s character who has been shot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">From 1920, Andriot shot more than 200 films and television shows, including the noirs </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Strange_Woman" title="The Strange Woman"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Strange Woman</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1946) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dishonored_Lady" title="Dishonored Lady"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Dishonored Lady</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1947) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_One-Eye" title="Johnny One-Eye"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Johnny One-Eye</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1950) and </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderline_(1950_film)" title="Borderline (1950 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Borderline</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1950).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Trivia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">THOSE ALIVE DURING THE US PRESIDENCY of former actor Ronald Reagan may recall an expression used in relation to him. “Let’s win one for the Gipper” was a phrase which baffled me to what it implied and why it referred to Reagan. It derives from the biopic </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knute_Rockne,_All_American" title="Knute Rockne, All American"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Knute Rockne, All American</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> (1940) in which Pat O’Brien plays University of Notre Dame football coach Rockne. Ronald Reagan was player George Gipp who died of pneumonia. Reagan asked his former Vice President George Bush Senior to win one (the 1988 Presidential Election) for him, the Gipper, just as he and O’Brien did in the movie. Bush obliged.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The verdict<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The full movie<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Our second feature<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">A STILL FROM <i>THE BIG COMBO</i> (1955) is the photo most often used to illustrate film noir. It is incredibly atmospheric with the man and woman in silhouette in the shadows with dark above and below them. The image reeks of suspense.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The Big Combo</span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> director is Joseph H. Lewis and our old mate John Alton shot it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The cinematographer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="background: white; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">T-MEN</span></i><span style="background: white; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1947) WAS THE FIRST of a prolific number of films noir shot by Hungarian-American <b>John Alton</b>. Others include </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pretender_(film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Pretender</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1947) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He_Walked_by_Night"><span style="color: #0b0080;">He Walked by Night</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1948) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollow_Triumph"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Hollow Triumph</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1948) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amazing_Mr._X"><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Amazing Mr. X</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1948) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_City_(film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Canon City</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1948) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_Deal_(1948_film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Raw Deal</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1948) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Incident"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Border Incident</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1949) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crooked_Way"><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Crooked Way</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1949) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Street"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Mystery Street</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1950) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_People_Against_O%27Hara"><span style="color: #0b0080;">The People Against O'Hara</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1951) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk_About_a_Stranger"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Talk About a Stranger</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1952) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_the_Hours"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Count the Hours</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1952) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_the_Jury_(1953_film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">I, the Jury</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1953) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witness_to_Murder"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Witness to Murder</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1954) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duffy_of_San_Quentin"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Duffy of San Quentin</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1954) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Combo"><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Big Combo</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1955) and </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slightly_Scarlet_(1956_film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Slightly Scarlet</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1956, in colour)</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Alton wrote the book <i>Painting with Light</i> (1949) on cinematography. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Alton moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1932 to design the country's first sound film studio, after working in Hollywood and Paris. He remained in Argentina for seven years, shooting many pictures and making his debut as director with <i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">'El hijo de papá'</span></i> (1933).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">He returned to Hollywood where he found his substantial Argentinian portfolio did not cut it with the big studios and he settled in with the B-studio Republic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">After war service, Alton hooked up with two of the other stable B-studios RKO and Monogram.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The A-studios probably would have fired Alton who refused to light everything in the frame. Even the Bs objected.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">“<a href="http://www.cinematographers.nl/GreatDoPh/alton.htm">In most cases, the studios objected</a>,” Alton said. “They had the idea that the audience should be able to see everything. But when I started making dark pictures, the audience saw there was a purpose to it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">After the success of his B-pictures, he worked with MGM as early as </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Incident"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Border Incident</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> (1949). The majors liked his speed and use of small crews but were aghast at the results of his techniques such as </span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">chiaroscuro lighting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">Chiaroscuro</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">CHIAROSCURO </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">is an Italian word which means “light and dark” and it was a style used in Renaissance painting where you had high contrast between light and dark. In noir, a classic example would be in an interrogation scene where only parts of the faces of the characters are lit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">John Alton said he could picture in his mind where light would fall with certain set-ups and that was why he was so fast.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">The director</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">B-PICTURE DIRECTOR <b>JOSEPH H. LEWIS</b>’S noirsterpiece is usually regarded as </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_Crazy" title="Gun Crazy"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Gun Crazy</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1950).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">His other noirs include </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Name_Is_Julia_Ross" title="My Name Is Julia Ross"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">My Name Is Julia Ross</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1945) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_Dark_the_Night"><span style="color: #0b0080;">So Dark the Night</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1946) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Undercover_Man"><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Undercover Man</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1949) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Lady_Without_Passport" title="A Lady Without Passport"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">A Lady Without Passport</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1950) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cry_of_the_Hunted" title="Cry of the Hunted"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Cry of the Hunted</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1953) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Five weeks before he died aged 93 Lewis introduced a screening of <i>Gun Crazy</i> at UCLA. You could say he went out with a bang.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The musical director<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">THE JAZZ SCORE BY <b>DAVID RAKSIN</b> is very good. The up-tempo musical intro promises excitement and originality which the director and the photographer deliver though their efforts are undermined by a clichéd script, poor dialogue, and uneven acting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Raksin scored the noir </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_(1944_film)" title="Laura (1944 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Laura</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> (1944) and the music from that film became a hit record.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Other noirs he scored included </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallen_Angel_(1945_film)" title="Fallen Angel (1945 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Fallen Angel</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1945) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisy_Kenyon"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Daisy Kenyon</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1947) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_of_Evil" title="Force of Evil"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Force of Evil</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1948) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whirlpool_(1949_film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Whirlpool</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1949) and </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suddenly_(1954_film)" title="Suddenly (1954 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Suddenly</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1954).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The players<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">I ALWAYS THOUGHT HUNGARIAN-BORN <b>CORNEL WILDE</b> had a wooden face which detracted from his otherwise commendable acting ability. He was good in the successful noir </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_House_(1948_film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Road House</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> (1948) in which he played beside Ida Lupino and Richard Widmark. That was followed by the unsuccessful noir </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shockproof" title="Shockproof"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Shockproof</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> (1949).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Wilde was a graduate of the Matthew-McConaughey School of acting which believed a shirtless male lead added to the aesthetics of a theatrical art form. Wilde goes topless in <i>The Big Combo</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">WILDE AND HIS WIFE <b>JEAN WALLACE</b> were co-producers of <i>The Big Combo</i> and Wallace played the female lead, Susan. Wallace is dull and unconvincing as the trapped victim of a controlling husband, Mr. Brown. (Richard Conte).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Wallace attempted suicide in 1946 with sleeping pills and it seems a trifle tacky for her character Susan to also attempt it in the same manner. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">She was a Democrat and Wilde was a Republican so they supported different candidates at the 1952 Presidential Election.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Still, their marriage survived 30 years before their divorce in 1981. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">THE PICK OF THE ACTORS ON SHOW IS <b>RICHARD CONTE</b>. Overcoming some trite dialogue, the script constantly telling not showing, and his ridiculously being called Mr. Brown all the time, Conte is convincing as the win-at-all-cost mobster whose constant lectures on achieving success fails to conceal his pathology.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Conte got his start in noir with a starring role in </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spider_(1945_film)" title="The Spider (1945 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Spider</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> (1945).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">He had a substantial role in the successful noir </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_Northside_777"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Call Northside 777</span></a></span></i></span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">and<i> </i>his performance in<i> </i></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Confidential_(film)" title="New York Confidential (film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">New York Confidential</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> (1955) was well-received<i>.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Like many a movie actor who never quite made the big time, Conte drifted to television in the 1950s. His movie career was revived with a good part in </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Godfather" title="The Godfather"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Godfather</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> (1972).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">Trivia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">TALL THIN LEE VAN CLEEF plays Mr Brown’s loyal henchman Fante in <i>The Big Combo</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Van Cleef was often cast as a minor outlaw in noirs and westerns. He does quite well in <i>The Big Combo</i> and </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: rgb(248 , 249 , 250); color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_City_Confidential" title="Kansas City Confidential"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Kansas City Confidential</span></a></span></i></span><i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">(1952).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Sentenced to television in the 1950s and with a serious car accident in 1958, Van Cleef’s career was slow by the mid-1960s when he was cast in the spaghetti westerns </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_a_Few_Dollars_More"><span style="color: #0b0080;">For a Few Dollars More</span></a></span></i></span><i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1965) and </span></i><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: rgb(248 , 249 , 250); color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good,_the_Bad_and_the_Ugly" title="The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Good, the Bad and the Ugly</span></a></span></i></span><i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1966). </span></i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Faster than you can say cult favorite, Van Cleef’s career was revived. In fact it was better than it had ever been.</span><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Experienced writer Philip Yordan was Oscar nominated for the noir </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detective_Story_(1951_film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Detective Story</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> (1951) and was employed as a script doctor to revive sick scripts. <i>The Big Combo</i> is a case of physician, heal thyself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">There are some deft touches, particularly those involving a hearing aid. But there is too much exposition, too much talking in general. And the idea that detective Cornel Wilde is in love with a woman he had never met and tells her he loves her is stretching credibility a wee far. A better script might have made <i>The Big Combo</i> a great noir.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">The verdict<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">The full movie<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Our musical interlude </span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">honors Mr. Van Cleef and also sums up both today’s noirs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Next noirs:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">I resume full-time studies shortly and our noir double bills will be monthly from noir (punny) on – on the first Friday of each month, 8pm Hollywood time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">On Friday March 1, we will have the most watchable<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Kansas City Confidential </span></i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">(1952)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">And the five-star<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The Strange Love of Martha Ivers </span></i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">(1946)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">See you then.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-40645570041903726482019-02-01T16:34:00.002-08:002019-02-07T02:48:30.403-08:00Watch Fate on the rampage in noirs<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Trouble is going my way</b></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">FATE TORTURING THE WORKING STIFF is a subset of film noir and includes <i>Stranger on the Third Floor</i> (1940) <i>Scarlet Street</i> (1945)<i> D.O.A. </i>(1945) <i>Quicksand (</i>1950) <i>Kansas City Confidential</i> (1952) <i>The Hitch-Hiker </i>(1953) and <i>99 River Street</i> (1953)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">What made the real-life story surrounding <i>Quicksand</i> both poignant and ironic was working stiffs, director </span><span class="w8qarf"><b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></b></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: #1a0dab; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://www.google.com/search?safe=active&q=Irving+Pichel&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAOPgE-LUz9U3MC8vzslTAjPTi4vis7TEspOt9NMyc3LBhFVKZlFqckl-0SJWXs-issy8dIWAzOSM1BwAGLl4VEAAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjlienkp5TgAhUPbisKHYsmC_EQmxMoATAjegQIBBAK"><span style="color: #1a0dab;">Irving Pichel</span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">, and musical composer </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: #1a0dab; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://www.google.com/search?safe=active&q=Louis+Gruenberg&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAOPgE-LUz9U3MC8vzslTAjOT40vSirWEs5Ot9NMyc3LBhFVuaXFm8iJWfp_80sxiBfei0tS8pNSidAABP3bmPwAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjlienkp5TgAhUPbisKHYsmC_EQmxMoATAnegQIBBAO"><span style="color: #1a0dab; text-decoration-line: none;">Louis Gruenberg</span></a>,</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> were blacklisted after it and one of the lead actors, Peter Lorre, was bankrupted by bankrolling it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The full story about the behind-the-scenes turmoil of <i>Quicksand</i> is yet to be told. It cries out to be turned into a film noir directed by Martin Scorsese or the Coen Brothers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a name='more'></a><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-indent: 0px;">QUICKSAND</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> MALE LEADS, Mickey Rooney and Peter Lorre, financed it, apparently the first of a proposed three-picture deal. There was a third partner but I could not find any source to confirm who that was.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“There was a Third Man; he didn’t give evidence.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">-<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The Third Man</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1949, Carol Reed, director) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://www.allmovie.com/movie/quicksand-v39897/review">Film critic Bruce Eder</a> tells us the third partner stole Rooney’s and Lorre’s shares of the profits. Lorre declared bankruptcy in 1949 before the movie came out in 1950. As movies were pre-sold into cinemas, it is plausible that Lorre not receiving a profit share could have caused his bankruptcy before <i>Quicksand </i>hit the cinemas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Quicksand</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;"> should have been a success. It is a good movie about a motor mechanic (Rooney) whose life spirals out of control when Fate hooks him up with femme fatale (Jeanne Cagney, James’s sister) and tempts him to borrow $20 from his boss’s till. <a href="https://shadowsandsatin.wordpress.com/2013/08/11/the-tcm-summer-under-the-stars-blogathon-mickey-rooney-in-quicksand-1950/"><i>Quicksand</i> received good notices</a> (reviews) in <i>Variety</i> and Hollywood <i>Citizen-News</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">There does not seem to be a record of the financials of<i> Quicksand</i>. At the time, cinema was under threat from television. Cinema ownership was in disarray after the </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">1948 </span><span class="MsoHyperlink" style="text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Supreme_Court" title="United States Supreme Court"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">U.S. Supreme Court</span></a></span></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;"> </span><span class="MsoHyperlink" style="text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramount_Decision" title="Paramount Decision"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Paramount Decision</span></a></span></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;"> which ordered the major Hollywood to sell their cinema chains because of anti-competitive practices against smaller studios and independents. <i>Quicksand</i> distributor United Artists was in poor financial shape.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">In his autobiography, <i>Life is too short</i>, <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=h5WZOvH8VSUC&pg=PA37&lpg=PA37&dq=%E2%80%9CThe+less+said+about+Quicksand,+the+better,+except+to+note+that+it+was+aptly+titled.+We+sank+in+it.&source=bl&ots=0HEHj4Al5b&sig=ACfU3U3b581Le8Z0th1c0ED-sa1eUJa39Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj75J-O3o3gAhWDbisKHS3KATgQ6AEwAHoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CThe%20less%20said%20about%20Quicksand%2C%20the%20better%2C%20except%20to%20note%20that%20it%20was%20aptly%20titled.%20We%20sank%20in%20it.&f=false">Mickey Rooney writes</a>, “The less said about<i> Quicksand</i> the better except to say it was aptly titled. We sank in it.” Notice Rooney does not say the movie sank but that “we sank in it”. Guess we will need to wait for the film-noir biopic to find out what he meant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">MICKEY ROONEY</span></b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> WAS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR Hollywood stars after his success in musicals with Judy Garland and his role as girl-crazy Andy Hardy in the film series (15 films from 1937 to 1946 and one for old-times’ sake in 1958). When Hardy finished, Rooney returned to musicals and, somewhat oddly, turned to sports films.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">His 1950s noirs after Quicksand were </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Strip_(1951_film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Strip</span></a></span></i></span><i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">(1951) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Face_Nelson_(film)" title="Baby Face Nelson (film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Baby Face Nelson</span></a></span></i></span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1957) </span></i><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Operator_(1959_film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Big Operator</span></a></span></i></span><i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1959) and</span></i><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></i><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Mile_(1959_film)" title="The Last Mile (1959 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Last Mile</span></a></span></i></span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1959)</span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">In <i>Quicksand</i>, Rooney does well to maintain our sympathy despite the foolish choices he makes in the face of escalating misfortune. His voiceover works okay as it is in character but too sparingly used to be very effective. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">One big loose-end is the tension between the male leads Rooney and Lorre goes unresolved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">AS NOIRISTAS WOULD EXPECT, <b>Peter Lorre</b> is excellent as the selfish greedy owner of a penny arcade, a great locale for noir scenes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Austro-Hungarian-born Peter Lorre, whose parents were Jewish, was a theatre actor who rocketed into movies with the lead in Fritz Lang’s German film <i>M </i>(1931).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">After the rise of Hitler in 1933, Lorre moved to Paris, and London, and, by 1935, to Hollywood where he had an unsatisfying career despite lead film roles as Japanese detective Kentaro Moto (1937-39).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Pain from a chronic medical condition was treated with morphine which gave Lorre a chronic addiction he overcame for the most part in the late 1930s but which did return later in life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">In 1940, Lorre appeared in the movie which is often credited as the first noir, </span><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Stranger on the Third Floor</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">. His big break came the next year in another noir, <i>The Maltese Falcon</i>, in which he played determined homosexual grifter, Joel Cairo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Noirs to follow included </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casablanca_(film)" title="Casablanca (film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Casablanca</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1942) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mask_of_Dimitrios" title="The Mask of Dimitrios"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Mask of Dimitrios</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1944) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Conspirators_(1944_film)" title="The Conspirators (1944 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Conspirators</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1944) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Strangers" title="Three Strangers"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Three Strangers</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1946) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Angel"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Black Angel</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1946) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chase_(1946_film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Chase</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1946) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Verdict_(1946_film)" title="The Verdict (1946 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Verdict</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1946) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casbah_(film)" title="Casbah (film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Casbah</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1948) and </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rope_of_Sand" title="Rope of Sand"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Rope of Sand</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1949),<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Lorre’s career stalled in 1946 when Jack Warner of Warner Brothers terminated his contract and gray-listed him. Gray-listing was a less formal agreement among studio bosses than blacklisting but the result was the same – no film offers. Lorre’s offense was maintaining social contact with Marxist playwright Bertolt Brecht, a German in exile in California since 1941. Lorre was <b>not</b> officially blacklisted after his appearance before the </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Un-American_Activities_Committee" title="House Un-American Activities Committee"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">House Un-American Activities Committee</span></a></span></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> in May 1947.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">If Lorre’s career was more solid in 1949, he might have followed the theatrical wisdom of always using other people’s money (OPM) for productions and he might have passed on investing in <i>Quicksand</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">As it was, after bankruptcy, he went to Europe for a couple of years before returning to the United States for television roles as well as minor roles in successful films such as </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20,000_Leagues_Under_the_Sea_(1954_film)" title="20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">20,000 Leagues Under the Sea</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1954) </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Around_the_World_in_80_Days_(1956_film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Around the World in Eighty Days</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1956) and </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyage_to_the_Bottom_of_the_Sea"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1961). He also appeared in low budget horror films. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Most noir lovers would agree Lorre’s film career deserved a more rewarding finale. Happy endings can be as elusive in real life as they are in noir.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqFsJxlGge4imV7KWYkqttQ7rcoaJEbxkGW1XkAPGjOpqu0FTZrmiA5u7DtTF8_uOMSt_xRY89JHLEJEE1SnxASfQKabC2051YjlE8qZgrgj3kXoj1w4LLMs15YCil7yxhKWTz0BlBTJrN/s1600/jeanne+cagney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqFsJxlGge4imV7KWYkqttQ7rcoaJEbxkGW1XkAPGjOpqu0FTZrmiA5u7DtTF8_uOMSt_xRY89JHLEJEE1SnxASfQKabC2051YjlE8qZgrgj3kXoj1w4LLMs15YCil7yxhKWTz0BlBTJrN/s400/jeanne+cagney.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">JEANNE CAGNEY</span></b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> IS QUITE GOOD as femme fatale Vera Novak whose back story as a neglected child fighting off the advances of boys in a small town elicits some sympathy to balance dislike of her dangerous greed. Vera’s desire for a mink coat imperils Dan Brady but it is a personal tragedy for her, too. Tragedy in <i>Quicksand</i> is downmarket Shakespearean as it stems from Fate playing cruel jokes as well as from human foibles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The movie had rightly been called a morality tale but the moral is rather complex as business people do immoral things in the film without punishment. The moral seems to be that, because Fate is inevitably vindictive with working class people, they need to be scrupulously honest in all their dealings or suffer the consequences. That is hardly a revolutionary message but the moral guardians of Hollywood decided director Irving Pichel was best blacklisted anyway.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The director<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtE9uXHxI5TyhMBX-JriHNo0K99SmpRgb3VA5E1WROALDRXBo0eEnapASD4he9EOojbctwkb5p-gyZE-Wp-xUV_DfaorpuQu1A0FGVIOihRZe-6_V9T0iRmhX38TWqeGQUlDQnndcTKYKO/s1600/Irving_Pichel_-_still.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="302" data-original-width="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtE9uXHxI5TyhMBX-JriHNo0K99SmpRgb3VA5E1WROALDRXBo0eEnapASD4he9EOojbctwkb5p-gyZE-Wp-xUV_DfaorpuQu1A0FGVIOihRZe-6_V9T0iRmhX38TWqeGQUlDQnndcTKYKO/s1600/Irving_Pichel_-_still.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">AFTER GRADUATING FROM HAVARD in 1914, <b>Irving Pichel</b> spent 15 years as an actor in theatre before moving to Los Angeles for a decade acting in talking pictures. He also occasionally directed and from 1939 he began to cut back on acting for directing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">He worked across a range of genres and his noirs included </span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temptation_(1946_film)" title="Temptation (1946 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Temptation</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1946) <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They_Won%27t_Believe_Me" title="They Won't Believe Me"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">They Won't Believe Me</span></a></i> (1947) and <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Without_Honor_(1949_film)" title="Without Honor (1949 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Without Honor</span></a></i> (1949).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Jewish born Pichel came into the view of the <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), co-founded and administered by Democrat Congressman </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_E._Rankin" title="John E. Rankin"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">John E. Rankin</span></a>, an anti-Semite, racist, and isolationist </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">who opposed America entering World War II. Rankin was suspicious of Pichel’s anti-fascist films made before the U.S. entered World War II.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Pichel was subpoenaed in 1947 to appear before the HUAC. He was never called but had the threat hanging over him for the next few years and the major studios blacklisted him. He developed a heart condition during this time.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">After <i>Quicksand</i> he did two more US films before moving overseas. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">In 1954 he died of a heart attack. He was 63-years-old.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The composer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">RUSSIAN-BORN<b> LOUIS GRUENBERG</b></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> composed the music for <i>Quicksand</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">He wrote operas, concertos, and symphonies as well as film scores including those for <i>Stagecoach</i>, (1939) and <i>All the King's Men</i> (1949).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> A mere year after the success of <i>All the King's Men, </i>Gruenberg never worked in Hollywood again after <i>Quicksand</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The cinematographer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">SHOOTER <b>LIONEL LINDON</b> captured a great scene in which Dan and Vera (wonderfully bland names with apologies to the such-named in real life) look at a mink in the store window.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> Lindon won the color-picture Academy Award for <i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Around_the_World_in_80_Days_(1956_film)" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Around the World in 80 Days</span></a></span></i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"> (1956) in which Peter Lorre had a brief cameo as a ship steward.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> He shot the noirs: <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blue_Dahlia" title="The Blue Dahlia"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Blue Dahlia</span></a> </i>(1946) <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alias_Nick_Beal" title="Alias Nick Beal"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Alias Nick Beal</span></a> </i>(1949) <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sun_Sets_at_Dawn" title="The Sun Sets at Dawn"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Sun Sets at Dawn</span></a></i>, (1950) <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Turning_Point_(1952_film)" title="The Turning Point (1952 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Turning Point</span></a></i> (1952) and <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Want_to_Live!" title="I Want to Live!"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">I Want to Live!</span></a> </i>(1958)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“Men don’t die easily; they take a lot of killing.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">– A kind lawyer explains the facts of life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Dan: (<i>sings)</i> There’s blues in your big brown eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Vera: Oh, you sing, too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Dan: Only for you, Honey.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">– Mickey lampoons his Hollywood musicals while giving himself an unheeded warning of the danger in Vera’s eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">You would think some enterprising pop artist would have cottoned on to their being a good song chorus to Mickey’s throw-away lyric of “blues in your big brown eyes". It was in 1968 that country singer Jim Reeves came up with the hit </span><i><span style="background: white; color: #545454; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">That's when I see </span></i><em><span style="background: white; color: #6a6a6a; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">the blues (in your</span></em><i><span style="background: white; color: #545454; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> pretty </span></i><em><span style="background: white; color: #6a6a6a; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">brown eyes</span></em><i><span style="background: white; color: #545454; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">.)</span></i><i><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The verdict<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">The full movie</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Brought to you by</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_1AFg8Y354X-B0GhXSNyQaaUnREIr8eH-aWC5r2HZL-kDx1Qx69SzlfD3Z3y0rdrmKWNuGLF1xz5R5u3RZECj5WW2PVA7QYPclhsD_xCrlAUwoSGL7C56GHPxN_s4v9XFGOT7WfagHByT/s1600/Iraqi+Icicle+3rd+edition+front+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="225" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_1AFg8Y354X-B0GhXSNyQaaUnREIr8eH-aWC5r2HZL-kDx1Qx69SzlfD3Z3y0rdrmKWNuGLF1xz5R5u3RZECj5WW2PVA7QYPclhsD_xCrlAUwoSGL7C56GHPxN_s4v9XFGOT7WfagHByT/s320/Iraqi+Icicle+3rd+edition+front+resized.jpg" width="213" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Now an audiobook <a href="https://awesound.com/bentbananabooks/audiobook/iraqi-icicle">HERE</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 22pt;">Our second feature</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEPIgOcroe69TLRTWAO9H2IIa50UyvCXA1dvDk2tbb1H46trIgeSeNWuQBCYMEWeR7SjJOJrK_Sm37623whlkmfmkJIUKRZZgLRrEgQPpgqREsUInQ-PXbj0aNXGd0fU9oR6CrsC_DGkLQ/s1600/Detour1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="331" data-original-width="220" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEPIgOcroe69TLRTWAO9H2IIa50UyvCXA1dvDk2tbb1H46trIgeSeNWuQBCYMEWeR7SjJOJrK_Sm37623whlkmfmkJIUKRZZgLRrEgQPpgqREsUInQ-PXbj0aNXGd0fU9oR6CrsC_DGkLQ/s640/Detour1.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">MY FAVORITE NOIR of all time is <i>Detour</i> (1945) directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and starring Tom Neal (Who?) and Ann Savage (Who?).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">I am not saying this is a better movie than<i> Casablanca</i> or <i>The Maltese Falcon</i> or <i>The Big Sleep</i>. But made in the Poverty-Row studio of </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">for a pittance with unknown actors and a gray-listed director, </span><i style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-indent: 0px;">Detour </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-indent: 0px;">showed</span><i style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-indent: 0px;"> </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">how far a good suspenseful story, taut dialogue, and clever but cheap photography could carry a film noir.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">And <i>Detour </i>is not just a film for the noir zealots. It grossed $1m, making it among the top 100 or so films of the year, 1945. Wikipedia has its production budget as within a rubbery <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detour_(1945_film)">range of $20-100,000</a>. Taking the mid-point of $60,000, the multiples of gross to budget approaches 20, perhaps giving it the top ratio of return on investment in 1945. It definitely had higher multiples than the highest-grossing film of the year the goody-two-shoes <i>The Bells of St Marys</i> ($19.7m gross on a budget of $1.3m, enough to make 20 or more Detours).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">This is in the context of independent distributor PRC battling against the unfair renting and screening-times practices of the cinema chains owned by the major studios. (As you will recall the anti-competitive practices were exposed a few years later </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">in the Supreme Court Paramount decision and the major studios were forced to sell their cinemas.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Thanks to word of mouth, cinema-goers will often find a good movie, even when it is largely unheralded. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Perfect noir start<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">DETOUR IS A LEAN MEAN, CRAFTILY PACED MOVIE which clocks out after 1hr 07min. It begins in a cheap diner with unkempt Al Roberts hunched over a cup of coffee until a jukebox jazz song sends him crazy. The song also sparks Al’s voiceover and the flashback. All is wrong in the world of noir.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> The acting from the unknown actors in the diner and the little-known lead, Neal, is good so we can feel the B-Picture ahead of us might be rewarding. It is.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Fate goes a-tripping<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">AL NARRATES MUCH OF THE STORY and he warns us early on that a lot of people including the police (and the viewers?) might think he is making stuff up. We are warned that what we are watching may not have been what really happened. And it is not like in <i>Rashomon</i> (1950) where we get to see alternative “truths”. Here we are stuck with Al’s truth, even while we are urged to doubt it. Clever and disturbing!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">In Al’s truth, Fate unjustly trips you up. The voice-over says, “Whichever way you turn, Fate sticks out a foot and trips you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">This is just one of the catchy lines in the voice-over which works so well because you can concentrate on the attractive photographic scenes rather than a talking head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The cinematographer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The photography is excellent, probably as a result of cooperation between director Ulmer and cinematographer </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Benjamin Harrison Kline who also directed eight films from 1931-45. An early memorable scene is where jazz pianist Al and his vocalist girlfriend Sue are walking through fog of differing densities as she tells him she is going to try her luck in Hollywood. In another scene, Sue is singing a jazz tune with the horn section in silhouette behind her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Well-framed car scenes with cut to eyes in the rear-view mirror are equally engaging. This is “small is beautiful” and "less is more” before their time in the sun.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Some may say this minimal set-design and photography were born from budgetary constraints but that only makes their effectiveness more laudable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Kline, Ulmer, and Tom Neal worked in 1945 on the ultimate cheapie, <i>Club Havana</i> with no script, just a one-page outline, one set, and a four-day shoot. “I really had fun on that one,” <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=ZBPHL2sQ3JoC&pg=PT947&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false">Ulmer said</a>. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;"> Unlike </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">Detour</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">, <i>Club Havana </i>is not highly regarded.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">The noirs Kline shot include </span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoot_to_Kill_(1947_film)" title="Shoot to Kill (1947 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Shoot to Kill</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1947) <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tough_Assignment" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">Tough Assignment</span></a></i> (1949) and <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Expos%C3%A9" title="Miami Exposé"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Miami Exposé</span></a></i> (1956).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The players<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">I BELIEVE VERA (<b>Ann Savage</b>) is one of the best femmes fatale in all of noir. Tough as nails, and certainly “fatale”, she exudes vulnerability from memory of a harsh past and this endears her to an audience. When we first meet her, we see her silently deciding whether to ride with Al. Her slow walk to the car is surprisingly gripping.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Once she is in the car, the voiceover says, “She looked as if she’d just been thrown off the crummiest freight train in the world.” Narrator Al continues that Vera has ‘not the beauty of a movie actress . . . (but) a beauty that’s almost homely because it’s so real.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Savage remained stuck in B-pictures and gave the game away in the mid-1950s but she made a comeback in the critically acclaimed <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Winnipeg" title="My Winnipeg"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">My Winnipeg</span></a></i> (2007).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">TOM NEAL</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> was an amateur boxer as well as an actor who lived a particularly sordid life which you can read about if you are interested. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Neal">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Neal</a> Detour co-star Ann Savage described Neal unflatteringly as childlike. As an adult, he was a most dangerous child.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The screenwriter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><b>MARTIN M. GOLDSMITH</b></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="text-align: start;"> was a screenwriter and novelist who wrote two classic </span>films </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">noir</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">, <i>Detour</i>, which he adapted from his 1939 novel of the same name, and </span><i style="text-align: start;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Narrow_Margin" title="The Narrow Margin"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Narrow Margin</span></a></i><span style="font-size: large; text-align: start;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">(1952) </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">for which he received an Academy Award nomination. He also wrote the screenplays for the noirs</span> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dangerous_Intruder">Dangerous Intruder</a> <span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">(1945)</span>) <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Spot_(1947_film)" title="Blind Spot (1947 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Blind Spot</span></a></i><span style="text-align: start;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">(1947)</span><span style="text-align: start;"> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakedown_(1950_film)">Shakedown</a> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">(1950) </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">and</span><span style="text-align: start;"> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell%27s_Island">Hell’s Island</a> <o:p></o:p></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">(1955, story). </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">As a teenager, Goldsmith hitch-hiked across America, part of the inspiration for Detour.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 26.0pt;">Trivia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Some film grosses from 1945 from <a href="http://www.ultimatemovierankings.com/top-grossing-1945-movies/">Ultimate Movie Rankings</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">(There are some discrepancies with Wiki reports on individual films. For </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">exanple, Wiki has the gross of <i>Hotel Berlin</i> at $2.5m, which still makes it a success.)</span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The Bells of St Mary’s</span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> $19.7m (Ingrid Bergman as a nun – really!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Spellbound </span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">$12.5m<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Mildred Pierce</span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> $9.7m<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The Lost Weekend</span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> $9.5m<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Scarlet Street</span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> $6.9m<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Hotel Berlin</span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> $5m (with Peter Lorre)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Detour</span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> $1m<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The Great Flamarion</span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> $900,000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The Verdict<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The full movie<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Next noir double feature<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Johnny One-Eye</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"> (1950) <i>The Big Combo (</i>1955)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Our song</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">picks itself as here is the song that drives Al crazy at the start of <i>Detour</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-40699702466429563842019-01-25T18:32:00.002-08:002019-01-26T02:28:02.716-08:00Filmmakers fled Hitler for Hollywood<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 18.0pt;">
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 20.0pt;"><b>Bleak noir is hard to watch</b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 20.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">FRITZ LANG'S <i>SCARLET STREET</i> (1945) is well acted and well photographed but I find it a most unappealing movie. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">I have watched it three times now over the course of many years. After the first time, I promised myself to never watch it again. But I had forgotten how it progressed so I watched it the second time, only to promise myself not to give it a third viewing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Watching for this review produced a similar result and I again had forgotten the details. That’s it, no more <i>Scarlet Street</i> for me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">The film is unrelentingly misogynist and misanthropic. The excellent acting from Edward G Robinson, Joan Bennett, and Dan Duryea cannot redeem such an unpleasant movie. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">I am mindful film enjoyment is a subjective experience. Some may consider Edgar G. Ulmer's <i>Detour</i> (1945) difficult to watch but I find it in engrossing, poetic even. Similarly, some noiristas will wax lyrical about <i>Scarlet Street</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">As I have mentioned before, many of the best villains/ femmes fatale in noir have redeeming features. In <i>Scarlet Street</i>, Kitty March (Bennett) and Johnny Prince (Duryea) have none as they relentlessly steal the cash, possessions, and dignity of Chris Cross (Robinson). Cross is a sympathetic character but that only makes it harder to watch him stumble to his inevitable doom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">For a noir to be successful there should be light and shade in central personalities as well as in photography. A minor character can be unabashedly evil and that device can work wonders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">Censorship<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">SCARLET STREET</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> WAS THE FIRST Hollywood movie where a murderer was not brought to justice. While that noteworthy plot twist escaped the Hays Office, other censors pounced.<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1225806?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents"> The film was banned</a> in New York State, and in the cities </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">of Milwaukee, and Atlanta. One of the three censors described the film as “licentious” and “profane”. You are going to watch it now aren’t you? I have always thought censors doubled as publicity officers for the products they ban.</span><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Scarlet Street</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> is a remake of a 1931 French movie </span><i><u><span style="background: white; color: #f62828; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021739/?ref_=nv_sr_2"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration-line: none;">La Chienne</span><span style="color: #f62828;"> </span></a></span></u></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">directed by Jean Renoir. In English, the French title translates into “the bitch” which gives some idea of the hard-core misogyny which will follow the opening credits. Renoir, who himself relocated to Hollywood after Hitler conquered France, was said to dislike Lang’s remake. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> Lang was born in Austria and became a filmmaker in the Weimar Republic, a designation of Germany between the end of World War I in 1918 and 1933, the year Adolf Hitler rose to power. Lang made three sorts of films in the Weimar Republic: art-house movies, popular thrillers, and a combination of the two as with the expressionist classic <i>M, </i>starring Peter Lorre as a serial child killer. Lang also made the Doctor Mabuse trilogy horror films about a megalomaniac and <i>Metropolis</i> one of the most amazing films of all time. These films combined the 1920s art and theatre aesthetic of expressionism with the photographic and composition tricks which would become central to film noir.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Discussion of art and focus on the amateur paintings of Christopher Cross were innovative for a popular movie and worked well or at least held my interest and I am sure the interest of a lot of other viewers. We see Cross painting what we expect to be a still life of a fragile flower and it turns out to be an expressionist flat splat of colors. Lang’s theme of industrial capitalism throttling creativity was explored in <i>Metropolis </i>and here in <i>Scarlet Street</i>, time-bound white-collar jobs imprison the spirit.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Expressionism projects psychological disturbances into the outside world, hence noir’s obsession with askew places and objects, shadows, misunderstandings and manipulation. As expressionism grew from the horrors of World War I, inner feelings are often of dread, anger, and seeking relief through desperate desire for physical pleasure and happiness.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">There are a lot of themes explored in <i>Scarlet Street</i>, probably too many, and too many plot twists as well. The movie does seem to wander about the bush after the climactic murder.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">It is a good-looking film and the print I have chosen for viewing is excellent. There are some short ads but I doubt you will find them too intrusive,</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> You will notice in my noir reviews, I rarely disclose much of the plots. Some people reading this will not have seen the films and some readers will have forgotten them. It surprises me that so many reviews of noir extensively discuss details of the plot. I don't see why noir should be excluded from general warnings against spoilers.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">The director </span><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">FRITZ LANG WAS A RESPECTED FILMMAKER in Germany when Hitler rose to power in 1933. The Nazis were suspicious of Lang because of his films which they correctly judged as being critical of their authoritarianism, Paradoxically, as a director, Lang was authoritarian though his films such as <i>Metropolis</i> and the Mabuse series warned against it at a political level. Somewhat bizarrely Lang was also under threat because his mother was Jewish though she had converted to Catholicism soon after her marriage to a staunch Catholic,</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Even more bizarrely Joseph Goebbels, minister of propaganda, invited Lang to head the new Nazi Film Board. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Lang left Germany in 1933 for Paris</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> while his Nazi-sympathetic wife, screenwriter </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Thea von Harbou, who had written the script for <i>Metropolis</i> stayed in Germany. There is some doubt how sympathetic to Nazism Harbou was and Lang was unfaithful to his wife during their marriage. The couple divorced.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">In 1935 Lang moved to Hollywood clutching an MGM contract.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Lang’s first Hollywood noir was <i>Moonstruc</i>k (1942) sort of. Lang walked off the set because leading man Frenchman Jean Gabin had started an affair with Lang’s mistress Marlene Dietrich. Archie Mayo took over the direction of <i>Moonstruc</i>k which also starred Ida Lupino and Claude Rains. <i>Moonstruc</i>k is an under-rated noir which, like <i>Algiers</i> (1938), with French lead Charles Boyer, has dashes of poetic realism. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Lang’s first completed noirs were the anti-Nazi </span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangmen_Also_Die!" title="Hangmen Also Die!"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Hangmen Also Die!</span></a> </span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">(1943)<i> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Fear" title="Ministry of Fear"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Ministry of Fear</span></a> </i>(1944), based on the Graham Greene novel, <i> </i>and<i> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Woman_in_the_Window" title="The Woman in the Window"><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Woman in the Window</span></a></i>(1944).<i> The Woman in the Window </i>was essentially the same film as next year’s <i>Scarlet Street</i>. Robinson, Bennett and Duryea were in both and they had the same cinematographer </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_R._Krasner" title="Milton R. Krasner"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080;">Milton R. Krasner</span></a>.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Noirs which followed <i>Scarlet Street</i> included <i>Cloak and Dagger</i> (1946) <i>Secret Beyond the Door</i> (1948) <i>House by the River</i> (1950) and <i>Clash by Night </i>(1952)</span><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">In 1953 Lang directed two of his most famous noirs, <i>The Blue Gardenia</i> and <i>The Big Heat</i> which included the infamous scene of Lee Marvin disfiguring Gloria Grahame with scalding coffee over her face.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">Lang’s last noirs were </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">Human Desire</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">(1954) </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">Moonfleet (</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">1955) </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">While the City Sleeps</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;"> (1956) and </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">1956).</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">The photographer</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS1dQ5Oe6uuIFBX-I92BeV61TUX-5LCFMOlayPlYd7ukoce_THVZjBWXjlJwwoErKx9LTqSbm74sYheAs-VGoctaz-vfCs0OYMZ5r7-0zm8MRnFgNRKZZ1N5ndg7VLoZycCnV10A2YMBbO/s1600/Krasner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="253" data-original-width="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS1dQ5Oe6uuIFBX-I92BeV61TUX-5LCFMOlayPlYd7ukoce_THVZjBWXjlJwwoErKx9LTqSbm74sYheAs-VGoctaz-vfCs0OYMZ5r7-0zm8MRnFgNRKZZ1N5ndg7VLoZycCnV10A2YMBbO/s1600/Krasner.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">MILTON KRASNER WAS A PROLIFIC cinematographer of more than 150 films between 1933 and 1970. (In 1942 alone, he shot seven films.) Depending on the assessment of classics, he may have shot more classic noirs than any other shooter. As well as the Fritz Lang two-in-one, </span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The Woman in the Window </span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">and </span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Scarlet Street</span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">, Krasner shot <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Mirror_(film)" title="The Dark Mirror (film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Dark Mirror</span></a></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1946) <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Double_Life_(1947_film)" title="A Double Life (1947 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">A Double Life</span></a></i> (1947) <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Accused_(1949_film)" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Accused</span></a></i> (1949) <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Set-Up_(1949_film)" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Set-Up</span></a></i> (1949) <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Strangers" title="House of Strangers"><span style="color: #0b0080;">House of Strangers</span></a></i> (1949) <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_About_Eve" title="All About Eve"><span style="color: #0b0080;">All About Eve</span></a></i> (1950) <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Way_Out_(1950_film)" title="No Way Out (1950 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">No Way Out</span></a></i> (1950) and <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadline_%E2%80%93_U.S.A." title="Deadline – U.S.A."><span style="color: #0b0080;">Deadline – U.S.A.</span></a></i> (1952) He also shot the brilliant <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Bird_of_Youth_(film)" title="Sweet Bird of Youth (film)"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Sweet Bird of Youth</span></a></i> (1962) which I would suggest is neo-noir.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Krasner won the Academy Award for best color cinematography for </span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Coins_in_the_Fountain_(film)" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">Three Coins in the Fountain</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1954). (<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">From 1939 to 1967, there were separate<b> </b>awards for color and for black-and-white cinematography.) He also won best </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">cinematography at the Cannes Film Festival for</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> <i>The Set-Up,</i> a boxing noir.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://www.cinematographers.nl/GreatDoPh/krasner.htm">Krasner worked </a>in black-and-white and color, standard format and widescreen, in a variety of genres, for a multitude of directors, at all the major studios. He also served an apprenticeship as a camera assistant from 1919 to 1932. Little wonder he was so good at his craft. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">The finances<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Backed by Universal Pictures, <i>Scarlet Street </i>had a quite substantial budget of $1.2m, enough to finance a dozen or more Poverty-Row films, and $16.75m in today’s values. (Again I will repeat my lament that modern Hollywood has lost its way with films with budgets of hundreds of millions of dollars choking out diversity.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Scarlet Street</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> grossed $2.95m or $41.2m, today, making it a success in any accountant’s maths.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;"> The Players</span><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">EDWARD G ROBINSON</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> MADE A NAME for himself in gangster movies which became popular among the first talkies of the 1930s. This was also the era of the Great Depression. These three events produced gangster films which in style and storytelling were America's contribution to the future aesthetics of </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">film noir when combined with European </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">expressionism</span>.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Little Caesar</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Three of Romanian-born Robinson's early gangster films were <i>Outside the Law</i> (1930) directed by Todd Browning, <i>Little Caesar</i> (1931) directed by Mervyn Leroy, and <i>Smart Money</i> (1931( directed by Alfred E. Green. <i>Smart Money</i> was the only time Robinson play beside another gangster most wanted James Cagney.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Robinson did appear beside Humphrey Bogart in five films: B<i>ullets or Ballots</i> (1936) <i>Kid Galahad</i> (1937) <i>The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse</i> (1938) <i>Brother Orchid</i> (1940) and <i>Key Largo</i> (1948).</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Robinson's portrayal of sadistic gangster, Johnny Rocco, is superb in <i>Key Largo</i>, undoubtedly one of the best noirs ever made. Robinson also had a pivotal role in another celebrated noir <i>Double Indemnity</i> (1944) directed by Billy Wilder with a script by Wilder and Raymond Chandler. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">LIKE ROBINSON <b>JOAN BENNETT</b> was an anti-fascist campaigner and benefactor. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">She appeared in the noir <i>The Woman on the Beach</i> (1947) directed by Jean Renoir. Obviously Lang’s <i>Woman in the Window</i> had relocated. Her other Fritz Lang noir was <i>Secret Beyond the Door</i> (1948). Also in 1948 was<i> Hollow Triumph </i>directed by Steve Sekely. <i>The Reckless Moment</i> (1949) was directed by Max Ophuis. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Bennett’s husband Walter Wanger (pronounced as in danger) produced <i>Scarlet Street</i>, <i>Secret Beyond the Door,</i> and <i>The Reckless Moment</i>. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">In 1951, Wanger shot Bennett’s agent Jennings Lang in the groin because he thought they were having an affair which Bennett denied.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Wanger served four months on a prison farm. They dispensed just sparingly to Hollywood celebrities in those days. The agent recovered.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">FOR A MAN WHO PLAYED loathsome villains, <b>Dan Duryea </b>was quite the cheery type. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">“<a href="https://www.bestmoviesbyfarr.com/articles/dan-duryea/2018/02">It pays well and you last,</a>” Duryea said.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">In real life, Duryea raised his family outside Hollywood. He led his son’s boy scout troop. In the movies, he would have stolen their lunch money and made them rob strangers.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Duryea played the most selfish, the most obnoxious person who ever lived in </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlet_Street"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Scarlet Street</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Woman_in_the_Window"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">The Woman in the Window</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Flamarion"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">The Great Flamarion</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criss_Cross_(1949_movie)"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Criss Cross</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Too_Late_for_Tears"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Too Late for Tears</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">, and </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Stool_Pigeon"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Johnny Stool Pigeon</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">The year 1944 was a good one in Hollywood for former filmmakers of the Weimar Republic. Lang directed <i>The Woman in the Window</i>. Otto Preminger, born in Austria-Hungary, directed the noir classic <i>Laura</i>. Billy Wilder, born in Poland of Austrian Jewish parents, directed another noir classic <i>Double Indemnity</i>. (Wilder had been a scriptwriter in Germany and took up directing in Paris.)</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The verdict<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Second feature<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE, some critics decided Edgar G. Ulmer’s low-budget tale <i>Strange Illusion</i> was a re-telling of Shakespeare’s <i>Hamlet</i>. This was something we might go with except it is only true at a most superficial level and only if we believe Freud’s interpretation that Hamlet was in love with his Mom and wanted to kill his Dad and got guilty when his uncle killed his Dad instead.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span> <span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Not much of that happened in <i>Strange Illusion</i> though Paul Cartwright (James “Jimmy” Lydon) does see his dead dad in a dream which begins the movie and foretells the plot, making it the only flash forward I can recall in noir.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">They did love their Sigmund Freud in noir and in other Hollywood movies from 1930-1960. My favorite Freudian film, the sci-fi <i>Forbidden Planet</i> (1956) constructed the whole movie around Freudian theory, not just dabbling with it here and there as in <i>Strange Illusion</i>.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">As a movie, <i>Strange Illusion</i> is all over the shop with Freud, Hamlet, the generation gap, and noir scenes involving shadows, mirrors, angled photography, shots of reflections, and themes of lust and greed,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The film cries out, “we have no money” but honestly it should have been better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Scriptwriter </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://letterboxd.com/writer/adele-comandini/">Adele Comandini</a> was nominated for an Academy Award for <i>Three Smart Girls</i> (1936) and wrote the hit rom-com <i>Christmas in Connecticut </i>(1945). Maybe she just did not connect with noir. She had created a crooked psychiatrist, and a crooked businessman, always good foils in noir but fun-loving teenagers speaking teen slang was an unwelcome intrusion. I did like the warning about sexual predators preying on teenage girls. Ms Comandini probably saw a bit of that in Hollywood.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The cast included veteran actors such as </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_William" title="Warren William"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Warren William</span></a> as Brett Curtis, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Eilers" title="Sally Eilers"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Sally Eilers</span></a> as Virginia Cartwright, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regis_Toomey" title="Regis Toomey"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Regis Toomey</span></a> as Dr. Martin Vincent, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Arnt" title="Charles Arnt"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Charles Arnt</span></a> as Professor Muhlbach and African-American <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._Reed" title="George H. Reed"><span style="color: #0b0080;">George Reed</span></a> as Benjamin, the butler. The lead Jimmy Lydon was stretching his acting wings after playing the teen lead in the <i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Aldrich_Family" title="The Aldrich Family"><span style="color: #0b0080;">Henry Aldrich</span></a> </span></i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">movie series, 1941-44. Maybe that was wgy we had teen biz in this one too.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">I suspect lack of<i> </i>budget and putting too many ingredients in the stew detracted from the finished product. Still, with an Edgar G. Ulmer movie, something attractive is always going to grab your attention.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Strange line<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Are ya missin' ma kissin'?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Paul delivers this over the phone to his teen sweetheart and it seems out of character for the straight-laced Paul, his latent sexual attraction for his Mom, notwithstanding. The patter fools an eavesdropping </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Professor Muhlbach who wonders whether it is a coded message. Yes, it’s code for “we teens really need to come up with better slang”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">I HAVE THREE ITEMS of trivia, one of which is personal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">1.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 0px;">1. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -18pt;">The first cigarette is at 14: 20 which is really late for noir.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">2.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> 2. </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -18pt;">At 19.25 we meet bank manager Bill Allen played by John Hamilton, also editor Perry White on the television series <i>Adventures of Superman </i>(1952-58).</span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">3.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> 3. </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">At 54.1o, Paul places a sheet of newspaper under a door and retrieves a large metal key from the other side of the door. In my neo-noir novel <i>Iraqi Icicle</i>, my amateur gumshoe Steele Hill retrieves a metal key in a similar manner. I had actually done this when I was locked out of an old house I was living in. For some time now, doors have been sealed underneath, and electronic keys open many doors. But rest assured, Paul retrieval of the key is realistic, though, as I explain in my novel a bit of a fiddly exercise and a lot harder than Paul makes it look.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">If you have somewhere to post a review and you would like a free review copy of <i>Iraqi Icicle<a href="mailto:bentbananabooks@gmail.com"> </a></i><a href="mailto:bentbananabooks@gmail.com">email me</a>.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The verdict<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The full movie<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="display: none; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">mpvieardew o is realsut exewrcuse and a lot hardewr than Pail males it look.wasa an unwelcome intrusion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="display: none; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">n Strange Ullu</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Our song<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Next noirs: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Quicksand </i>(1950) starring Mickey Rooney and Peter Lorre</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">and </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">The mystery movie, my favorite noir of all time. See you then.</span></div>
Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-83601109231538671392019-01-18T22:06:00.000-08:002019-01-21T01:12:00.398-08:00Films show it's murder being a man<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Another noir double bill</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">brought to you by<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Now an audiobook <a href="https://awesound.com/bentbananabooks/audiobook/iraqi-icicle">HERE</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN a sucker for narration in noir, especially if it is done in a deep bass voice like Reed Hadley’s in <i>T-Men </i>(1947). A Hollywood actor since 1938, Hadley had an uncredited role as narrator of </span><i><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Bill_(film)" title="Buffalo Bill (film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Buffalo Bill</span></a></span></i><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1944) followed with a credit for narration of the financially rewarding <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_on_92nd_Street" title="House on 92nd Street"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">House on 92nd Street</span></a></i> (1945), a documentary-style fictionalisation of the FBI cracking a major spy ring. A wit once said the only “ism” Hollywood believed in was plagiarism and, in 1947, we had Hadley narrating, <i>T-Men</i> about Treasury agents cracking a major counterfeiting ring.</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">The FBI co-operated with the filming of <i>House on 92nd Street</i> and the Treasury Department supported the </span><i style="text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">T-Men project.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The attitude of noir to official law enforcement is ambivalent at best and often hostile. Philip Marlowe recounts how he was booted out of law<i> </i>enforcement for insubordination. Ross McDonald’s Lew Archer was fired because he knew too much about corruption. We are never sure why Hammett’s Sam Spade left but it was probably under a cloud.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Some critics have suggested the plot of counterfeiting and undercover agents leads to a theme <a href="http://sensesofcinema.com/2013/cteq/realism-painted-with-darkness-t-men-and-the-docu-noir-aesthetic-of-anthony-mann-and-john-alton">“</a></span><span style="color: #0f0f0f; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://sensesofcinema.com/2013/cteq/realism-painted-with-darkness-t-men-and-the-docu-noir-aesthetic-of-anthony-mann-and-john-alton">that the civil order of post-war American society is a hollow façade”</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">I DON’T BUY this theory of noir’s dynamic duo of director Anthony Mann and cinematographer John Alton coming up with a subversive film critical of treasury agents and, by extension, authority in general.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">The creators of <i>T-Men</i> would have received much benefit from co-operation with the Treasury Department. For starters they probably had some red tape cut for their on-location filming in</span><span style="background: white; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> Detroit, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. Why would the filmmakers risk upsetting their patrons at The Treasury Department? Second, co-operation with Treasury allowed the filmmakers to appeal to two sets of fans: those of the police procedural and those of noir. Third infiltrating a gang as a plot device guarantees the suspense of possibly being caught and is thus an entertainment rather than philosophical consideration.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: small; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Charles McGraw</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0px;"> plays sadistic killer Moxie</span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Certainly counterfeiting or faking is an integral theme of the film and the Treasury agents or T-Men, </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Dennis O'Brien (Dennis O'Keefe)</span> <span style="background: white; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> and </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Tony Genaro (Alfred Ryder) are </span><span style="background: white; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">counterfeit criminals in their roles as undercover agents. Or are they, one theory asks, counterfeit good guys as T-Men? I'm not sure there is sufficient evidence that the T-Men are portrayed as going rogue and becoming savage men like the criminals they pursue. We should remember the audience wants the agents to bring retribution to the villains.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">For many reasons, subterfuge is an effective device. There is the continual suspense I have mentioned. Second, an analogy the film might be invoking, with undercover agents, a comparison with the European resistance fighters operating clandestinely against the Nazi regime during the recently ended World War II. Another possible motif is the undercover agent as the outsider, This might appeal to Director Mann who came from a poor background and had to work at night to sustain his career in New York theatre as an actor and director for 10 years before coming to Hollywood. The motif of the outsider, often a moral crusader, extends across Mann's work. The themes of infiltration and dread of exposure also lend themselves to the graphic expressions of noir sets and photography.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="background: white; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The real Star of<i> T-Men</i> is cinematographer John Alton who went to work with relish on this one, his first collaboration with director Anthony Mann. Techniques he uses include deep focus which we saw used by another cinema photographic legend, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #0b0080;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Wong_Howe">James Wong Howe</a> </span><span style="background: #f8f9fa;"><i>Algiers </i></span><span style="background: #f8f9fa;">(1938)</span></span><span style="background: white; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Deep focus involves a tricky process to have foreground, middle-ground, and background in focus at the one time. Because we are used to seeing the foreground in focus and the background out of focus, deep focus actually creates a confronting image. Other photo techniques in <i>T-Men</i> include contrasting light and shade, unusual camera angles including from below and the old favorite </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">– shadows often cast by one small light such as a table lamp.</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">If anything the noir tricks are overdone. The best of them are quite startling and memorable but one stand-out scene is shot traditionally. Undercover T-Man </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Tony Genar</span>o<span style="background: white; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> supposedly unmarried is in the company of the criminal the Schemer when he has a chance encounter with his wife and her friend. The scene is well acted and well directed as the agent's wife tries to cover up when she realises the danger her husband is in. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The cinematographer </span><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;">T-Men was the first of a prolific number of films noir shot by Hungarian-American John Alton. Others include </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pretender_(film)"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">The Pretender</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> (1947) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He_Walked_by_Night"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">He Walked by Night</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> (1948)</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollow_Triumph"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Hollow Triumph</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> (1948) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amazing_Mr._X"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">The Amazing Mr. X</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> (1948) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_City_(film)"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Canon City</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> (1948) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_Deal_(1948_film)"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Raw Deal</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> (1948) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Incident"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Border Incident</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> (1949) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crooked_Way"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">The Crooked Way</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> (1949) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Street"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Mystery Street</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> (1950) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_People_Against_O%27Hara"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">The People Against O'Hara</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> (1951) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk_About_a_Stranger"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Talk About a Stranger</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> (1952) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_the_Hours"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Count the Hours</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> (1952) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_the_Jury_(1953_film)"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">I, the Jury</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> (1953) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witness_to_Murder"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Witness to Murder</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> (1954) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duffy_of_San_Quentin"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Duffy of San Quentin</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> (1954) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Combo"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">The Big Combo</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> (1955) and </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slightly_Scarlet_(1956_film)"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Slightly Scarlet</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> (1956, in color)</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Alton wrote <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520275843/painting-with-light"><i>Painting with Light</i> </a>(1949) on cinematography. </span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Charles McGraw plays handsies with Dennis O'Keefe</span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">In 1947 <b>Dennis O'Keefe </b>had a bland role in <i>Dishonored Lady</i> and this much more nuanced role as an undercover detective. O'Keefe had signed a five-year deal with producer Edward Small who produced <i>T-Men</i> and <i>Raw Deal </i>(1948), both directed by Anthony Mann and photographed by John Alton.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">O'Keefe went on to mostly undistinguished roles in pictures as well as on television. He died at the age of sixty from lung cancer caused by a lifetime of heavy smoking.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Wallace Ford</span></b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">, who plays The Schemer, was an established actor on stage and in film. He played the lead in some B-films including the Todd Browning 1934 classic <i>Freaks</i> the full version of which was banned for decades. Intriguingly Ford is listed in <i>T-Men</i> as Wally Ford, despite the fact his face and physique would be familiar to cinema-goers. Perhaps Ford was signalling that he would branch out as a character actor which he did particularly well in 1950s westerns. By the end of his career he had appeared in 150 films. Despite his long career Ford was buried in an unmarked grave. Greek tragedy has nothing on Hollywood biography. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Jane Randolph</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">,</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> who plays heartless crook Diane Simpson, fared well in Hollywood. She began acting in 1942 and concluded her career in 1948. Marrying into a rich family she moved to Spain and became a socialite. Hasta la vista, baby!</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">June Lockhart</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> plays Mary Genaro, the wife of undercover agent Tony Genaro (Alfred Ryder). As I mentioned earlier, Lockwood is fine in her brief role as the worried wife when Tony in company with the Schemer and they run into his spouse at a market. June Lockhart is the daughter of actors Gene and Kathleen Lockhart. June starred in the 1945 movie <i>Son of Lassie </i>and the television series <i>Lassie </i>(1958–1964) <i>Lost in Space </i>(1965–1968) and <i>Petticoat Junction </i>(1968–1970).</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Charles McGraw</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> plays sadistic killer Moxie, a role which, IMO, could have been played by with more exuberance.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">McGraw had parts in other noirs including the Anthony Mann films </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reign_of_Terror_(film)"><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080;">Reign of Terror</span></i></a></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> (1949) and </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Incident"><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080;">Border Incident</span></i></a></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> (1949) and </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side_Street_(1950_film)"><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080;">Side Street</span></i></a></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> (1950). He had the lead in the noir classic</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> </span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Narrow_Margin" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Narrow Margin</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: start;"> (1952)<span style="font-size: 10pt;">,</span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">The Producer</span><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">FILMGOERS</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> often have only a vague idea of what a movie producer dies. </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">T-Men</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> producer Edward Small got his nose out of joint because he thought distributor Eagle Lion was claiming credit for his work. Hollywood newspaper </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Variety </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">on</span> <a href="https://archive.org/stream/variety169-1948-03#page/n261/mode/1up">Wednesday March 31 1948 </a> said that Small had terminated an agreement </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">with Eagle Lion after<i> T-Men</i> hit cinemas. Small Productions would continue with a promise to produce </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Raw Deal </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">another noir using the combined talents of Mann, Alton, and O’Keefe. Like </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">T-Men</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Raw Deal</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> was a success. <i>Variety</i> reported that Small decided Eagle Lion was taking credit in advertising and news reports for the production of <i>T-Men</i> and downplaying Small’s contribution to the film.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">“Did you ever spend 10 nights in a Turkish bath looking for a man?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">– Spoken by O’Keefe who won the 1947 Matthew McConaughey Shirtless Award for his steambath scenes in <i>T-Men</i>.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">QUITE A FEW SCENES</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">are visually stunning. Two that particularly impress me both involve psychopath Moxie. The first sees Moxie and the Schemer in a bathhouse. The second has T-Man </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Dennis O'Brien</span> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">trying to retrieve a counterfeiting plate from beneath the washbasin where Moxie is doing his ablutions. In these scenes, the camerawork is superb and the actors’ movements are well choreographed by the director.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">The verdict</span><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">Play the full movie </span><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Our second feature is <i>Bluebeard</i> (1944).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">RICH UGLY OLD MAN seduces beautiful young women and then destroys them - what possible relevance would such a storyline have for Hollywood? Well, the producers </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">of <i>Bluebeard</i> (1944) felt this French folk tale might make a handy little parable for the movie-going masses<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>.</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> Being Hollywood, one part of the Bluebeard legend had to be changed – an ugly central character just would not do. Instead, we have the compelling rather than handsome visage of John Carradine, the patriarch of an acting clan with the most prominent member being his son David. </span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> Another change renders the victims from being Bluebeard’s wives to models of the painter, come puppeteer, come strange dude.</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Some dispute that <i>Bluebeard</i> is noir and they say is a period horror film. But Director </span><span style="background: white; color: #545454; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Edgar G. Ulmer’s</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> distinctive set designs, close-ups, unusual angles, and playing with light and shade definitely make this a noir and probably one that is underrated.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">The quality of the print leaves something to be desired and perhaps when it was originally produced in 1944 budgetary constraints might have detracted from the look and sound of the film. (Alternately, no one has uploaded a quality print yet.) However quality of the story and the suspense and the darkness of the theme all combine to make </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">Bluebeard </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">eminently watchable.</span><br />
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">PRODUCERS RELEASING CORPORATION (PRC) was a Hollywood film studio and distribution house in what was called <i>Poverty Row</i>, a term originally applied to a stretch of Gower Street in Hollywood known for low-budget studios. Rents were cheap.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">PRC lasted from 1939-47.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Austrian-born and raised set designer turned director </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_G._Ulmer"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; white-space: pre-wrap;">Edgar G. Ulmer</span></span></a></span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> began working for the studio in 1942 and directed three </span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">films there</span><span style="color: #222222;">: </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluebeard_(1944_film)"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bluebeard</span></span></i></a></span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1944), </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Illusion"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; white-space: pre-wrap;">Strange Illusion</span></span></i></a></span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1945) and </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detour_(1945_film)"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; white-space: pre-wrap;">Detour</span></span></i></a></span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1945).</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">The Players</span><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">John Carradine</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> played in more than 300 films, mostly B-pictures, and in many had lead roles. He is excellent as gaunt tormented Bluebeard creating a scary nemesis but with a dash of redemptive pitiable sorrow.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></b> <b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Teala Loring</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> played a </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">telephone operator in the noir classic <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Indemnity_(film)" title="Double Indemnity (film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Double Indemnity</span></a></i> (1944) and in Poverty Row found a good address for better parts in (financially) worse pictures. Loring was unable to emulate the movie success of her sister Debra Paget. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Loring</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> gave the game away in 1950. In </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><i>Bluebeard</i></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> she plays undercover agent Francine who is also the sister of Bluebeard’s latest model </span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Lucille (</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Jean Parker<span style="color: #333333;">)</span></span><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: #333333;">Ms Parker shocks an Aussie Inspector with a tape measure in one hand.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Jean Parker</span></b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> appeared in 70 movies from 1932 to 1966 as well as being a successful businesswoman and enduring four marriages, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Parker entered the folklore of my country Australia in 1951. She was kicked off Sydney’s </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bondi_Beach,_New_South_Wales" title="Bondi Beach, New South Wales"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Bondi Beach</span></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> by a swimsuit inspector who measured her bikini and declared it too skimpy. The story made the international press and, back in Hollywood, Chief Censor Joe Breen would have been proud of Aussie Beach Inspector Abe Laidlaw, protecting Australian morals with his tape measure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nils_Asther"><br />
<span style="text-decoration-line: none;">Nils Asther</span></a> who plays </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Inspector Jacques Lefevre</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> was a Danish-born Swedish actor active in Hollywood from 1926. Described as impossibly handsome and the Male Garbo, Asther made 16 films in the silent era, including two opposite Greta Garbo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">He was blacklisted<a href="http://nilsasther.blogspot.com/p/narrens-vag-nils-asthers-autobiography.html"> in 1934 by all major studios ostensibly for walking out on MGM bu</a>t possibly also because his homosexuality was somewhat overt and his Swedish accent was deemed an impediment for talkies. He was also a vocal critic of the studio system by which studios owned stars.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Asther was forced to leave Hollywood from 1935-40 and when he returned he was offered roles only in B-pictures such as <i>Bluebeard</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Trivia or perhaps not<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Last week I explored how the Hays Code of censorship was enforced once Joseph Breen became the chief censor in 1934.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Filmmakers did not worry much about the code during its early pre-Breen years of 1930-33.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">In the first talkies, Nils Asther played people of different nationalities such as a Chinese man in <i>The Bitter Tea of General Yen</i> (1933) directed by Frank Capra. The film portrayed miscegenation (inter-racial relations) between the characters played by Asther and Barbara Stanwyck.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">The code forbade the depiction of miscegenation and homosexuality as perversions but pre-Breen, <i>The Bitter Tea of General Yen</i> escaped into the cinemas to lukewarm public reception.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">In 1950 when Censor Breen was still in power, Columbia wanted to re-release <i>The Bitter Tea of General Yen,</i> perhaps feeling the film did not receive the acclaim it deserved first time around<i>.</i> The Hays Office advised against it and the re-release never happened,</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">The verdict</span><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Play full movie<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Next noirs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Scarlet Street</span></i></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> is a 1945 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_noir" title="Film noir"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">film noir</span></a> directed by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Lang" title="Fritz Lang"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Fritz Lang</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Strange Illusion</span></i></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> is a 1945 </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_noir" title="Film noir"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">film noir</span></a><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222;"> directed by </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_G._Ulmer" title="Edgar G. Ulmer"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Edgar G. Ulmer</span></a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">See you then.<span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Our song</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> is about people who did not admire T-Men<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-9971786727866327832019-01-16T17:44:00.000-08:002019-01-18T05:20:57.336-08:00Look what Hollywood did to Big Shot<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;">You’ve seen the movie. Now read the story on which it is based. Illustrations are from the movie<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 36pt;">Big Shot<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;">By Vicki Baum<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">BRANDT, THE SHARPSHOOTER, sat in his van, playing a game of checkers with himself. That was how he always spent the half-hour preceding his appearance. The game soothed him and steadied his hands. He raised his head irritably as the door was pulled open, and the stable smell and circus noises came surging in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"What's wrong?" he asked, unfriendly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"An accident," stammered the stable master. "They want you." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Brandt jumped up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Rodini—" the stable master said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"A fall—?" asked Brandt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Broke his neck. Killed on the spot. Please come—"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"He drank too much," said Brandt.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Slowly he put on his green dress coat. "The old man knows I shouldn't be disturbed before I go on," he said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The stable master stood waiting at the open door. "It's Sultan," he said in a low voice. "Broke his foreleg." There were tears in his eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Now Brandt's face turned white. "It's a shame!" he murmured. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">He reached for his glittering pistol case, which was decorated in the loud, circus fashion. On second thought, he turned from the case to his shabby, travel-worn valise, from which he drew an old forty-five. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Let's go," he said. Brandt hurried through the long tent that housed the cages. Half of it had been partitioned off with canvas to accommodate the horses' stalls. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sultan stood in his box, which was roped off from the vacant one adjoining. A small silent group had gathered about the injured animal. No sound came from him — only his head drooped low. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lenz, the director, turned and came over to Brandt. "Will you do Sultan the honor, “I beg you—" he murmured. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The group made way for Brandt. From a distant stall a colt neighed loudly and anxiously.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Still shining with the sweat of his performance, Sultan stood on three legs. His eyes were sad as though filmed with dust. It was deadly quiet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Brandt put his arms about the horse's neck and whispered a few words into his ear. He felt for the spot behind the ear, and while his left hand caressed the animal, he pulled the trigger. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">There was a smothered report, a shudder ran over Sultan's skin and he collapsed. The stable hands put a blanket over the dead horse. Brandt stood there a moment longer, pensive, then he turned to go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"You've got fifteen minutes yet," said the old man. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the big tent they were playing the waltz, accompanying the trapeze feats of the queen of the air.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The revolver still hung from Brandt's right hand as he approached the living quarters. Seeing shadowy forms moving on the steps of Rodini's van, he hesitated a moment, then walked toward them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">As he pushed his way through the murmuring crowd, a small figure that had been cowering on the steps rose up before him. It was Ria, Rodini's young daughter. "I don't want you to go in," she said softly but with vehemence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Brandt looked at her in surprise. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Her eyes were hot, dry, tearless. "You didn't like Papa, and he didn't like you," she said, barring the way with her arm. She looked about at the people surrounding the van—the canvasmen, the stableboys, the menagerie men. "It's not true — Papa wasn't drunk," she cried.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Brandt retreated two steps and bowed. "I'm sorry," he murmured and moved from the glare of the arc lights into the dense shadow between the vans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">THEY left Budapest for Vienna, where they pitched their tent on a meadow of the Prater. Young Lenz, the director's son, took over the dead equestrian's act.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Brandt didn't see Ria again until one morning several weeks later when he entered the ring for some practice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">A sunbeam, darting through a chink in the canvas, struck the edge of the ring. Ria sat crouched, one leg tucked under her; Brandt remembered that this was how he had always seen her—crouching on the edge of the ring, her eyes following her father at his bareback practice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The place was empty except for a few women—wives of the performers, who sat chatting, knitting and watching the artists at their morning workout. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Brandt remembered that Ria had no mother. She looked very small and lonely, squatting there at the ring, belonging to no one. She didn't once stir as he went about his shooting, but he could feel her eyes following his every movement. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">When he had finished, arranged his pistols in their case and was about to leave, he stopped for a moment beside her. "How are you?" he asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">She didn't answer but merely looked at him. He was startled to see that, though her lips were set tight, she was weeping.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Why are you crying?'' he asked her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Her only answer was a shake of the head. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Are you crying about your father?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"No, about myself," she answered now. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Brandt was at a loss for words.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"The old man doesn't want to take me along anymore," she added.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Brandt considered this for a moment before he asked: "Can't you ride?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">She shook her head again, more vehemently this time. "I'm afraid," she said at last.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">He couldn’t suppress a smile. "Well, you're not a liar, at any rate," he said and passed his hand over her hair. It was the same caress with which he sometimes gripped the mane of a horse or caressed a young lion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">She ducked under the touch of his steady hand. "I can't do anything," she said, looking him straight in the face for the first time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Where will you go?" he inquired absent-mindedly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Nowhere. I have no one," she answered. It sounded hopeless, yet she smiled as she said it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Brandt walked on a step or two, then turned back to her. "If you like it," he said, "I could break you in for my act." This time he walked off quickly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">She gazed wide-eyed after his retreating figure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Brandt, the sharpshooter, was a Swiss. He came of a well-known family, and had joined the circus via his rifle club, because they had offered him more money than he had ever dreamed of earning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">He was a lone wolf. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The others thought him snooty; they laughed about him and respected him at the same time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">He loved children and animals, and he was <b>a </b>good chess player. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">He was forty-one when he began training Ria for his act.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">At first he gave her only the simplest of tasks. She followed him into the ring; he threw her his hat and cloak and she had to learn to catch them in mid-air.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">She handed him his pistol case, and the rifle he used to shoot the ace of hearts from the card. She had to act a little pantomime of surprise, when he shot <i>doublettes. </i>The trouble was that she was afraid of shooting and flinched at every report. It took him three months to get her to the point where she could keep her eyelids from twitching when he fired.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The only thing that really seemed important to her was the costume she got for the act—silk tights and a close-fitting blue dress coat. She lingered in front of the mirror, admiring herself, till Brandt shouted at her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the circus, children and young animals are sacred. They are never beaten. But Brandt did beat Ria. He beat her three times; afterward he sat in his van and was ashamed of himself. Discipline, control, self-command—these were the most important things in his life. Ria was the one person who had ever made him lose control of himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">He had befriended her through a kind of reluctant compassion. At the end of two months, he couldn't be without her any more. Her slender figure, her flying hair, her lizard-like suppleness in the green dress suit—even her faults—he needed them all if his hands were to be steady.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Steady hands—the be-all and end-all of his art. He never drank; he slept eight hours by the clock; he walked seven miles every day; his food was measured out by scale; his breathing exercises were a ceremonial rite. When Ria made her first appearance with him, he missed a <i>doublette </i>fired through a mirror. Pale, teeth clenched, he repeated the shot—this time successfully. Ria stood rigid beside the mirror; her face was like wood with the effort to keep from twitching. He was furious with her, yet he felt sorry for her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"We'll wait two weeks before going ahead," he told her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">She sighed, in relief.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">EVERY MORNING they worked in the ring. She had to practice holding a candle, whose flame he shot away. This time she didn't scream, but held her breath. She was so terror-stricken that she dared not even tremble. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Good work," said Brandt. He seemed abstracted, but was in reality more agitated than she. He took her to town, and bought her a hat with a cluster of artificial cherries about which she had been babbling for days. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The old man's mouth twisted into a crooked smile as she came tripping along in her finery, with the sharpshooter in tow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Look out for yourself, Brandt," he remarked a few days later.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"In what way?” inquired Brandt stiffly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"In every way," answered the director mysteriously. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Brandt went to his van and played a game of checkers with himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The act was built up. Ria had to hold the card from which he shot the ace of hearts. She had to stand against a wall and he shot red and green bulbs to the left and right of her; they broke into smithereens, with a bang. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">He bought her a second costume—a glittering evening gown with a long train. That was in Dresden.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">A year later he married her just before the circus left for South America. Their picture appeared in the newspapers, and the old man gave them a wonderful Saint Bernard puppy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Ria, who had been sleeping with the other children, moved into Brandt's van. Otherwise, things were much as they had been before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">On the boat, they all practiced on the upper deck. The other passengers crowded around and admired them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ria felt something like pride in her husband. He was better class than the others. He didn't really belong in a circus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"You don't belong in a circus," she told him that night, as she sat at the mirror in their hot little stateroom, combing her unruly hair.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Where else?" Brandt asked, smiling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">She shrugged. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">He always watched her when she dressed and undressed and he never let her out of his sight on deck.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">She sometimes had the feeling that he even watched her while she slept. "You shouldn't look at me like that all the time," she said impatiently. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Brandt turned away and busied himself with his old valise. "It's been even worse since we are married," he said without looking at her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"What's been worse?" she asked his reflection in the mirror.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Nothing—" he ended the conversation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">At night he lay awake, heard the waves lapping against the ship's side and listened to Ria's breathing. His nightly eight hours had long been a thing of the past, and no breathing exercises could still the tumultuous beating of his heart. His love for Ria was reluctant, as his compassion had been. He had married her to calm himself. Now his passion had grown beyond his control. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">He switched on the light and thrust his hands out before him, fingers outspread. They didn't even look like his own hands anymore. He watched them threateningly, daring them to shake. They seemed steady enough. Sighing, he turned the lights off again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">IN MEXICO CITY, where they gave their first performance, he had an attack of stage fright. With Ria standing between the red and green bulbs, smiling at him, his pistol hand dropped to his side. She turned white under the rouge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">He took aim three times before he fired. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">He had missed one of the six bulbs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The act didn't go over very well. Business was bad. Heavy showers had mired the grounds and kept people away. The Mexicans didn't care much for Brandt's cold formality of style.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"This rain's driving me mad," he told the old man. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lenz had worries of his own and was in no amiable mood. He barely listened.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"It comes drumming down on the roof all night," complained Brandt. "I can't sleep."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">At this, the old man looked him over. "You don't seem well," he said. "Anything wrong?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"I want to move to the hotel—"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"At your own expense," the director answered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">They went to the hotel and Ria discovered to her amazement that he had taken two separate rooms. It was a third-rate hotel and the rooms were tiny, but she was delighted. She spent hours flirting with the mirror, trying on shawls and Mexican combs. It was the first time in her life that she had a room to herself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">When she awakened at six next morning, Brandt was standing at the foot of her bed. Pretending to be still asleep, she peered at him from under her lashes. She didn't know what to make of the expression on his face. He looked like a different man. She smiled mockingly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">She was still rather afraid of him and his guns and rifles, but by this time she knew her power over him. She knew what she wanted. To leave the circus. To play in the music halls, in the big cities where men wore dress clothes and women evening wraps, and the program was changed every month.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"You've got to have a different type of act for the music halls," her husband informed her. "You've got to give them more, else you'll just be a filler and never earn any money. You've got to take risks in the music halls—and you're afraid."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"I'm not afraid," said Ria. "I want to get away from this. I can't stand the sight of sawdust any longer, or the smell of wild beasts. You don't belong in a circus. You're a big shot."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"A big shot can't afford to be in love with his wife," he answered gravely. "It's bad for his work."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">She shrugged and gave him a kiss.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">THE WINTER GARDEN IN BERLIN. First appearance of Brandt, the sharpshooter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Full-dressed society in the boxes. Cheerfully expectant bourgeois in the orchestra. Cigarette smoke rising to the skylights, to the ceiling and its thousand stars made of electrical bulbs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The band playing <i>L'Heure Bleue. </i>Across the stage a girl carries a sign, bearing the number 8. Curtain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The stage is dark, but for the tiny glowing tips of two lighted cigarettes. Brandt turns the switch of a lamp—or rather he pretends to do so, while the electrician high up works the spotlights. Now the audience is able to see the stage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">A smartly furnished room. Brandt is a gentleman in dress clothes and evening cloak, slightly gray at the temples. He seems to be returning from a party with his wife, and he is a little tipsy. He goes to his liquor case and pours himself a glass of cognac. His wife—a beautiful young woman in an iridescent evening gown—warns him smilingly. He has had enough. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">He drinks, and pours himself a second glass. She takes it from him and goes to the other side of the stage. He draws a revolver from his pocket and shoots the glass from her hand. Bang!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Still smiling, the woman goes back to the table and nonchalantly lights a cigarette. He shoots the cigarette from her hand. She takes another—he shoots it from her mouth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">She rises with a little show of impatience, picks up her silver handbag from the table and produces out of it lipstick and mirror. A single bullet shoots lipstick and mirror from before her face. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">He turns to the wall mirror, smooths his grizzled hair and, as she stoops to adjust her stocking, he shoots the rosette from her garter. The audience holds its breath.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">It looks very dangerous, even more so as the man is drunk. He reels as he shoots, leaning against table edges for support. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The woman doesn't stand still for a second; she seems to be on the move constantly. It is a mystery how she emerges unhurt from the hail of bullets.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">There's something uncanny about it—as if the rifles and revolvers and pistols were going off by themselves—as if those two on the stage were invulnerable and infallible as automatons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Finally there is no object within sight left unshattered. The audience is in an uproar, women cover their eyes, men rise from their seats as the music comes to an abrupt halt, leaving only the big drum rolling. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The woman pauses for a second at the door and throws the man a mocking good-night kiss. A wreath of nine lilies binds her hair—artificial flowers, glittering under the spotlight. Deliberately the sharpshooter takes aim, deliberately shoots away one flower after another. The woman smiles at him in innocent surprise or amusement. As the last flower drops away, the orchestra breaks once more into the tango and the audience into applause. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Curtain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">They had to take ten curtain calls, hand in hand. Phenomenal success.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"I wonder if she's really his wife," said a gentleman in one of the boxes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Nonsense!" replied his lady. "You can see she's his daughter."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">They had their big success and began traveling from one music hall to another, earning lots of money and from that time on a curious change took place in Brandt. Formerly it was Ria who had been terrified at the prospect of the evening. Now it was he who suffered an attack of nearly unbearable nervousness before each performance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The secret of their act lay in its timing. Although Ria seemed to be moving carelessly, incessantly, about the stage, the intervals when she stood still to give him time for the shot had been gauged to the hundredth part of a second. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">But he never felt sure that he could depend on her. He didn't trust her. She walked about as though she didn't realize how dangerous their act was. She reminded him of her father—Rodini, the dead equestrian. He too had moved about in this heedless fashion, had drunk too much, had finished with a broken neck.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">More and more Brandt came to feel that all the responsibility lay on his shoulders. He knew that the faintest lapse of vigilance on his part might result in his wife's injury or even death. And he loved her. He loved her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">IT WAS IN LONDON on the last day of their engagement that Ria and Guy met for the first time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">While Brandt went to the office for their final week's check, she was to supervise the loading of their props. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hatless, coat collar turned up, Guy came from the street toward the wide doorway where she stood, her arms laden with bundles. Seeing that she was about to drop the pistol case, he hurried forward to relieve her of it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Thank you," she said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"I'm Guy," said he. "I'm the fellow everyone despises, because I can't do anything but sing."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"I know your name from the billboards," she replied. "You're very famous."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">He laughed, obviously flattered. "Don't you believe it," he said. "It's just publicity." He thrust his hand into his pocket and brought it out empty. "Can you let me have a cigarette?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">"I'm sorry—I don't smoke," she said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">He looked at her; she added an explanation: "My husband says it's bad for the nerves."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Of course it is. Has your husband no vices?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"He's a sharpshooter," said Ria, as though this fact accounted for the absence of all vices.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Too bad—I mean, that he has none. Or—who knows?—maybe it's so much the better."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">He spoke rapidly; she had difficulty in understanding him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> "You are French?" she asked. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">With the pistol case clutched under his arm, he took two more bundles from her and moved as though to enter the theater.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"No," she protested hastily. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">He paused and eyed her reproachfully. "Do you mean to imply that you're not coming, but going?" <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">She nodded, smiling. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">His hair was a gleaming black helmet and his mouth was insolent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"We're off to Dublin," she said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"The same old story. You meet, you part. It might have been a glorious month."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Here's my husband," said Ria. "Brandt, this is Monsieur Guy."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Delighted," said Brandt and made his stiff bow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"I'm heartbroken that we're not on the same bill," Guy replied politely. "I heard marvels about your act in Milan."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"We're booked for Monte Carlo in February," said Ria. It sounded as though she were giving him a secret rendezvous, and he smiled at her with an impudent little twinkle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Maybe we'll have better luck another time." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">He bowed to Brandt, held Ria's hand in his for a second before kissing it, and vanished through the doorway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Playboy—" said Brandt, looking after him<i>.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">THE LAST DAY of any music-hall engagement is a day of flurry and turmoil. People come, people go. Luggage must be loaded or unloaded. Props must be transported, and trains made. Everyone is hysterical, and many tricks go wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ria and Guy met twice again amid the hurly-burly of such a final day. She and Brandt reached Naples as he was leaving. In Bucharest, it was the other way round. They exchanged a few words, they fell silent, they gazed at each other. She felt as though they had given each other some secret promise. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">She thought of him constantly. Often she would sit at her mirror, scrutinizing herself, wondering whether she were pretty enough for him. She imagined him always surrounded by women, a champagne glass in his hand. She might have seen some such billposter as a child. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">She was no longer bored. She sang now and then, in a small, untrained voice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Brandt watched his wife. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Their act went smoothly in those months. He slept eight hours by the clock, measured his food on the scales, walked seven miles, did his breathing exercises and played checkers with himself. She was composed and timed her movements to the fraction of a second for his shots.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In Budapest, Guy was finally billed on the same program with them. It was eleven months since she had first seen him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"I finally managed to shove things around so I could see you every day," said Guy, when she arrived at the Orpheum that first morning to unpack.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">She looked into his handsome, insolent face. "You're lying," she said, defenceless against him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Yes—but lies like that are so much prettier than the truth," he replied imperturbably.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Brandt approached, with the pistol case under his arm. "I've been telling madame how happy I am to be able to see your act at last."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"It was in this city that my father had his accident," said Ria, with an absent smile.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The program was booked for a month. Guy was going to Prague after that, and Brandt to Milan. The shortness of their time together lent their love affair an indescribable sweetness and intensity. For the first time, Brandt's wife realized how dead her life had hitherto been. Her skin was hungry to be touched, her hands to caress, her Gypsy blood to know fulfillment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guy rented a little room, and there they met. It was dangerous, but maybe they loved the danger without knowing it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Two weeks went by, and Brandt seemed to have no suspicion of what was going on. Guy's act was in the first half of the program; then came the intermission; Brandt's act was Number 8. There was half an hour between his appearance and hers—the half hour when<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Brandt played checkers with himself to steady his hands.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Rial always stood in the wings while Guy sang. Dressed in a short-sleeved sweater and the peaked cap of the Parisian apache, he sang French couplets, entertained the audience in amusing broken Hungarian, played a tune on the piano, danced a few steps and made impudent remarks to the front rows. While the curtain came down and the applause crackled, he stood beside Ria for a moment, breathing heavily and perspiring like any other performer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Was it all right?" he would ask breathlessly, dabbing powder over his face before running out to take his bow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ria felt herself floating aloft like a small red balloon —she was so light, so taut with love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Before the intermission she slipped back to her dressing-room, where she found her husband waiting. Conscientiously she prepared for her own number.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">All the time she was on the stage, she could see from the corner of her eye the box where Guy sat in a frenzy of nervousness. It delighted her that he should be suffering torments of anxiety each evening on her account. She herself had grown so used to the act by now that everything went mechanically, and she had long since grown oblivious to her danger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">New things had entered her life, things more important than the big number. Clandestine drives in Guy's car, little meals in out-of-the-way restaurants, nocturnal excursions while<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Brandt slept.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It was the veriest trifle which first betrayed her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">They had all been summoned to a rehearsal for a new orchestra leader, his predecessor having abandoned the Orpheum in a sudden fit of temper. They stood around in attitudes of boredom, indicated the tempo of their acts, and wrangled a little when the new man didn't seem to understand. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guy, leaning against the proscenium arch, was smoking a cigarette, with the sign that forbade it right next to him. "Stupid business," he remarked to Brandt, who had just arrived to rehearse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ria paused for a moment beside him—she couldn't for the life of her help it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Wouldn't do to get the man nervous," replied Brandt. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ria caught sight of a white thread on the dark blue cloth of Guy's suit. Unconsciously she removed it. A mere nothing. A little white thread. A little unconscious movement. But it held everything—love, tenderness, possession, intimacy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Brandt's face turned gray, two minutes later—after he had absorbed the significance of all this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It was the third week—the week before the last of their love. Their hearts were torn at the thought of parting, and they grew careless. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Brandt entered his wife's room one morning and kissed her hair. "How is it you smell of cigarettes?" he asked without looking at her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Her lips became stiff and white. "I smoked one on the sly," she whispered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">That evening she sent a note to Guy's dressing-room: "Don't come to the box tonight. Danger." She herself didn't dare stand in the wings as usual during his act. But Guy was on the stage as she passed on Brandt's arm in her evening cloak, ready for the number. She knew he was suffering agony of dread for her the whole time she was on the stage, under the crackling volley of Brandt's unerring shots.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"I want to go to the cafe," Brandt said when she had changed her clothes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">This was as extraordinary as had been his kiss that morning. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The artists were in the habit of meeting at the cafe after the performance and there, joined by a few music-hall enthusiasts, they, would sit around smoking, drinking strong coffee and playing cards. Brandt's entrance, with his wife on his arm, caused a minor sensation. Ria had been hoping that Guy wouldn't be there, but he was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Brandt seated himself at the singer's table, ordered some coffee and joined monosyllabically in the shoptalk. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Can you let me have a cigarette?" he asked abruptly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guy proffered his case. Ria flamed into white-hot terror. Brandt never smoked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Perfumed?" he asked and inhaled the fumes carefully.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"English brand," answered Guy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Aha—" said Brandt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ten minutes later they took a taxi home. Brandt spoke no word. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Does he know everything or nothing?" Ria thought incessantly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24.95pt;">GUY WAITED FOR RIA in the rented room but she didn't come. He paced restlessly back and forth, stared at the old-fashioned carpet, the tasteless furniture, drank cognac, and waited. She didn't come.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">At five he left the house and went to a drugstore to telephone the hotel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Madame Brandt cannot come to the phone," the operator answered. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">He walked along the bank of the Danube, his fear growing and growing. He hadn't known till that moment that he really loved Ria. "Only an idiot would start anything with a sharpshooter's wife," he thought furiously. But that didn't help much. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">He dawdled about outside Ria's hotel. It was an hour before curtain time when he saw her pass through the revolving door and enter a taxi with Brandt. He didn't know whether she had seen him, but he was almost certain that Brandt had. He tooka taxi and followed them to the Orpheum.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">He couldn't bear the suspense any longer. He must go to Ria's dressing room. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The first number was a trained dog-act, and the props for the trick animals were being set up. Guy hurried across the narrow stage toward the corridor, along which lay the women's dressing-rooms. As he turned into the passage, he almost ran into Li, a member of the Chinese acrobatic troupe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Li stood looking after him as he made his way toward Ria's dressing-room. "Better no go see lady," he called softly. Guy turned quickly. The Chinese winked and made a brief negative movement of the head. Guy stood irresolute for a second, then thanked him and left the corridor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The band played the overture, Poet and Peasant, with all its might.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">He tried to get dressed, to concentrate on his number. "I'm boiling in hot oil," he thought, making an unsuccessful attempt to laugh at himself. The hoarse voice of the loud-speaker in the corner announced that he should get ready for his entrance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">There was a knock at the door, and Li slipped in, dressed in his Chinese costume. "Me postman," he smiled, placed a note on the make-up table and vanished.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Brandt knows everything. He's going to shoot me," read Guy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Monsieur Guy on the stage," called the loud-speaker. Automatically he obeyed the summons. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ria wasn't standing in the wings while he sang. How he got through the number he never knew. "I must notify the police," he kept thinking. "I must see the manager. They'll have to cancel the act." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">He bowed to the applause, not knowing that he bowed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In his make-up and apache costume, he ran to Brandt's dressing-room and entered without knocking. He and Brandt were headliners on the bill, and had dressing-rooms to themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Brandt was in his shirt sleeves, but otherwise ready to go on. He was playing checkers. “Oh—,” he said, as Guy appeared before him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Everything looked so peaceful, so commonplace, that Ria's note suddenly seemed insane and impossible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"You wanted to say something?" asked Brandt. He got up and slipped into his coat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"I'm worried about Ria," stammered Guy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"That's nice of you," answered Brandt with the trace of a smile. Despite all the make-up on his face, he looked old and gray.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"I won't let you go on—" said Guy, stepping close to him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"You won't—won't you?" Brandt replied.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Suddenly there was an old revolver in his hand. It was this civilian weapon, lacking any hint of the splendour of the circus pistols, that turned Guy numb with fear.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Are you trying to inform me that you love my wife?" he heard Brandt asking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"No!" shouted Guy. "I'm not going to let you hurt Ria!"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Brandt seemed to consider that for a moment before he answered: "I'm a good marksman as long as I'm not upset. Ria has always been safe with me. What will happen today, I don't know." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">He stretched out his hands, and Guy saw that they were trembling and quivering as if shaken by a storm. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">With a sudden startling clarity he remembered his first meeting with Ria. In the doorway of the Hippodrome in London. She had been wearing a mouse-gray coat. He had started an adventure like hundreds of others; he hadn't known it would turn out to be a matter of life and death. "I didn't know it would be a matter of life and death," he said softly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Brandt stepped close to him. Guy could hear his labored breath. "If you had known, you'd have kept your hands off— would you?" he said menacingly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"I don't know," said Guy. "Maybe not, after all."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Maybe—maybe not—that's like you and your kind," cried Brandt. "No backbone— no discipline. You destroy a marriage— you take another man's wife whom you don't even love—you don't even know what it is: love. And then you squirm at a revolver."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guy tried to hold himself steady. It was all a bad dream. He thought of Ria again, almost wonderingly. "It would be tasteless, don't you think, for me to assure you that I do love your wife? But I won't have any harm come to her. I'm going for the police," he said and turned toward the door with a chilly feeling in his spine, as if he would get a bullet into it the moment he turned his back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Wait—just a moment," said Brandt behind him. Guy stopped short, as at a command. Facing about, he perceived a ghostly smile on Brandt's painted face.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"If you want to ensure Ria's safety, there's a better way than the police," the sharpshooter said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guy waited.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"I 'm an old-fashioned man," said Brandt. "I want satisfaction. Give it to me, and I'll do my best not to hit Ria."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"What kind of satisfaction?" murmured Guy, terrified.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"The usual thing—duel," answered Brandt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Number 6 on the stage," announced the loud-speaker in the corner of the room.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"A duel with a sharpshooter! That's a farce !” murmured Guy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Brandt waited without saying anything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The silence grew more and more oppressive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"That's a hangman's joke!" said Guy hoarsely.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Brandt shrugged his shoulders. "I'd at least like to know that my wife hasn't betrayed me for a coward," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Very well," Guy said. "When and where?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"After my act. In the court behind the theater. We won't need any seconds. I'll give you the first shot. Have you a gun?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"No," said Guy. He felt as though he were coming out of a faint.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"I'll take care of that," said Brandt. "And now—if you'll leave me. I need quiet before I go on."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guy left him standing at the dressing table, his tall lean figure reflected three times in the mirror.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guy wrote three hasty letters and put them on his dressing table before he went to the box. A note for Ria he sent to her dressing-room by Li: "Don't worry—nothing's going to happen to you." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The farewell note to his mother in Normandy and another to a friend. Outside, they were playing the tango.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">As he sped across the stage to reach the auditorium, Brandt and Ria were j u s t about to go on. The first shot rang out as he opened the door of the box. He sat down at the front and smiled at Ria. He was amazed at himself. He felt tranquil and untroubled, almost buoyant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">He loved Ria, and he was going to pay for his love. "You don't even feel a bullet through your heart," he thought. "You're dead before you know it. There are worse ways of taking your leave."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">By the time the second shot rang out, he had forgotten himself and had eyes only for the stage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The <i>Heure Bleue.</i> Ria in her evening gown with the train. The second cigarette. The lipstick. Nothing had happened to her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">She moved about like one in a dream, too slowly. Brandt hesitated before firing. The electrician couldn't time his spotlights properly—the white circles of light were always someplace where Ria wasn't. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">A kind of humming, breathless hush hung over the house, as if they all sensed the danger. The marksman and his target were both so strangely rigid. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Brandt suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be drunk. He staggered immoderately, but no one laughed. He fired at the flowers she was taking from her bosom—and missed. A woman in the audience screamed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">He flung the pistol away and took another; he fired and missed. His hands were trembling as he picked up another pistol. Ria dropped the flowers, and the third shot missed. He fired at the flowers as they fell to the floor, and hit them. Applause. The audience decided it was a trick. The act went on amid its hail-fire of bullets.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Abruptly the tango stopped. Only the big drum was rolling. The woman stood in the doorway, tossing her husband her ironical good-night kiss. He went to the table, laid his pistol in the case and took out an old worn revolver. Ria's little cry went unnoticed by the audience, but Guy heard it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">She stood motionless in the doorway, and the artificial lilies in her hair quivered beyond control. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guy rose, his hands clenched convulsively over the rail. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ria lifted her eyes to his, and thus she stood, waiting for the shots. One. Two. Three. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">After the third shot, Brandt returned to the table and leaned against it for a moment, as though his knees were giving way under him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"If they'd only drop the curtain now, everything would be all right," thought Guy. "No, it wouldn't," he thought simultaneously. "The man's mad. He'd shoot in any case."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Brandt raised the revolver again, supported it by his outstretched left arm. A man in the gallery shouted something —an amateur marksman, perhaps, teasing him. Five shots followed in rapid succession. One lily was left trembling in the woman's hair. She stood in the white spotlight, the lily trembling as though it were alive. But the woman seemed lifeless, carved in wood with the music-hall smile on her lips. Suddenly Brandt threw the revolver onto the table, made a little gesture of resignation and walked off. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Two seconds later the curtain came down and a bewildered, uneasy applause began to patter. The orchestra broke into the tango. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guy ran backstage. "My turn now," he thought, and was almost amused,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">THE COURT of the Orpheum is surrounded by high party walls. A few forlorn ivy vines, straggling up one wall, bear witness to someone's attempt at decoration. Ashcans and litter occupy the corners—the fantastic litter spewed forth by the stage of a music hall. The wide door leading backstage, through which the huge cages and other props are moved in and out, is locked. "Positively No Admittance," reads the sign under the glare of two arc lights.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“It’s bright enough," said Brandt, and made a chalk mark at the place where Guy was to stand. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Away up, the sky was like the lid over a box.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"You give me your word of honor that you'll be good to Ria?" said Guy, as Brandt handed him the loaded revolver.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Brandt looked into his face scrutinizingly. "You're a couple of fools," he said brusquely, turned away and walked to his own<i> </i>chalk mark. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guy examined the revolver. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"I once shot a horse with it," Brandt called over. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">This was not at all like a duel; it was more like a rehearsal. "You have to aim a little higher,"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Brandt called when he saw how awkwardly Guy handled the revolver.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guy aimed higher. He was surprised that he felt no fear. "Now," he said. He got a little kickback as he shot; the smell of powder tickled his nostrils; and Brandt stood opposite, laughing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The light from the lamps was white, yet dreary.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Brandt raised his arm and fired into the air. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guy stood there, waiting for something that didn't come. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Brandt left his place and approached him.” "Is Ria worth dying for?" he asked when they were standing face to face.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guy's breath was coming in huge, vehement gulps. "Yes!" he cried. "Yes!" <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">He was alive. Ria was alive too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Go and comfort her," said Brandt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guy motioned Brandt to precede him as they reached the little side door, but Brandt pushed him in. On the stage, the musical clowns were doing their turn now, and monstrous noises blared from a huge trombone. Guy walked faster and faster till he reached the door of Ria's dressing-room.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">No one heard the shot which Brandt fired from the old revolver against himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">They didn't find him until after the performance when they were taking the trained seals out into the court. He was lying near the vines, and he looked contented.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Next week's films will screen at 8.30pm, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jan 18, Hollywood time:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16pt;"><i>T-Men </i>(1947) directed by Anthony Mann and </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16pt;"><i>Bluebeard</i> 1944, directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. See you again then.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Our song</b></span><br />
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Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-47962655088127775382019-01-11T20:20:00.001-08:002019-01-15T15:46:10.700-08:00Deadly honor in free noirs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq7cUl6zOp2IjjRT3_MhvW9ABfl7XS7CgWL6blOLC4BdD1xG7uk1ucYceEFdSIv6xKr1L52Dawzte-Ez0aZkmSs1xTkuAJzNzAwKnvGg35bAVw8pcskAfby4yu26nucid_-u8m7SccLvqo/s1600/Dishon+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="182" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq7cUl6zOp2IjjRT3_MhvW9ABfl7XS7CgWL6blOLC4BdD1xG7uk1ucYceEFdSIv6xKr1L52Dawzte-Ez0aZkmSs1xTkuAJzNzAwKnvGg35bAVw8pcskAfby4yu26nucid_-u8m7SccLvqo/s400/Dishon+1.jpg" width="270" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: medium;">TONIGHT’S FREE </span><span style="font-size: medium;">NOIR DOUBLE BILL</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">shows</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span> <span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Dishonored Lady</i> (1947) </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">starring </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Hedy Lamarr </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">and </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span> <span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>The Great Flamarion (1945)</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">starring <b>Erich v</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>on Stroheim</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">Both lead actors had touches of tragedy, partly self-inflicted, to their Hollywood careers. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span> <span style="font-size: large;"><b>Roll the film.</b></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a name='more'></a>I AM RATHER FOND of <i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Dishonored Lady</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">though it is more melodrama than noir. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Hedy Lamarr left MGM in 1945 and became a partner in the production company which made the noir </span><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Strange_Woman" title="The Strange Woman"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Strange Woman</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1946) which we <a href="http://bit.ly/2RvWfFr">watched last week</a>. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> That film went over budget and made limited profit. The company’s</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"> second effort </span><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dishonored_Lady" title="Dishonored Lady"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Dishonored Lady</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1947) was also way over budget and a commercial failure, possibly because Lamarr does not play a femme fatale in this one. The movie was intended to be grittier than it turned out but the evil censors from the Hays Office got in the way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Production was meant to start in January 1945, but the censorious Office was still finding objections to a reworked script by April 1946. The censors probably contributed to both the significant cost over-runs (of $13m in today’s value above a budget of $13m) as well as inferior box-office. With </span><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">The Strange Woman, </span></i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">you could see the cost over-runs in the action scenes, but there is little in <i>Dishonoured Lady</i> to justify a blow out of $13.5m. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The scriptwriter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">EDMUND H. NORTH wrote the script for the classic sci-fi film <i>The Day the Earth Stood Still</i> (1951) and </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">shared an </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 14pt;">Academy Award<span style="color: #222222;"> for </span>Best Original Screenplay<span style="color: #222222;"> with </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: #0b0080;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Ford_Coppola" title="Francis Ford Coppola"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Francis Ford Coppola</span></a></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"> in 1970 for their script for the war movie </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: #0b0080;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patton_(film)" title="Patton (film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Patton</span></a></span></i></span><span style="color: #222222;"> (1970). For </span></span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">The Day the Earth Stood Still</span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">, North invented an “alien” phrase which grabbed the public imagination.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">He was a major during World War II but later in life he also fronted for the actual </span><i style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_(1958_film)" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">Cowboy</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> (1958) </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">scriptwriter, blacklisted as a communist, </span><span class="MsoHyperlink" style="text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #0b0080; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalton_Trumbo" title="Dalton Trumbo"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Dalton Trumbo</span></a></span></span><span style="text-indent: 24.95pt;">. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">My point is North was gifted and broadminded enough to produce an edgier script had his hands not been tied by the Hays Office.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">“I’m mad about you in my own foul way.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">“I’ll never forget you when I saw you at that hall with a mouse in your hand.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">EDMUND H. NORTH was a major with the U.S. Army Signal Corps</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"> during </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 14pt;">World War II<span style="color: #222222;"> and he made training and educational films. After America’s entry into the war, Joseph I. Breen, chief censor from the Hays Office vetted films from the major studios, civilian independents, the government propaganda unit Office of War Information (OWI) and military communications units such as North’s USASC. Private, government and military filmmakers wanted a relaxation of the pre-war censorship code for the down-to-earth fighters but Breen resisted, saying moral vigilance was needed more than ever during war. </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">Breen’s opposition did win some hard-fought concessions about language and more graphic imagery.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">The Hays Code was the informal name for The Motion Picture Production Code, adopted in 1930 but not seriously enforced until 1934 when Breen became boss of </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">the new Production Code Administration (PCA)</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">and stayed for 20 years. The code was in place until 1966 when it was replaced by a ratings system. The code's nickname was named after Presbyterian Elder </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: #0b0080; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_H._Hays" title="Will H. Hays"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Will H. Hays</span></a></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">, who was the president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) from 1922 to 1945. The MPPDA was set up as a self-regulator and as a protection against government legislation and boycotts by groups such as </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 14pt;">Catholic Legion of Decency</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">The code was devised by Jesuit priest </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Daniel A. Lord and Catholic Layman Martin Quigley. Professor Thomas Doherty, 1993, p172 said <a href="https://bit.ly/2SzVQPj">a witticism </a>spread across Hollywood that cinema was</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">A Jewish-owned business selling Roman Catholic theology to Protestant America. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">Other whispers were that the Censor Joe Breen was anti-Semitic, a charge Professor Doherty rebuts though he cites the Catholic Layman Breen <a href="https://forward.com/culture/12234/was-hollywood-s-famed-censor-an-antisemite-00948/">writing to a friend</a> in 1932.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #111c24; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“Ninety-five percent of these folks are Jews of an Eastern European lineage. They are, probably, the scum of the scum of the earth.”</span><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111c24; font-size: 14.0pt;">Professor Doherty says such views expressed Breen’s culture shock on first coming to Hollywood and he did not show anti-Semitism in his job from 1934-1954.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111c24; font-size: 14.0pt;"> Breen was however willing to publicly vilify homosexuals and progressives in a wartime swipe at the </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Office of War Information</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (OWI) which <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=c8ih7OuhdugC&pg=PA172&lpg=PA172&dq=a+Jewish+owned+business+selling+Catholic+theology+to+Protestant+America&source=bl&ots=pN7xRHwsPt&sig=x9eoDMjq1pY28nP0L_VNHIB772U&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjPm8a44NjfAhWU-2EKHVIaDYMQ6AEwBnoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=a%20Jewish%20owned%20business%20selling%20Catholic%20theology%20to%20Protestant%20America&f=false">Professor Doherty cites on page 168 </a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The (OWI) personnel was dominated by “short-haired women and long-haired men types.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">What asked Winn did he (Breen) mean by that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;">“Pink,” Breen replied.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"> In </span><a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode" style="font-size: 14pt;">the censorship code</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">, homosexuality came under the heading of “perverse”, as did miscegenation (relationships between partners of different races). Neither could be portrayed nor discussed. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"> Breen obviously allowed </span>filmmakers<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"> to breach the ban on homosexuals as long as it was a) by innuendo and b) disparaging.</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">As for the ban on miscegenation, it explains why Black Americans were denied lead roles in romance-focused Hollywood films for decades. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">PART OF THE INTEREST generated by this film is the parallel between the plot and the life of the Lead, Hedy Lamarr. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">She plays a Hungarian-American magazine fashion editor who is living the high life with associated sexual promiscuity, alcohol, and drugs. While Lamarr was in fact of Austrian origin, it was probably considered more palatable to make her Hungarian. Austria was the nationality of Adolf Hitler and the war was only over by two years. Hungary had been a member of the Axis Alliance with the major players Germany, Austria, and Italy. However, Hungary was having second thoughts during the war and Hitler invaded the country in 1944. The Soviet Red Army captured Hungary from the Hermans in early 1945. By the 1947 film <i>Dishonored Lady</i>, the Cold War between former allies Russia and America was developing though the two countries had been allies during World War II. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Just as Madeleine left her career to pursue art, Lamarr left MGM in 1945, perhaps to make more artistic films with better parts for her. It was reported MGM staff had fed Lamarr uppers to keep her working and Madeleine discusses her pill dependency. (Lamarr was a non-drinker though she makes a good fist of portraying a drunken Madeleine in one scene.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Lamarr failed financially as producer. <i>The Strange Woman</i> was a limited success and <i>Dishonored Lady</i> a major loss. In later life, Lamarr seems to have become bitter she was not taken seriously as an actor or as the co-inventor of technology which would decades later lead to the discovery of wifi and Bluetooth. Despite her dismissal of her glamorous persona, both her productions <i>The Strange Woman</i> and <i>Dishonored Lady </i>have many references to her physical beauty. Instead of resorting in the 1950s to extensive plastic surgery, including breast enlargement, which was apparently botched, Lamarr might have profited from taking on character roles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">The Hollywood Boy’s Club decided Lamarr was trouble and dubbed her Headache, just as another forthright noir actor, director and producer, Ida Lupino, was called “Loopy” Lupino. Fast forward to modern times when</span><span style="color: #404040; text-indent: 24.95pt;"> </span><span style="color: #404040; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><i>Lord of the Rings </i>director Peter Jackson was considering Ashley Judd for a role in the 2002 film. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #404040; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">Ms Judd has said she was sexually harassed by producer Harvey Weinstein whom she had rebuffed. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #404040; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">Jackson said that Weinstein had warned him that the actress was a "nightmare" to work with</span></span><span style="color: #404040; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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The two meals of Dennis O'Keefe and Hedy Lamarr together cost $1.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">TALL HANDSOME IRISHMAN DENNIS O'KEEFE is Lamarr’s romantic interest, a likable rather staid doctor, not really dark enough for a film-noir lead </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">character</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">. This diversion from noir convention could account for some of the lack of success of the film. O’Keefe’s previous noirs included </span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangmen_Also_Die!" title="Hangmen Also Die!"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Hangmen Also Die!</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"> (1943) directed by Fritz Lang, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Men" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">T-Men</span></a></i> (1947) directed by Anthony Mann <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_Deal_(1948_film)" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">Raw Deal</span></a></i> (1948) also directed by Anthony Mann and <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diamond_(film)" title="The Diamond (film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Diamond</span></a></i> (1954) Britain’s first 3D film.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The last ride of a married couple</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">JOHN LODER plays </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Felix Courtland, </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">a charming but selfish cad. At the time of the film Loder was married to Lamarr but the marriage was over by the end of that same year of 1947. Loder is quite good in the role as he shows positive and negative character traits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: 14pt;">BRITISH DIRECTOR ROBERT STEVENSON was enticed to Hollywood in 1940 and, seven years later, did his first noir with <i>Dishonored Lady</i>. His noirs were all of a moralistic bent and most lost money. They were<i> To the Ends of the Earth</i> (1948) <i>I Married a Communist</i> (1949) <i>My Forbidden Past (</i>1951) and <i>The Las Vegas Story,</i> also 1951.</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Stevenson put moralism to better use when he directed 19 films for Walt Disney during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. He became the most commercially successful director in cinema history </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Mary Poppins was a better fit for Stevenson than Madeleine Damien.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Viewers could follow the progress of the censor’s attitude to suicide in the three films so far in our series starring Hedy Lamarr. The producers had to change the ending to <i>Algiers</i> (1938) as the lead character, played by Charles Boyer, originally committed suicide. This was unacceptable to the Hays office even if Pepe le Moko was a criminal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222;">The ill-fated Ephraim (</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Hayward" title="Louis Hayward"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Louis Hayward</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #222222;">) in The Strange Woman</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">In <i>The Strange Woman</i> 1946, lifeless dangling legs, in front of a chilling noir scene, depicting the aftermath of suicide became okay in the case of a drunk. In<i> Dishonored Lady</i>, Lamarr is suicidal before changing her lifestyle. She recounts how her promiscuous professional artist father committed suicide.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">Trivia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalie_Schafer" title="Natalie Schafer"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Natalie Schafer</span></a> as Ethel Royce has a good cameo in the film. Schafer had a long career in theatre and film before taking on the role of Lovey Howell in the television sitcom <i>Gilligan’s Island </i>(1964-67).<i> </i>Lovey’s husband Thurston was played by well-respected film actor Jim Backus. Whether the repetitive scripts were worthy of their talents is best judged by fans of the show.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">“Television, although it wasn't necessarily as creatively diverse as filmmaking can be, it was the lifestyle choice that I needed to make.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 14pt;">– Alec Baldwin</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">The Verdict</span><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt; line-height: 107%;">The full movie</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">TIME FOR OUR SECOND FEATURE, <i>The Great Flamarion,</i> 1945.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The magnificent noir satire <i>Sunset Boulevard</i> (1950) won an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actor for <span style="background: white; color: #222222;">Erich von Stroheim who plays Max, the servant, and former husband of faded silent-movie star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson). I have always wondered if there was an element of cruelty in the casting of<i> Sunset Boulevard</i> with a script written by director Billy Wilder. Stroheim was a leading director of silent films and had directed Swanson, a leading lady of the silent screen shunned by the talkies. As a director Stroheim went over budget in one picture too many and Hollywood booted him to the kerb.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Austrian born Stroheim came to America in 1909 and, by 1914, he was working in Hollywood as an actor and writer. He took on his first directorial role in 1919. Over the next decade, he became a top director only to decline and fall with his dismissal from </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 18.6667px; text-indent: 33.2667px;"><i>Queen Kelly</i> (</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">1929) the last straw. Either by irony or Billy Wilder malice, <i>Sunset Boulevard</i> was a reminder of the disagreements between </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 18.6667px; text-indent: 33.2667px;">Stroheim and </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><i>Queen Kelly </i>(and <i>Sunset Boulevard</i>) star Gloria Swanson which led to the director’s dismissal. Wilder even showed scenes from </span><i style="color: #222222; font-size: 18.6667px; text-indent: 33.2667px;">Queen Kelly </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 18.6667px; text-indent: 33.2667px;">in </span><i style="color: #222222; font-size: 18.6667px; text-indent: 33.2667px;">Sunset Boulevard.</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 18.6667px; text-indent: 33.2667px;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">After he was blackballed as a director, Stroheim returned to writing and acting, often as an aristocrat, a heritage he falsely claimed in real life.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">In The Great Flamarion, Stroheim is superb, in the title role of an aloof, misogynist sharp-shooter in a Vaudeville act with femme fatale </span><span style="background: white; color: #545454; font-size: 14.0pt;">Connie</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span style="background: white; color: #545454; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (Mary Beth Hughes) and her drunken husband Al (Dan Duryea). Well, you know where this story is heading though heading is not the right word as most is told in flashback, topped and tailed by a puzzle at the beginning and a resolution at the end.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #545454; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The clever story and astute direction of noir maestro </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Mann" title="Anthony Mann"><span style="background: rgb(248 , 249 , 250); color: #0b0080;">Anthony Mann</span></a> make this 78min low-budget tale a small gem. But it is Stroheim’s ability to expose the raw vulnerability of this absurd man in a dinner suit performing a novelty act which makes the movie so compelling. Against all odds, the viewer is sympathetic to this <i>Big Shot</i>, the title of the short story (by Vicki Baum) on which the movie is based. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The story-writer</span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Vicki Baum, 1950s, Penn Museum Image #243434</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">HE</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">DWIG "VICKI" BAUM</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"> was an Austrian writer of more than 50 books. She wrote the novel <i>Menschen im Hotel</i> ("People at a Hotel", 1929 ) and she was invited to Hollywood to write the screenplay for the film version <i><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Hotel_(novel)" title="Grand Hotel (novel)">Grand Hotel</a> </span></i></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">(1932). </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">She stayed in America.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">In Vienna, Baum was also a musician and a boxer, training beside </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlene_Dietrich" title=""><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080;">Marlene Dietrich</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">. “<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">A woman never knew when she might have to defend herself, right?” Baum was <a href="https://mlc.ryerson.ca/assets/blog/Lacing%20Up%20the%20Gloves.pdf">quoted as saying </a><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">She identified as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Woman">New Woman</a>, a feminist concept which emerged in the late 19<sup>th</sup> century. To read, as you sometimes will, that Lamarr or Lupino were “proto-feminists” in Hollywood is quite anachronistic as feminism in Europe emerged decades before their careers in Hollywood.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">The short story <i>Big Shot</i> by Vicki Baum was first published in Collier's magazine of September 19, 1936. </span><i style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The Great Flamarion </span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">is only loosely based on </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-indent: 33.2667px;">Baum’s story and the Mary Beth Hughes character in the film is far more sympathetic in the short story</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">. Ultimately, the film seems to have an air of misogyny rather than progressive feminism. I think a good film noir could have been realised with a more authentic re-telling of Baum's story.'That being said, I am sure moralistic Hollywood censor Joe Breen would have disallowed the Baum ending which did not punish an adulterer.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">The Director</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">BORN IN CALIFORNIA, Anthony Mann was of Austrian and Bavarian heritage. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">He is considered one of the doyens </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">of film noir and he often worked with the exemplary cinematographer, John Alton, though not on <i>The Great Flamarion</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Mann rose from a childhood of financial struggles to drop out of high school, and combine night work with stage acting and directing in New York from 1930-40. He made his film directorial debut in 1942 with <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Broadway" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">Dr. Broadway</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">For B-production house Republic Pictures, he made his</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"> first noirs: <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strangers_in_the_Night_(film)" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">Strangers in the Night</span></a></i> (1944), and <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Flamarion" title="The Great Flamarion"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Great Flamarion</span></a></i> (1945) followed by <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Impersonation" title="Strange Impersonation"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Strange Impersonation</span></a></i> (1946).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Noirs with RKO included <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_O%27Clock_Courage" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">Two O'Clock Courage</span></a></i> (1945) and <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desperate_(film)" title="Desperate (film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Desperate</span></a></i> (1947).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">It was with another B-movie production house Eagle Lion that Mann had his greatest early success with noirs such as <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Men" title="T-Men"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">T-Men</span></a></i> (1947) <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railroaded!" title="Railroaded!"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Railroaded!</span></a></i> (1947) <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He_Walked_by_Night" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">He Walked by Night</span></a></i> (1948) and <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_Deal_(1948_film)" title="Raw Deal (1948 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Raw Deal</span></a></i> (1948).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">With MGM, he did <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Incident" title="Border Incident"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Border Incident</span></a></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="text-align: start;"> (1949) <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side_Street_(1950_film)" title="Side Street (1950 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Side Street</span></a></i> (1950) and the<i> </i>historical noir <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tall_Target" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Tall Target</span></a></i> (1952).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Mann went on to become an A-movie director specialising in Westerns and epics. He did not make another noir.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 32px;">The full movie</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 32px;">Next week's films will screen at 8.30pm, Jan 18, Hollywood time:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Next week’s noirs are <i>T-Men </i>(1947) directed by Anthony Mann and <i>Bluebeard</i> 1944, directed by <span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Edgar G. Ulmer. See you again then.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 21.3333px;">And now, time for today's song:</span></span></div>
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Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-48002009465907696332019-01-04T20:07:00.000-08:002019-01-05T00:20:12.127-08:00Welcome to another free double bill of film noir<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 17pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">A Noirishing Feast Awaits</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Come with me . . . </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">TONIGHT’S (from 8.30pm Friday, Hollywood time) double feature of film noir presents <i>The Strange Woman</i> (1946) and <i>D.O.A.</i>(1949) Both are good-quality prints and ad-free during their running times. In the tradition of cinemas past, the main feature D.O.A. will run second. Links to the films follow the reviews.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Grab your popcorn as I, your humble projectionist, crank up the projector for the first reel of <i>The Strange Woman</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br />WHAT really annoys me about reviewers on Amazon and other book sites is when they say they don’t like the characters. I mean, did <span style="background: white; color: #545454;">Bret Easton Ellis expect you to like the characters of <i>American Psycho?</i> After watching </span><i>The Strange Woman, </i>I can understand<i> </i>the criticism against unlikable characters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Strange Woman </span></i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">is a good film, well directed and photographed, with more than adequate acting. But the main characters are without exception as unattractive a bunch as are likely to cross a screen in front of you. This makes the movie less engrossing as the viewer is less invested in hoping protagonists avoid the inevitable noir calamities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Strange start<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">THE OPENING CREDITS offer little guidance of what is to follow. They are in a flowery font suggesting a period romance when what is in store is a harrowing period noir. I suspect the filmmakers intended to fool viewers and thus make the film more memorable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The movie itself begins with a scene with children which is important to explain the actions of the adults they become. This technique is unusual for noir but is effective here and in <i>The Strange Love of Martha Ivers </i>(1946) which I consider a superior film to <i>The Strange Woman</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">You will notice the word “strange” in both films. Strange Woman is definitely a Biblical reference, quoted in the film by travelling fire-and-brimstone evangelist <span style="background: white; color: #222222;">Lincoln Pettridge (Edward Biby). [Little is known about Mr Biby who has a strong and essential cameo in the film. He seems to have been something of a bit player in Hollywood, not significant enough to have a Wikipedia entry. Ah well, we legion of bit players can empathise.] Strange in the Bible refers to a seductress though the notion of stranger or outsider is also there. Perfect to describe Jenny Hagar (Hedy Lamarr) the impoverished daughter of a physically abusive father who uses her sexuality to enter wealthy, sanctimonious upper-middle-class society.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The players<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">THE STRANGE WOMAN</span></i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> was the 16th Hollywood film of Austrian-born Lamarr who was deprived of lines in her early films by producers and directors who considered she lacked talent. In <i>The Strange Woman</i>, she gives a good performance though, to my mind, she does not display enough of the redeeming features of a great femme fatale. Director Edgar G. Ulmer had relative success the previous year with his low-budget noir <i>Detour</i> (1945) which returned may multiples of its budget of under $100,000 ($1.3m in today’s values) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> The success of <i>Detour </i>allowed Ulmer to play with a much larger budget for <i>The Strange Woman </i>which he still managed to exceed by $1m ($13m in today’s terms). What Ulmer managed to do in <i>Detour </i>was to assist in the creation of the definitive femme fatale in Vera (played by unknown Ann Savage). With a much bigger budget to have exploding fires, runaway carriages, and river rapids ravaging canoes, Ulmer and Lamarr are unable to conjure the nuances of the good and evil of a classic femme fatale as Savage did. Even when Jenny (Lamarr) performs good deeds, giving money for childhood education and poverty relief, her motives are self-centred about her own deprived childhood, and we are reminded of the atrocious acts she is capable of. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Maybe I am being harsh on Lamarr and the fault largely lies in a script written by veteran producer Hunt Stromberg and Ulmer which painted Lamarr as too dark a villain early on. <i>The Strange Woman</i> at times has the ambience of an up-market exploitation film.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Character actor </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Lockhart" title="Gene Lockhart"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Gene Lockhart</span></a> as creepy merchant Isaiah Poster has an extended role in the film and takes the acting honours. The close-up of Poster leering at Lamarr’s exposed shoulder is one highlight of the film. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Another outstanding performance in a smaller part is that of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_Blakeney" title="Olive Blakeney"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Olive Blakeney</span></a> as Mrs. Hollis, the compassionate but surprisingly worldly-wise housekeeper.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Trivia <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Lockhart" title="Kathleen Lockhart"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">KATHLEEN LOCKHART</span></a> who plays Mrs. Partridge was in real life the wife of Gene Lockhart and the mother of June Lockhart ( in television hits </span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lassie_(1954_TV_series)" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">Lassie</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"> and <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_in_Space" title="Lost in Space"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Lost in Space</span></a>)</i>. And the grandmother of Ann Lockhart (recurring minor roles in television’s <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_West_Wing" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">The West Wing</span></a></i>, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCIS_(TV_series)" title="NCIS (TV series)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">NCIS</span></a></i>, the <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_%26_Order_(franchise)" title="Law & Order (franchise)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Law & Order</span></a></i> franchise</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">,) Kathleen Lockhart appeared in the noir <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_in_the_Lake" title="Lady in the Lake"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Lady in the Lake</span></a></i> (1947)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The director<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">THE STRANGE WOMAN </span></i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">director <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_G._Ulmer" title=""><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080;">Edgar G. Ulmer</span></a><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222;"> directed classic low budget noirs, </span></span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluebeard_(1944_film)" title="Bluebeard (1944 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Bluebeard</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1944) <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Illusion" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">Strange Illusion</span></a></i> (1945) and <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detour_(movie)" title="Detour (movie)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Detour</span></a></i> (1945). His life and art encapsulates the ethos of noir and it is a crying shame Hollywood has not commissioned a biopic of Ulmer (created in the neo-noir style, of course).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Ulmer was an Austrian Jewish set designer who in the 1920s worked for directors </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._W._Murnau" title="F. W. Murnau"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">F. W. Murnau</span></a><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222;">, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Siodmak" title="Robert Siodmak"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Robert Siodmak</span></a><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222;">, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Wilder" title="Billy Wilder"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Billy Wilder</span></a><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222;">, and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Zinnemann" title=""><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080;">Fred Zinnemann</span></a> who all later fled Europe for Hollywood. <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222;">Ulmer came to Hollywood with Murnau (</span><i><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #222222;">Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror</span></i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222;"> 1922, </span></span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunrise:_A_Song_of_Two_Humans" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"> 1927) in 1926.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">Ulmer tuned to directing and his second feature was the big-studio horror film <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Cat_(1934_film)" title="The Black Cat (1934 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Black Cat</span></a></i> (1934), starring </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_Lugosi" title="Béla Lugosi"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Béla Lugosi</span></a><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222;"> and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Karloff" title="Boris Karloff"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Boris Karloff</span></a><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222;">. It was the hit of the year for </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Pictures" title="Universal Pictures"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Universal Pictures</span></a><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222;"> and should have assured Ulmer’s future as a big-budget director. But . . . there’s always a but with noir. But Ulmer began fooling around with Shirley Beatrice Kassler, wife of producer Max Alexander, nephew of Universal studio head </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Laemmle" title="Carl Laemmle"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Carl Laemmle</span></a><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222;">. Ulmer was blackballed by all major studios and began a career in low-budget films which has endeared him to generations of noir lovers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<em><span style="color: #6a6a6a; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">Uncle Carl Laemmle<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
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<em><span style="color: #6a6a6a; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">Has a very large faemmle<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
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<em><b><span style="color: #6a6a6a; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal;">– Ogden Nash</span></b></em><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The cinematographer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">FRENCH-AMERICAN LUCIEN ANDRIOT</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"> directed more than 200 films, mostly on modest budgets during his career. He worked with French director </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Renoir" title="Jean Renoir"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Jean Renoir</span></a>. Andriot shot all genre and styles of film and his noir after <i>The Strange Woman</i> included </span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dishonored_Lady" title="Dishonored Lady"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Dishonored Lady</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1947, public domain) also starring Lamarr, <i>J</i></span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_One-Eye" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">ohnny One-Eye</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"> (1950) and </span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderline_(1950_film)" title="Borderline (1950 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Borderline</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1950).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">A great line and a weird one<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">JENNY HAGAR (Lamarr) to her father: “Men like me and it’s the men who have the money in this world.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Tim Hager (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Hoey" title="Dennis Hoey"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Dennis Hoey</span></a>) who is about to take a stockwhip to his daughter: “This is one beating you won’t like.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">What are you insinuating there, Dad?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">(British actor Hoey played Inspector Lestrade in six Universal Studio Sherlock Holmes films from 1942-46.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The verdict<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Intermission ad break<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">DO YOU HAVE somewhere to review an eBook? I have five complimentary review eBook copies of my neo-noir<i> Iraqi Icicle </i>to give to reviewers. I just need honest reviews not professional ones. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">By the way, that noir scene on the cover of Iraqi Icicle is from tonight’s main feature.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Be among the first five people to email me: </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="mailto:bentbananabooks@gmail.com">bentbananabooks@gmail.com</a> </span></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 14pt;">and tell me whether you want a Mobi copy for Kindle or an ePub or PDF version.</span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Now, on to our main feature:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Main feature <i>D.O.A.</i>1949<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24.95pt;">THIS IS MY SECOND FAVOURITE MOVIE in all of noir. At this early stage of our 15 evenings, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24.95pt;">I won’t say what my</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24.95pt;"> </span><b class="">favourite</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24.95pt;"><b> </b>i</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24.95pt;">s. I will say it, like </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24.95pt;">D.O.A., </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24.95pt;">it</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24.95pt;"> </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24.95pt;">is in the public domain.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">What’s not to love about <i>D.O.A., </i>the police and ambulance acronym for Dead On Arrival at hospital. The beginning grabs the viewer by the throat. There is a doozy of a plot twist, the best in noir, and that’s at 2:48 in. The flashback, a technique which noirists love, begins about a minute later.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;">Pamela Britton, future Mrs Brown, on TV's <i>My Favorite Martian</i>, with Edmond O'Brien</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Frank Bigelow (Edmund O’Brien) – what an evocative noirish name – an ordinary small-town accountant takes his first puff on a cigarette at 3.46 and his female client, draped across his desk, begins the first sexual innuendo at 3.59. It is not 4min in and we know there will be fireworks in Noirtown tonight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Frank wants to let his hair down in the big city pf San Francisco) without his pretty office assistant/ girlfriend Paula (Pamela Britton), <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Arriving at the St Francis Hotel – there really was and is such a hotel – Frank feels guilty about his plan. That does not stop him from leering at attractive women accompanied by blokey sound effects which might not pass muster in a film today. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">The scene in the jazz club, The Fisherman, with the squares mingling with the hip cats, is quite stunning.</span><span style="color: #545454; font-size: 14pt;"> The </span><em><span style="color: #6a6a6a; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal;">jazz musos</span></em><span style="color: #545454; font-size: 14pt;"> were: Jadie Carson (bandleader), </span><em><span style="color: #6a6a6a; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal;">Teddy Buckner</span></em><span style="color: #545454; font-size: 14pt;"> (trumpet), James Van Streeter (</span><em><span style="color: #6a6a6a; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal;">tenor sax</span></em><span style="color: #545454; font-size: 14pt;">), Ray Laurie (piano), </span><em><span style="color: #6a6a6a; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal;">Shifty Henry</span></em><span style="color: #545454; font-size: 14pt;"> (bass) and </span><em><span style="color: #6a6a6a; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal;">Al 'Cake' Wichard</span></em><span style="color: #545454; font-size: 14pt;"> (drums). They were miming to the soundtrack which had been recorded by a different band. </span><em><span style="color: #6a6a6a; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal;">Teddy Buckner</span></em><span style="color: #545454; font-size: 14pt;"> played another muso in the 1969 neo-noir <i>They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?</i></span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">That’s enough of the plot to whet the appetite without spoilers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">The players</span><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">EDMOND O'BRIEN starred in two films which have been deemed as classic noir. </span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">D.O.A.</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> is one and <i>The Hitch-Hiker</i> (1953), the first noir directed by a woman, is the other. Actor/ director/ screen-writer/ producer Ida Lupino, who directed <i>The Hitch-Hiker</i> is a towering presence in noir, though in real life she was a short and beautiful woman, also someone whose life would make a good biopic.</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The common link between Edmond O'Brien ‘s characters om </span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">D.O.A.</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> and <i>The Hitch-Hiker</i> is the notion of an ordinary person swept up in extraordinary perilous events over which they have no control.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Some film critics suggest this parallels the funk of U.S. citizens during the Cold War between America and the Soviet Union which has an approximate starting date of 1947. Such an analysis is obviously true of the noir classic <i>Kiss Me Deadly</i> 1955. But I believe themes of powerlessness or uneven power are more universal and common to many if not most noirs including those before the Cold War. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The notion of an ordinary person in dire peril is the basis of the suspense of much of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest works. Appearing to be a a genius of plotting where the viewer cannot see the seams, Hitchcock in reality using a formula where he piles on details of an ordinary life to be later shattered. Hitchcock's 1951 noir <i>Strangers on a Train</i> is an example. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, the music director of </span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">D.O.A.</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> and <i>Strangers on a Train</i> was </span><span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimitri_Tiomkin"><span style="background: white; color: #1a0dab;">Dimitri Tiomkin</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Two cameos in </span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">D.O.A.</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> are outstanding one from a newcomer another from a veteran of the theatre. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Neville Brand was a decorated war hero who earned his acting craft through the GI bill which paid for retraining after the war. DOA provided him with his first credited role and what a juicy role it was as the psychotic heavy, Chester. The scene where Chester is driving prank to a place to bump in all is beautifully filmed and menacing acted by Brand. The actor adds depth to his edgy performance Chesater refers to himself. As a lover of D.O.A. and a writer who has used the device of a character speaking in the third person, I find it disconcerting U.S. President Donald Trump regularly does it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Neville Bland went on to a long career, often as a villain in westerns and crime dramas, in film and on television.</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Luther Adler was a respected Broadway performer who took on acting roles from the 1930s. Here he plays the suave criminal, Majak. Expressing fatherly concern for Frank in what seems an Eastern European accent, Adler renders chilling role as the urbane villain, first affected by Sydney Greenstreet in <i>The Maltese Falcon</i> 1941</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">Trivia </span><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">THE ACTOR pointing the gun at Edmond O’Brien on the cover of my <i>novel Iraqi Icicle </i>is 21-year-old Laurette Luez.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">The way I remember it, Amazon bans covers with guns pointing out at the reader. I wanted a real gun to contrast with my clown’s water-pistol flower and the one in Luez’s hand complied with Amazon’s restrictions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">The year after <i>D.O.A.,</i> Luez,</span> <span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurette_Luez">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurette_Luez</a> who had an Australian mother, appeared in a minor role in <i>Kim</i> (1950) where she had a love scene with another Australian actor Errol Flynn. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">In Rudyard Kipling’s novel on which the film was based, the villains of the piece are Russian spies. Big studio MGM wanted to film the book during World War II, but they did not want to offend Russia which was a war ally. Bu 1950 it was okay to offend Russia, the dominant country of the Soviet Union. And Russians have been Hollywood villains ever since, even after the dissolving of the Soviet Union in 1991`<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">The director <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">D.O.A.</span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"> director </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolph_Mat%C3%A9">Rudolph Maté</a> was born into a Jewish familu in Poland and worked in Hungary as a cinematographer before moving to the United States in the mid-1930s. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">He was nominated for the </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Cinematography" title="Academy Award for Best Cinematography"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Academy Award for Best Cinematography</span></a><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222;"> in five consecutive years from 1940. </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Maté rutbed his hanf yo directing in 1947 and the bufgets he wsas witkiubg </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">with plummeted. His second film was the noir <i>The Dark Past</i> (1948) and his third was </span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">D.O.A. </span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Later noirs<i> </i></span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">i</span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">nclude<i> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Station_(film)" title="Union Station (film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Union Station</span></a> (1950)</i></span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Green_Glove" title="The Green Glove"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Green Glove</span></a> (1952)</span></i><i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paula_(film)" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">Paula</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1952) <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Chance_(1953_film)" title="Second Chance (1953 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Second Chance</span></a></i> (1953) and <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_(1953_film)" title="Forbidden (1953 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Forbidden</span></a></i> (1953)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">The Musical Director<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The bio of musical director </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimitri_Tiomkin">Dimitr Tiomkin </a></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">fits the narrative of Cold War noir.<b> </b>He was classically trained im Russia before the </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Bolshevik Revolution<span style="color: #222222;">, moved to the U.S, after the revolution In 1929, after the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street_Crash_of_1929" title="Wall Street Crash of 1929"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">stock market crash</span></a>, he moved to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood" title="Hollywood"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Hollywood</span></a>, where he became best known for his scores for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_(genre)" title="Western (genre)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Western</span></a> films, including <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duel_in_the_Sun_(film)" title="Duel in the Sun (film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Duel in the Sun</span></a></i>, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_River_(1948_film)" title="Red River (1948 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Red River</span></a></i>, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Noon" title="High Noon"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">High Noon</span></a></i>, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Sky_(film)" title="The Big Sky (film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Big Sky</span></a></i>, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunfight_at_the_O.K._Corral_(film)" title="Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Gunfight at the O.K. Corral</span></a></i>, and <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Train_from_Gun_Hill" title="Last Train from Gun Hill"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Last Train from Gun Hill</span></a></i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Tiomkin received 22 Oscar nominations and won four Oscars, two for <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Noon" title="High Noon"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">High Noon</span></a></i>, and one each for <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_High_and_the_Mighty_(film)" title="The High and the Mighty (film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The High and the Mighty</span></a></i>, and <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Man_and_the_Sea_(1958_film)" title="The Old Man and the Sea (1958 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Old Man and the Sea</span></a></i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 32px;">The Cinematographer</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Laszlo">Ernest Laszlo</a></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"> was a Hungarian-American <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinematographer" title="Cinematographer"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">cinematographer</span></a> who made 69 Holluwod films gtom 1927-1977<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Nominated for eight Academy Awardsm he win fior </span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Fools_(film)" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">Ship of Fools</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">. (1966) Hi other noirs include </span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cover_Up_(1949_film)" title="Cover Up (1949 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Cover Up</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (1949) <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_(1949_film)" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">Impact</span></a></i> (1949) <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhandled_(1949_film)" title="Manhandled (1949 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Manhandled</span></a></i> (1949) <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Knife" title="The Big Knife"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Big Knife</span></a></i> (1955) <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_Me_Deadly" title="Kiss Me Deadly"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Kiss Me Deadly</span></a></i> (1955) and<i> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/While_the_City_Sleeps_(1956_film)" title="While the City Sleeps (1956 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">While the City Sleeps</span></a></i> (1956)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Next Week’s double bill starts from 8pm Hollywood time on Friday January 11.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">On the bill are </span><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 14pt;">The Great Flamarion</span></i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 14pt;"> 1945 with Erich Von Stroheim and <i>Dishonored Lady</i> 1947, again with La Lamarr.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 14pt;">See you then. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 14pt;">Having watched two frenetic noirs, we will mellow out with a sad song which has a line about an old-time movie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-80282450878890589652018-12-28T20:45:00.003-08:002018-12-30T04:01:54.128-08:00Hurry, the movie's about to start<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">It's Movie Time</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">WELCOME to our first of 15 evenings of <b>FREE</b> double-feature film noir. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Entry is free, but first a little housekeeping. All the films are in the public domain which means they are free to watch. But they must have been uploaded for internet viewing. I have chosen good-quality prints. In some cases, that unfortunately means intrusive ads. If you find an ad-free print of equal quality of any of the films, please let me know. The film link will be at the end of the review.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The main feature – tonight <i>Algiers </i>1938 – will be reviewed first and without further ado.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">WHEN I was a young boy, American television comedians would try to make me laugh by saying, in a poor foreign accent, <span style="background: white; color: #222222;">"Come with me to ze Casbah." I could not pick the accent as French, I thought the Casbah was some nightclub and I had never heard of the 1938 film noir, <i>Algiers</i> which was mistakenly attributed as the source of the quote," Come with me to ze Casbah".<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">That’s right. Just as Humphrey Bogart or Ingrid Bergman never said, “Play it again, Sam” in the 1942 noir <i>Casablanca</i>, Frenchman Charles Boyer never invited Hollywood debutant Hedy Lamarr to come wit’ zim to ze Casbah. There is little doubt <i>Casablanca </i>owes some of its success to <i>Algiers</i> on which it was partly modelled so it is amusing each film produced a misquote which travelled down the generations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24.95pt;">Algiers, the capital of Algeria, was a French colonial possession for 100 years when the 1938 film was made, Morocco became a French “protectorate” in 1912. Algiers is on the Mediterranean Sea and Casablanca is a port on the Atlantic Ocean. The main religion of the Native populations of both countries was Islam.</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Both being close to Europe (across the sea to Spain) and on major trade routes, they were strategic ports in terms of trade and defence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Although Europeans had come to outnumbered Muslims in Algiers (though not in Algeria as a whole) most consumers of Hollywood films in America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand would not have heard of these parts of North Africa until they saw <i>Algiers</i>, <i>Casablanca,</i> and the Bing Crosby-Bob Hope comedy <i>The Road to Morocco</i> (1942).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">The only other time Algiers was on some people’s radar in Europe was when French-Swiss architect Le Corbusier proposed in 1931 the building of a second high-rise city above Algiers to make vertical residences more equal than those in rich and poor areas of horizontal neighbourhoods. The French Government wanted nothing to do with the idea<b> </b>and by<b> </b>1938 the Arab Muslim population was still living mainly in The Casbah, the centuries-old hilltop district built below a decaying citadel. The Casbah’s intertwining lanes and terraces are basic to the plot of the film <i>Algiers</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">None of the three films mentioned above were created in the places of their titles. Casablanca was a Hollywood film lot and the Moroccan desert was the Imperial Sand Dunes in Southern California. The closest to geographic authenticity was Algiers as producer Walter Wanger sent a London photographer to take still shots of Algiers which were spliced into the moving picture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif;">Boyer and Lamarr</span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">ALGIERS is a close remake of the 1937 French film <i>Pepe le Moko</i>, the title character played by Charles Boyer in the American version. Pepe is a jewel thief, hiding out for two years in The Casbah where he leads a small gang and has an Algerian girlfriend, Ines (</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigrid_Gurie" title="Sigrid Gurie"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Sigrid Gurie</span></a>). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">French authorities cannot capture Le Moko who persistently escapes through the labyrinth which is the Casbah.<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Wily local detective Inspector Slimane (</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Calleia" title=""><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Joseph Calleia</span></a>) knows le Moko can only be captured if he is lured out of the Casbah by his love for beautiful French tourist Gaby (Hedy Lamarr), <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">That plot outline might not sound like it but <i>Algiers</i> is a gritty noir. The dominant theme of the film is betrayal while the secondary theme of the loneliness of the Colons (colonizers) far from home is not particularly convincing or compelling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Main Theme<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-indent: 33.2667px;">Joseph Calleia, right, and </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-indent: 33.2667px;">Sigrid Gurie, centre</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">WHY THE THEME of betrayal? Well, producer <span style="background: white; color: #222222;">Walter Wanger</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222;"> was an anti-fascist, director John Cromwell was later black banned by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Un-American_Activities_Committee">House Un-American Activities Committee</a>, 1938-75 (with little evidence) as a Communist. Cinematographer </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Wong_Howe" title=""><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #0b0080;">James Wong Howe</span></a> was “gray banned” for a short period in the late 1940s as a communist sympathiser. Fascist political parties, which had support organisations in the United States, controlled Germany and Italy. Civil war between republicans and fascists/ monarchists raged in Spain, across the sea from Algeria. Betrayal was in the mind of many in Europe and the United States. During the time between the movies <i>Algiers</i> and <i>Casablanca</i>, fascist Germany had conquered France and set up a puppet Vichy Government in France and her African colonies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">A 1938 noir: is that possible?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">SOME scholars suggest <i>The Maltese Falcon</i> (1941) was the first film noir. French film critic Nino Frank coined the term Black Film in 1946 for war-time American crime films released in France following the war: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maltese_Falcon_(1941_film)">The Maltese Falcon (1941)</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder,_My_Sweet">Murder, My Sweet (1944)</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_(1944_film)">Laura (1944).</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Critics were right to tie film noir to war but for the most part they had the wrong war. Expat European film makers and dramatists (often Jewish) brought to the U,S. the styles of 1920s German Expressionism, a reaction to the horrors of World War I. Noir novelists Dashiell Hammett <i>The Maltese Falcon </i>(1930) and Raymond Chandler <i>The Big Sleep</i> (1939) both incurred chronic injuries in World War I and became alcoholics after that war. James M. Cain <i>The Postman Always Rings Twice </i>1934 served in France during World Wat 1. Cain has a credit in Algiers for additional dialogue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">A pre-1941 film such as <i>Algiers </i>is sometimes called proto-noir. A literal translation of the Greek prefix proto is first and I am happy to acclaim the movie as a genuine noir.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif;">Noir: it's a shadowy world</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">CHINESE-American </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">cinematographer </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Wong_Howe" title=""><span style="background: #f8f9fa; color: #0b0080;">James Wong Howe</span></a> <span style="background: white; color: #222222;">was a great innovator who achieved the first of his 10 Academy Award nominations (he won for <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rose_Tattoo_(film)" title="The Rose Tattoo (film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Rose Tattoo</span></a></i> (1955) and <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hud_(1963_film)" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">Hud</span></a></i> (1963)) for <i>Algiers.</i> He liked playing about with shadows which is one of the hallmarks of noir. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Close-ups are prominent in Algiers, another noir trope. There is one long close-up of Lamarr where we wait for long seconds for a change of expression which finally arrives but is difficult to read. The close-up looks more bizarre than evocative but it stayed in the film.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Cigarettes are smoked constantly to place us in the edgy world of noir.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">CHARLES BOYER</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"> (28 August 1899 – 26 August. 1978) was a French actor who spent the 1930s acting in both Hollywood and Paris. He became a U.S. Citizen in 1942. Boyer received four Oscar nominations including for <i>Algiers</i> and his most famous role in the noir <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslight_(1944_film)" title="Gaslight (1944 film)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Gaslight</span></a></i> (1944) with </span><span style="background: white; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ingrid Bergman<span style="color: #222222;"> and </span>Joseph Cotten<span style="color: #222222;">. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Austrian-born Hedy Lamarr had her first English-speaking role in <i>Algiers</i>. Lamarr became a star after <i>Algiers</i> but Hollywood producers and directors had little faith in her acting ability and she invariably had few lines in her roles as a sex bomb. She appeared in other noirs, <i>Crossroads </i>(1942) <i>The Conspirators</i> (1944) <i>The Strange Woman </i>1946 (in the public domain) <i>Dishonored Lady</i>, and <i>Lady Without Passport</i> (1950, directed by Joseph H. Lewis (<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_Crazy" title="Gun Crazy"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Gun Crazy</span></a></i>/<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Combo" title="The Big Combo"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">The Big Combo</span></a></i>)).</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Maltese-born Joseph Calleia received</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt;"> the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Board_of_Review_Awards_1938" title="National Board of Review Awards 1938"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15pt;">1938 National Board of Review Award</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt;"> for his performance as Arab Inspector Slimane. It is an attention-grabbing performance with the policeman’s wide-open eyes and cane making him seem blind until he says he sees le Moko every day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Sigrid Gurie (May 18, 1911 – August 14, 1969) was </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">born in Brooklyn to Norwegian parents and raised in Oslo. She was the female lead in the interesting <i><span style="background: white; color: #222222;">Voice in the Wind</span></i><span style="background: white; color: #222222;">, a 1944 noir directed by </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Ripley" title="Arthur Ripley"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Arthur Ripley</span></a>. She gave up acting for art and jewellery making in the late 1940s,<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Lockhart" title="Gene Lockhart"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration-line: none;">Gene Lockhart</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> was nominated for an Academy Award as best supporting actor for his role in<i> Algiers</i> as a police informant. Prodigious character actor Lockhart appeared in more than 300 films. All lovers of old movies will recognise his face. He appeared with Lamarr in <i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The Strange Woman</span></i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"> (1946).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">ALAN HALE SNR is Grandpere, a member of le Moko’s gang, who spends most of the film smoking hashish through a water pipe. Alan Hale Jnr is best remembered as the Skipper in the television show <i>Gilligan’s Island</i> (1964–1967). Bob Denver, who played Gilligan, was found guilty of possessing marijuana, in 1971 and in 1998 but did no jail time on either conviction. Hale Jnr was in the 1954 noir <i>Rogue Cop</i>, </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">starring <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Taylor_(actor)" title="Robert Taylor (actor)"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Robert Taylor</span></a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Leigh" title="Janet Leigh"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">Janet Leigh</span></a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Raft" title="George Raft"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">George Raft</span></a>.<sup> </sup>Chain smoker Robert Taylor died of lung cancer at the age of 57, proving some drugs will indeed kill you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Poetic realism<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">POETIC REALISM was a movement in 1930s French film where the lives of people on the margins of society were partially represented in lyrical metaphors. The French original <i>Pépé le Moko</i> (1937) directed by Julien Duvivier used poetic realism and so does the American copy. Examples are the impressive silhouette scene and Pepe running towards scenes of France. With the fall of France to the Germans in 1940, Duvivier and <i>Pépé le Moko</i> lead Jean Gabin escaped to Hollywood. Gabin starred in the noir <i>Moontide (</i>1942) with Ida Lupino and Claude Rains. <i>Moontide</i> used poetic realism. Duvivier directed five films in America. The only noir was <i>Destiny</i> 1944 for which he was uncredited because his contribution was retrieved from the cutting-room floor of another of his films.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Some of my favourite noirs are low-budget or B-pictures where imagination and skill made up for lack of budget. Algiers was not low budget. It cost $692,000 to make – $11.8m in today’s money and returned $16.3m. (Blockbusters with ridiculous budgets of $100-300 million are an invention of the past decade or so. Maybe the accountants are getting more creative and filmmakers less so. In today’s money, <i>Star Wars</i> 1977 cost less than $50 million and returned a gross of $1.6 billion. Impressive! How about <i>Gone with the Wind</i> (1939) which returned a gross of $1.8 billion, today’s values, on a budget of $68 million, today’s dollars.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">See <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_films_in_the_United_States_and_Canada#Adjusted_for_ticket-price_inflation">the highest grossing films</a> in real terms but not adjusted for population.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Algiers rating<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Intermission ad break<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://awesound.com/audiobook/iraqiicicle" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">https://awesound.com/audiobook/iraqiicicle</span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">DO YOU have somewhere to review an audiobook? I have five complimentary review copies of my neo-noir audiobook Iraqi Icicle to provide to reviewers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Be among the first five people to email me: <a href="mailto:bentbananabooks@gmail.com">bentbananabooks@gmail.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Now, on to our second feature:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Second feature <i>Dark Mountain</i> 1944<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">FELLOW DIRECTOR <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Fleischer" title="Richard Fleischer"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">RICHARD FLEISCHER</span></a> (<i>Soylent Green</i>, 1973) called William A. Berke (October 3, 1903 – February 15, 1958) King of the Bs. Berke, the director of <i>Dark Mountain</i>, directed just under 90 films between 1934 and 1958. Most of these films had budgets below $100,000 and shooting schedules of less than a fortnight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Former journalist Maxwell Shane produced a<i> Dark Mountain </i>script with a little bit of everything – drama, comedy, romance, and adventure – over the 56m run time. Shane went on to direct the noirs <i>City Across the River (</i>1949) <i>The Naked Street</i> (1955) <i>Hell’s Island</i> (1955) and <i>Nightmare </i>(1956).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">The best parts of <i>Dark Mountain</i> are the fleeting appearances of Elisha Cook Jr as Whitey (isn’t there always a short crook called Whitey?) Cook created two of the greatest cameo roles in film history as Wilmer – notice the woman’s name – in <i>The Maltese Falcon (</i>1941) and</span><span style="color: #222222;"> as </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: start;">Harry Jones in </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: start;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Sleep_(1946_film)" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="The Big Sleep (1946 film)">The Big Sleep</a></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: start;"> (1946)</span><span style="color: #222222;">. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">I guess Cook cost too much for a bigger part in the low-budget </span><i style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">Dark Mountain.</i></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">The characters are rather dull except for the villain played with menace and mental anguish by </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regis_Toomey" title=""><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080;">Regis Toomey</span></a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The dog Luther is cute and obviously well-trained.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 32px;">Trivia</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">WHEN <span style="color: #222222;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Drew" title=""><span style="color: #0b0080;">ELLEN DREW</span></a> as Kay Downey rises from bed, she dons a fur coat. Watching the rest of the scene, you see she has worn high heels to bed. Before watching<i> Dark Mountain </i>my favourite high-heels scenes were a character doing the housework in high heels. <i>Dark Mountain</i> went one better.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">The scene is at 32:30<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Dark Mountain rating<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Our next double feature is at 8pm Hollywood time, Friday January 4, 2019.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">The double bill is <i>D.O.A. </i>(1949) supported by another Hedy Lamarr vehicle <i>The Strange Woman (</i>1946)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">See you then.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Our video song is set in Morocco:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-69278283917941958122018-12-27T00:42:00.000-08:002018-12-27T00:48:36.690-08:0030 Free Films Noir Emerge from the Dark Past<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">LET's venture back in time to the suburban cinema of 70 and 80 years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> The seats are long rows of canvas industrially stapled to wooden supports. Your bottom finds the seats comfortable though they are unappealing to your eye.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> The projectionist, perched above in his booth, shines the reels of film onto the screen. For one silver coin, you will be treated to a newsreel of drama and comedy, a serial with a cliff-hanging ending, and two feature films. Black and white films, of course. Both noir.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> In 15 screenings, I will discuss 30 noir films, all in the public domain. All free to view.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a name='more'></a>JUST because our 30 films are in the public domain does not mean they lack quality. Most are good, some very good. Three of them I regard as among the best 10 noir ever made.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Most are in the public domain because someone forgot to renew the copyright.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> I will provide interesting background to noir and its practitioners and discuss noir classics which are not in the public domain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> There will be giveaways, popcorn for the mind, and hopefully contributions from you, the audience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> The cinema will run on Hollywood time, of course. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Our first double feature will be 8pm Friday, December 28, 2018.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> The main attraction is 1938’s<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The support is 1944’s<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">See you Friday night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-23797256215687271952018-12-22T03:35:00.000-08:002018-12-22T03:35:24.036-08:00Aussie progressives choose long hard roads<div class="WordSection1">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Seventy years of Left activism in Australia </b></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Far Left In Australia Since 1945</i></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">, editors Jon Piccini, Evan Smith and Matthew Worley, Routledge, London and New York, 2019. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Book review by</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Bernie Dowling</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">THIS book, written for popular as well as academic readers, is officially due out next year, so I guess this is a preview rather than a review. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Copies appear to be available now from the <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Far-Left-in-Australia-since-1945/Smith-Piccini-Worley/p/book/9781138043855">publisher’s website</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The site does not have a graphic of the cover and I copied the one above from the national library records. The publisher could update with a different cover but I am betting on the banner of the defunct Builder’s Labourers’ Federation – now part of the CMFEU – will fly on the front of this book. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As well as constituting a preview, my musings are largely based on background material and a review of a Beta copy by Wollongong academic Rowan Cahill.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I will stop the equivocations lest I start to appear as incredible as triple-speak lawyer Rudy </span><em><span style="background: white; color: #6a6a6a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal;">Giuliani</span></em><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> defending Donald Trump.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This book does not regard the Far Left as the inverse of the deservedly maligned Far Right, Cahill tells us in his review. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">Reviewer Rowan Cahill probably could have saved time by saying the 17 contributors have varying degrees of sympathy with the Left.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But, in saying that, Cahill would have lost all the fun of describing the Far Right:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“a gaggle of neo-nazis, fascists etcetera of a thuggish acid-in-your-face kind, racist trolls, a cyberspace of one-person-and-a-dog-flat-earth ‘parties’ that manage to jag the system and gain traction amongst fake news devotees, Christian clappers with heads buried in the Old Testament, and a galaxy of their combinations and ilk.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">On the other hand,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Far Left refers to the politics, passions, enthusiasms, strategies and formations to the left of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), which, as is evident in this book, and generally speaking, was not Far Left.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In short, the sort of people I, and perhaps you, engage with on Twitter, including people committed to reforming the Labor Party from within.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">By now, you will probably have an inkling whether you will like this book but I will provide more encouragement with chapter outlines:</span></div>
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Jon Piccini</div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Introduction : the history of the far left in Australia since 1945 /</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Jon Piccini, Evan Smith and Matthew Worley<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Australian communism in crisis, 1956 /</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Phillip Deery<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The current of Maoism in the Australian far left /</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Drew Cottle and Angela Keys<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Breaking with Moscow : the Communist Party of Australia's new road to socialism /</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> David McKnight<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The "white Australia" policy must go : the Communist Party of Australia and immigration restriction /</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Jon Piccini and Evan Smith<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The far left and the fight for Aboriginal rights : the formation of the Council for Aboriginal Rights (CAR), 1951 /</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Jennifer Clark <i>[No Capital A for Aboriginal according to details lodged with the national library. I will ask Tweeter Marcia Langton about this]</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">How far left? : negotiating radicalism in Australian anti-nuclear politics in the 1960s /</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Kyle Harvey<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">1968 in Australia : the student movement and the New Left /</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Russell Marks<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Changing consciousness, changing lifestyles : Australia's women liberation, the left and the politics of "personal solutions" /</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Isobelle Barrett Meyering<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Black power and white solidarity : the Action Conference on Racism and Education, Brisbane 1972 /</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Lewis d'Avigdor<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Australian left and gay liberation, from 1945 to 2000s /</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Liz Ross<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Beating BHP : the Wollongong jobs for women campaign 1980-1991 /</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Diana Covell<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Halcyon days? : the Amalgamated Metal Workers' Union and the accord /</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Elizabeth Humphrys<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Reading and contesting Germaine Greer and Dennis Altman : the 1970s and beyond /</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Jon Piccini and Ana Stevenson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The cultural front : left cultural activism in the post-war era /</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Lisa Milner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">NOW that I have performed my reviewing duties I am entitled to a whinge about the prices of books which are likely to be set as university texts. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">This 286-page book retails for $AU 242 (hardback) $49.99 (paperback) and $67.27 (eBook).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As someone of mature age, if not maturity, I have gone back to university full-time and have to endure the expense of academic texts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> I know 17 historians contributed to this book but I cannot imagine they would expect much in the way of royalties. Aren’t they supposed to be publishing to garner peer admiration, tenure, a pay rise, or escape from a tiny office near the broom cupboard to a slightly larger room neat the stairwell?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Prices seem exploitative of history students, teachers, and librarians who have to fork out $AU242 for a hardback or $67.27 for an eBook. Any neo-Marxist among the authors must be suitably embarrassed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">My own 300-page history book sells for a mere $AU30 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="line-height: 107%;">Now an audiobook </span></b><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "Calibri Light", sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://awesound.com/audiobook/iraqiicicle">https://awesound.com/audiobook/iraqiicicle</a></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As an eBook, my quasi-historical neo-noir is $AU11.67. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And I cannot make a bunch of history student buy my books. Where’s my placard? I can feel a protest coming. What do we want? Mandatory purchases of Bernie’s books.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">You can buy <i>The Far Left In Australia Since 1945</i> <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Far-Left-in-Australia-since-1945/Smith-Piccini-Worley/p/book/9781138043855">HERE</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Rowan Cahill review was </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">first published in an edited form in Recorder (Newsletter of the Melbourne Labour History Society), Issue No. 293, November 2018, pp. 8-9.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Here is our video to accompany my review: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br clear="all" style="mso-break-type: section-break; page-break-before: always;" /></span>Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-59243565532151262102018-12-15T17:16:00.002-08:002018-12-15T23:16:38.235-08:00Queensland political activist relives the 1970-80s<h2>
<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Tales of corrupt times past</span></h2>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=91983071342112363" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=91983071342112363" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=91983071342112363" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>Book Review: <i>Iraqi Icicle</i> and <i>The Second Father</i><br />
Guest post by <b><span style="font-size: large;">Ian Curr</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="text-indent: 24.95pt;">WITH the current surge of audiobooks here are two unlikely bedfellows in popular writing. Both books are set in </span>Brisbane during<span style="text-indent: 24.95pt;"> the bad years of the Bjelke-Petersen government. I know both the authors Bernie Dowling and Domenico Cacciola. We lived in the same district of Fortitude Valley and New Farm during some of that time.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: large;">The protagonists in the books are on opposite sides of the law. Both had fascinations for horse racing, illegal gambling, corruption, political police, sex, drugs, and prostitution.<i> Iraqi Icicle </i>is neo-noir fiction and <i>The Second Father</i> is a memoir. Step aside Andrew McGahan’s Last Drinks – they say Queensland is another country; if so, these authors help redefine the streets of your town.</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; text-indent: 24.95pt;">The Second Father</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-indent: 24.95pt;"> portrays a contest for control over illegal gambling in south-east Queensland. Brisbane has often been compared to a big country town however that does not take into account the sleazy Fortitude Valley/New Farm area nor the tinsel town debauchery of Surfers Paradise. On the surface the Gold Coast is a high rise tourist mecca, but with an underbelly of illegal gambling, alcohol, drugs, and prostitution.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Cacciola's account <span style="text-indent: 24.95pt;">is full of examples of corruption at all levels of the police force and of their political masters. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="text-indent: 24.95pt;">Cacciola himself </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">is a contradiction, on one level the renegade copper fighting racist and bent police and on the other a no-nonsense gun-totting thug, ready to mix it with the worst murderers using ‘dogs’ (informants ). </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 33.2667px;">Police Task Force Snr Const John Watt jumping from the back of a Ford Falcon to baton a meatworker during secondary-boycott-of-live-cattle-1978 at Hamilton No 4 Wharf in Brisbane. Ambulance Officers refused to attend the injured worker’s wound. Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen went on the news that night commending police intervention. Photo: Meatworkers Union Journal </span></div>
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Cacciola <span style="text-indent: 24.95pt;">was a member of the infamous police Special Branch which for a decade between 1970 and 1980 bashed and arrested students and trade unionists.</span></div>
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There is a lot of interesting slang in both <i>The Second Father</i> and <i>Iraqi Icicle</i>. The author of the latter even provides a glossary of Australian slang for his international audience. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt;">The joke</span><br />
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DOMENICO CACCIOLA was not part of the “Joke” – the corrupt protection system run by Queensland police including Commissioner Lewis, Det Sgt Jack Herbert and Inspector Tony Murphy. Cacciola portrays the Southport SP Betting Case as a contest between the goodies and baddies with himself as Brisbane’s Serpico.</div>
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The goodies are tough but fair: man mountain inspector Arthur Pitts, police prosecutor Alec Jeppersen and himself, Domenico Cacciola innocent victims of the Joke. The baddies are led by Mastermind Bagman, Det Sgt Jack Reginald Herbert and the head of CIB, Inspector Tony Murphy. Murphy and Herbert get off charges laid against them by prominent gun-for-hire, catholic barrister Des Sturgess, the same lawyer who prosecuted Lindy Chamberlain for the murder of her daughter when the poor child was taken by a dingo at Uluru.</div>
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At the bidding of Herbert, Cnst Davey taped senior officer Pitts, Jeppersen and Cacciola fabricating evidence against ‘Mr Big’, SP bookmaker Stanley Derwent Saunders. This was pay-back because the goodies wouldn’t accept bribes from Herbert to go easy on illegal gambling, alcohol, drugs, and prostitution – the Joke.</div>
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In the Southport case, there were no successful prosecutions of any of the protagonists because both prosecution and defence were lying.</div>
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Cacciola’s insights for the book were gained with years of experience of police corruption. A Sicilian immigrant who was a victim of racist attitudes in Fortitude Valley and New Farm areas in the 1950s and 60s, Cacciola was anti-union and anti-communist, an easy foil for political populists like Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Don ‘Shady’ Lane and Russ Hinze.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I do accept that Cacciola was not part of the Joke and that he was under a lot of pressure, not so much because of his spectacular arrests in the street marches but because of the corrupt police around him. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I remember during the street marches visiting police headquarters in Herschel Street. I was at the front counter picking up some documents when I was approached by Domenico Cacciola in plain clothes. Without any warning he grabbed hold of my throat and push me up against the front counter claiming that I had ‘dobbed’ him into other police. “I don’t know what you’re talking about I said, "I don’t mix in your circles.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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Police in the foyer look startled. Cacciola let me go. These were the actions of a paranoid stressed individual with few friends.<o:p></o:p></div>
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CACCIOLA’S PUBLISHER, University of Queensland Press claims he is a bestselling author, even though in the 1970s he was employed in the special branch as a thug. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[***Language warning*** this audiobook is full of swearing by police and crims. Not the hand-on-the-bible kind of swearing.]<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Iraqi Icicle</span></i><br />
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This is a neo-noir novel. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Where did neo-noir come from? Well, it is a reference to film noir which came from German expressionist filmmakers who made their way in exile from Nazi Germany to Hollywood in the inter-war period between Wirld Wars I and II. They began making “B” grade low-budget movies. Many were Jewish. Post-war America was both anti-communist and anti-Semitic. Many of the Hollywood moguls were no different. </div>
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Film noir makers realised that they could produce quite artistic cinema with black and white film and innovative techniques like close-ups and shadows with stripes. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Film noir soon took off in the US. Examples are John Huston’s <i>The Maltese Falcon </i>1941 and Christopher Nolan’s <i>Memento</i> 2000. Alfred Hitchcock and Patricia Highsmith’s <i>Strangers on a Train is</i> a study of the perfect crime gone horribly wrong. Billy Wilder’s quintessential film noir classic, <i>Double Indemnity</i> took up the crime thriller genre, attracting large audiences.</div>
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The characters were oddballs and outcasts. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It didn’t take long for McCarthyism to begin the attack on these filmmakers on the basis of communist sympathy. Many were blacklisted.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Like the eastern European exponents of film noir, Domenico Cacciola understood post-war migration because his parents and grandparents had to do it twice, after both WWI and WWII. Domenico understood exile and fitting in. In a weird way, Cacciola was an outcast like the street marchers he used to arrest, an outlaw. <o:p></o:p></div>
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By contrast, Steele Hill in <i>Iraqi Icicle </i>manages to keep his cool and throw off at the cops. Plus he’s funny. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i> Iraqi Icicle</i> is in part a homage to 1980s Indie rock band, The Go-Betweens. The drummer Lindy Morrison was no stranger to political demonstrations. With art imitating real life Dowling describes how Morrison was arrested during an illegal street march. Lindy was the most political of the band members, something reflected in the lyrics of their signature tune, <i>Streets of Your Town</i>: <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Don’t the sun look good today?</i><br />
<i>But the rain is on its way.</i><br />
<i>Watch the butcher shine his knives</i><br />
<i>And this town is full of battered wives.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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But that’s about it. Political filmmakers looking for a soundtrack to go with their footage of demonstrations in the late 1970s had no help from local musos; the rock scene had simply not kept pace with the politics. When we came to make the doco <i>If You Don’t Fight You Lose</i> we had to look to American folk music for a soundtrack.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Nevertheless, Saints guitarist Ed Keuper and Grant McLennan of the Go-Betweens were busted among the 418 arrested on 22 Oct 1978 protesting the loss of democratic rights and mining and export of uranium.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Lindy Morrison, later The G0-Betweens' drummer. tries to help friends escape from the South Brisbane watch house after 418 people were arrested on 22 Oct 1977.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“It was way back in 1978, before Lindy Morrison was even in the band, as far as I know. You remember, the Premier at the time, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, banned street marches as a form of civil protest.’‘<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Vaguely, I was only thirteen or fourteen at the time. The nuns in the orphanage weren’t big on breakfast-table discussions of the political news of the day.’‘<o:p></o:p></div>
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“I wasn’t much older myself, but the old coppers tell me the uni students and their crackpot mates would call a demonstration at the drop of a hat. After a scuffle at one demo, Mooney charged Morrison with stealing his watch.’‘<o:p></o:p></div>
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“And did she?’‘ <o:p></o:p></div>
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“From what I gather, his watch came off in a melee and Morrison held the watch in the air as if to say, ‘Who owns the watch?’ And Mooney pinched her. Anyway, she got off at the pre-trial committal stage.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->-<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Extract from <i>Iraqi Icicle</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Author Bernie Dowling even manages to get Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega into his book … but you will have to listen to it to find out how.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I thoroughly recommend you listen to both audiobooks but remember former Special Branch officer, Cacciola, never lets the facts get in the way of a good story.</div>
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<i>Iraqi Icicle (third edition)</i> is available from <a href="https://awesound.com/audiobook/iraqiicicle" target="_blank">https://awesound.com/audiobook/iraqiicicle</a><br />
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And<i> The Second Father </i>is available from UQP.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">- Ian Curr</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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This is an edited review. Read the full version <a href="https://workersbushtelegraph.com.au/2018/12/09/iraqi-icicle-or-the-second-father/">HERE </a><o:p></o:p><br />
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We have two videos. In the first at 15:11 Domenico Cacciola arrests the protestor he calls the Lanky Yank. The second vid is self-explanatory.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-56206164710181467172018-12-09T00:28:00.000-08:002018-12-09T00:38:57.705-08:00I Fought the Law down the years<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=91983071342112363" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=91983071342112363" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=91983071342112363" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=91983071342112363" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=91983071342112363" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=91983071342112363" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=91983071342112363" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">I fought the copyright law . . . </span><span style="font-size: 24pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">MUSIC PUBLISHERS held up the release of my completed audiobook<i><b> Iraqi Icicle</b></i> for two months while they decided if they would approve my use of a song extract. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 249.5pt;">I had </span>approval<span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 249.5pt;"> to use the lyrics from Go-Betweens songs in the text and thought that permission would extend to a song extract and so had it embedded as a through-line throughout the audiobook.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 249.5pt;"> My distribution aggregator wisely suggested I should check with the copyright holder. Thus began the two-month wait.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span> <span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">. . . And the law won </span><span style="font-size: 20pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">THE TARDY REPLY was a “no”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I went to see my Brooklyn born and raised lawyer Irma Fawda-Law in her office in a seedy alley of the Valley.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Irma had her nameplate burned into an ancient ironbark door with a branding iron. It read “<i><b>I Fawda-Law –Mouthpiece</b></i>”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I entered to see Irma sitting on a one-seater sofa. She was eating popcorn and watching the Bobby Fuller Four on a large computer screen atop her desk.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">ANOTHER MAN might have wondered why Irma was watching the grainy 1966 </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">black and white video. All I said was, “Great show, Irma. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We watched the 2:22 rock epic all the way through before I unburdened my woes. Irma thought for a minute. “You wanna I should get Artichokes to tawk to them.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">No, I didn’t want Sydney Heavy, Arthur Choker, who metaphorically choked three for a dollar, to talk with the copyright holders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Den, we gotta replace the recawdin’s. Got anything?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I told her about my parody of <i>I Fought the Law</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">Shootin' strangers with a big gun</span></i><i><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br />
<span style="background: white; mso-highlight: white;">I fought de War and da War won</span><br />
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<i><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;">I miss my sweetie and her smile some</span></i><i><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">“Parrot tawks are good,” Irma said making a pun in parodies. She likes to pun. “Parrot tawks are protected under copyright law.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Well, everybody’s done a version of I fought the Law since it was written by Sonny Curtis of the Crickets. Why shouldn’t I?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">AFTER WAITING EIGHT WEEKS for bad copyright news, we arranged with Caboolture musician Maurice Hardy to record serviceable excerpts of my parody in seven days and it took less than a week and $US100 for the production house to slot the excerpts into the audiobook. We sped up the process just as the covers of the song became more frenetic.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I AM NOT SAYING my parody is as effective as the Go-Betweens <i>The Streets of Your Town </i>would have been but we quickly pushed aside the roadblock the copywrongsters put in our way. In this sense, I won<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The proof of the pudding is, as they say, in the eating. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZndJ3RpKsddZ8xF5Yv0ZWH1_KJYsrcsQrQ0mjM_NEtUbjKXbxIfztJDSsc-rku9PthZeddO522njprdVU0EsITSeU9dQumPxXgpffnOfNiUpgfduuzdbzDolFKh6kAy39QJGHQNX50EG-/s1600/Iraqi+Icicle+3rd+edition+fot+inkitt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1290" data-original-width="859" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZndJ3RpKsddZ8xF5Yv0ZWH1_KJYsrcsQrQ0mjM_NEtUbjKXbxIfztJDSsc-rku9PthZeddO522njprdVU0EsITSeU9dQumPxXgpffnOfNiUpgfduuzdbzDolFKh6kAy39QJGHQNX50EG-/s320/Iraqi+Icicle+3rd+edition+fot+inkitt.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Now an audiobook </span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://awesound.com/audiobook/iraqiicicle" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">https://awesound.com/audiobook/iraqiicicle</span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">IF I DON’T SELL enough audiobooks to recoup my production costs I guess the Law wins again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">SO BUY MY AUDIOBOOK<a href="https://awesound.com/audiobook/iraqiicicle"> HERE</a> <span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: #1155cc;"> </span></span>and make an old rocker happy<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> I</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">HERE’S WHERE my video tale plays to its end. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">But there is one song which will never die. It is living proof not all the Good die young.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 25.68px;">Now an audiobook</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><a href="https://awesound.com/audiobook/iraqiicicle" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">https://awesound.com/audiobook/iraqiicicle</span></a></span></span></div>
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Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91983071342112363.post-52428648746273777222018-12-04T02:27:00.000-08:002018-12-04T02:27:51.449-08:00Disabled respect the Word<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Diversity Rules</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzpRXA48H1Y9d2wne8jBUARfJytPURha_-HfpMeqeM-6l6dQ-OP7fHH-xlnaTJTH93nBnbRPUBgJ5LbKhu4_hxl8EfyDxAdqjeNh-b-B68CWM0yIv9M573bhk-OkbH4MZe5ozrMFIp033i/s1600/Iraqi+Icicle+3rd+edition+fot+inkitt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1290" data-original-width="859" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzpRXA48H1Y9d2wne8jBUARfJytPURha_-HfpMeqeM-6l6dQ-OP7fHH-xlnaTJTH93nBnbRPUBgJ5LbKhu4_hxl8EfyDxAdqjeNh-b-B68CWM0yIv9M573bhk-OkbH4MZe5ozrMFIp033i/s320/Iraqi+Icicle+3rd+edition+fot+inkitt.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Now an audiobook <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiSRRLst3LhWXnCXRzMW2iQDLv06WnEIHb_LZcOrLsMxhhzSj891R-Vzmbwpt8FgrqFaLjA02-B5t4CiGSGJ3ZYIbOvUA8OfBPLnK2GJTFBRgBShwRdoSrhHiBj59EH87KdkKwW0sRTKaZ/s1600/tuning+forks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiSRRLst3LhWXnCXRzMW2iQDLv06WnEIHb_LZcOrLsMxhhzSj891R-Vzmbwpt8FgrqFaLjA02-B5t4CiGSGJ3ZYIbOvUA8OfBPLnK2GJTFBRgBShwRdoSrhHiBj59EH87KdkKwW0sRTKaZ/s200/tuning+forks.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: #1155cc; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://awesound.com/audiobook/iraqiicicle" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">https://awesound.com/audiobook/iraqiicicle</span></span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I </span></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">HAD</span></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> the most enjoyable author talk ever today before </span></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">technical-college </span></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">students who were disabled or </span></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">immigrants studying English as a Second Language (ESL).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The teacher who invited me said the 25 disabled students each had some measure of intellectual impairment while some had physical disabilities as well. But they seemed to follow what I was saying as I explained the differences between paperback, hardback, eBook and audiobook.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Collectively they were able to tell me the word ‘genre’ meant kind, noir meant black as in night, and ‘e’ as in eBook stood for electronic. They were able to explain to me fiction, non-fiction, and back story.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I received the usual question on how long it took to write a book. I explained about re-writing or self-editing a dozen times before passing it on to a professional editor if you could afford one.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I received an unusual question about what was my favourite book and I thought the questioner meant my favorite book I had read. But he meant the favorite I had written.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had to think about it but I I answered truthfully my novel Iraqi Icicle. I then thought how some friends have said I should concentrate on “more serious” non-fiction. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I explained why there was a clown on the front cover of my novel. I asked how many students were afraid of clowns. As I suspected about a half-dozen hands went up. But they were outnumbered by the hands which went up for those finding clowns funny. In this way I was able to explain comedy noir.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An ESL student from Serbia asked me whether I found an idea for a book or the idea found me. I have never been asked that question before but it struck me as a brilliant one. I literally had to think on my feet and I replied I leaned towards the idea finding me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I thought these ESL students might struggle with my novel as Iraqi Icicle is in part written in Australian-English as a Third Language (AETL), Still it does have a glossary and, if they listen to the audiobook, I think they will follow my drift and get a giggle or two.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiSRRLst3LhWXnCXRzMW2iQDLv06WnEIHb_LZcOrLsMxhhzSj891R-Vzmbwpt8FgrqFaLjA02-B5t4CiGSGJ3ZYIbOvUA8OfBPLnK2GJTFBRgBShwRdoSrhHiBj59EH87KdkKwW0sRTKaZ/s1600/tuning+forks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiSRRLst3LhWXnCXRzMW2iQDLv06WnEIHb_LZcOrLsMxhhzSj891R-Vzmbwpt8FgrqFaLjA02-B5t4CiGSGJ3ZYIbOvUA8OfBPLnK2GJTFBRgBShwRdoSrhHiBj59EH87KdkKwW0sRTKaZ/s200/tuning+forks.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">I WAS enjoying a soy latte in the canteen when a couple of the students sat beside me. “It’s good that you write books for people,” one said.</span></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That might have been the best compliment I have ever received and a compliment received on behalf of the tens of thousands of authors throughout the world who struggle to make writing pay. The bottom line is it is good we write books for people.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNmumIw3-uD6xn-BJdqbtxlMRTTOKbbF8AchowzAU-gkcIFr_dPuDdZPITpB-Z8rqsg4soTLwtMHjjjCz5KrYUT_QaoCQpvyu2_aNMQMdBz8H8ecdJ1QibcqzLs0q5Cmul93TAdsMHIHQT/s1600/tuning+forks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNmumIw3-uD6xn-BJdqbtxlMRTTOKbbF8AchowzAU-gkcIFr_dPuDdZPITpB-Z8rqsg4soTLwtMHjjjCz5KrYUT_QaoCQpvyu2_aNMQMdBz8H8ecdJ1QibcqzLs0q5Cmul93TAdsMHIHQT/s200/tuning+forks.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 24.95pt;">HERE is our song about quaint writing. I love this clip so much.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> Check out organ player </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">John Evans </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">making fun of the pre-recording. Pre-recorded or live, it is a two-minute minimalist rock gem.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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Save the Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067307064053648129noreply@blogger.com0