September 30, 2007

When Legends Gather #301


Sen. John F. Kennedy, Gore Vidal and Tennessee Williams

The Art of Cinema #256


Sadie Thompson
(Raoul Walsh; 1928)

Broadcasters #25


Alan Freed

R is for Rogovin #3


Storefront Churches: Woman Playing Washboard (1958)

This is the City . . . #12


Hollywood Blvd. (1953)

Seminal Image #734


The Crazies
(George A. Romero; 1973)

September 29, 2007

Adventures in European Filmmaking #32


Today's Adventure: Luis Buñuel directs Catherine Deneuve in Belle de Jour (1967)

Seminal Image #733

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Los Olvidados
(aka The Young and the Damned aka The Forgotten Ones)
(Luis Buñuel; 1950)

When Legends Gather #300

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Luis Buñuel and Billy Wilder

They Were Collaborators #368

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Catherine Denevue and Luis Buñuel

When Legends Gather #299

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Luis Buñuel and Angel Orensanz

Seminal Image #732

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Las Hurdes
(aka Terre Sans Pan aka Land Without Bread)
(Luis Buñuel; 1933)

They Were Collaborators #367

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The Pixies

September 25, 2007

El Cine del Oro #37


Susana
(Luis Bunuel; 1950)

A Is For Arbus #43


Philadelphia fashion maven Mrs. T. Charlton Henry
(1963)

The Friends of Milt Hinton #5


Johnny Hodges enjoys a cold one at Beefsteak Charlie's in 1960.

September 24, 2007

Seminal Image #731


Crime Wave
(Andre de Toth; 1954)

They Were Collaborators #366


Billie Holiday and Coleman Hawkins

Heroes of Popular Culture #25


Sophie Tucker

Old New York #10


Lower Manhattan (1942)

Poets are both clean and warm
And most are far above the norm
Whether here or on the roam
Have a poet in every home! #23


Carl Sandburg

The Art of the Leaf #3

Artists in Action #271

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Peter Sellers imbibes

Art of Cinema #255

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Giant
(George Stevens; 1956)

Seminal Image #730

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Giant
(George Stevens; 1956)

in the art deco style #3

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Willem van Konijnenburg, Vier kinderliedjes zj

When Legends Gather #298

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Paul McCartney and Ernie K Doe

September 23, 2007

The Hitchcock/Truffaut Tapes #13


There were times – thankfully not many – when Alfred Hitchcock was moved to make a film solely to explore a technical gimmick that caught his fancy or to solve some purely cinematic problem.The most famous of these instances, 1948's Rope demonstrated just how disastrous such indulgences could be (in Technicolor, yet); for despite his oft-retailed and successfully marketed pose as the Master of Suspense, totally preoccupied with the mechanics of his craft (and then only for the purpose of manipulating audiences), Hitchcock's more everlasting creations carried what was at least an equivalent interest in matters beyond their physical production. But explaining to an interviewer the forces that drove intensely emotional works like Vertigo, or his 1956 remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much, would not have been an easy thing to do (assuming for the moment that such things can even be expressed); explaining them to hero worshippers like François Truffaut was a doomed enterprise from the start. It was better, safer, far less strenuous to pretend he only cared about montage and Macguffens.

It was, if nothing else, one way of staying alive in the hopeless minefield of Hollywood.

The Hitchcock/Truffaut Tapes make a limp return to this blog with a discussion of that "microcosm of the War," 1944's Lifeboat, a film whose existence Hitchcock freely admits was inspired by the challenge its rather limited and claustrophobic setting posed. And for once it's easy to take him at his word, because regardless of how many defenders it has among the faithful, Lifeboat has almost nothing going for it, being an apallingly simplistic wartime fable – with none of the rude emotional power that often drives such primal narratives – populated by one tiresome stock character after another. What else could have attracted him to the project? So taken was Hitchcock with surmounting the technical issues inherent to a film set entirely within the confines of a lifeboat, in fact, that he seems blissfully unaware (even in 1962) of just how hackneyed John Steinbeck's story and Jo Swerling's screenplay really were.

True to form, François Truffaut applauds Hitchcock's labor on one of the worst films he had ever put his name to (while noting the rather limited dimensions of its human landscape), declaring it (get this) "psychological" and highly "moral" . . . this from someone who during the war frequently professed his admiration for Vichy's original old goat, Marshall Petain.

A discussion of Lifeboat's largely negative critical reception . . . and Hitchcock's brief return to Britain to make two wartime propaganda films (Aventure malgache and Bon voyage) . . . leads into a somewhat tedious footslog through 1945's Spellbound.

Marcel Marceau dies at 84


Marcel Marceau in Mel Brooks' Silent Movie.

The Associated Press obituary can be found here. No word on if he'll be buried in a glass box.

Seminal Image #729


Peter Pan
(Herbert Brenon; 1924)

Collect 'Em All #37


Cary Grant
No. 22 in a series of 50 from Player's Navy Cut Cigarettes

Archibald Alexander Leach was born in Bristol, January 18th, 1904. At the age of twelve, his adventurous disposition prompted him to run away and join a travelling acrobatic troupe, but a month later his father found him, and he returned to school. Later he ran away again, and toured England with a theatrical company. Then he went to America, and after appearing in stock companies, won fame on Broadway and adopted his present name. A visit to the Paramount studios resulted in a contract. His latest films include Thirty-Day Princess, Kiss and Make Up, Enter Madame and Ladies Should Listen.

When Legends Gather #297


Nat King Cole tickles the ivories while Errol Flynn tries to remember the words.

Artists in Action #270


Lenny Bruce gestures.

Art of the London Underground #25

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Lambing by Clare Leighton; 1938

Through the Lens of Cyril Arapoff #13

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A second-hand carpet stall. Before the Second World War the Caledonian was the largest and most popular street market in London.

From the Sketch Book of Lawson Wood #20

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The Harbinger

Station-Master-Porter-Clerk (to impatient passenger): "It'll be getting near now, sir; here's the engine-driver's little dawg a-comin' down the line!"

From the Southern Travellers Handbook for 1965/66 #8

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Third-Class passengers

At one time there were also 'third class' carriages which were not only windowless but roofless as well...
...The rattling pig-pens on wheels, misnamed third-class carriages (before the late alterations) were despicable affairs, with the wonderful property if always meeting the rain in whatever quarter the wind might be blowing. They were a species of horizontal shower-bath, from whose searching power there was no escape.

September 22, 2007

Seminal Image #728


The Neon Bible
(Terence Davies; 1995)

When Legends Gather #296


Ginger Rogers and Jack Benny

Before and After #86:
Jean-Paul Belmondo

Before


After

B is for Beaton #5


Queen Elizabeth II

Sex Education #86


Claudia Cardinale

Self Portrait #5

ag
Allen Ginsberg, 1985

Adventures in European Filmmaking #31

cocteau
Today's Adventure: Jean Cocteau directs a scene in La Belle et la bête while the crew watches (Beauty and the Beast; 1946).

They Were Collaborators #365


Alfred Hitchcock and James Stewart

September 20, 2007

Women of the Stage #3

Blaze Starr
Blaze Starr

they were an item #16


Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles board a plane in 1946.

September 19, 2007

Adventures in American Filmmaking #84


Today's Adventure: Lewis Milestone discusses the merits of camera mobility
with the cast of Ocean's Eleven (1960)

Newspapermen #19
Artists in Action #259
When Legends Gather #295


Brooks Atkinson hands Maxwell Anderson the 1935 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award

They Were Collaborators #364


Frank Borzage and Janet Gaynor

Civic Portraiture #25


Malcolm Little (aka Detroit Red)

The Present Day Composer #51


Jerome Kern (1885-1945)

The Greatest Hits of John Tenniel
(with The Reverend Dodgson) #5


‘You are old,’ said the youth, ‘as I mentioned before,
And have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door—
Pray, what is the reason of that?’

‘In my youth,’ said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,
‘I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment—one shilling the box—
Allow me to sell you a couple?’
-- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)

September 18, 2007

(Major) Housekeeping Matter #23:
Welcome, Kimberly Lindbergs!


I've been wanting to write this for weeks, since the idea first came to me, and now I can. I have to confess I'm immensely pleased . . . as pleased as at any point during the almost three-year life of this blog . . . to welcome Kimberly Lindbergs as our fourth official contributor here at If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger . . . . Kimberly, as many of you know, is author of the exceptional blog Cinebeats: Confessions of a Cinephile; more crucially for this endeavour, she has a remarkable eye for images (something fully attested to by her contributions to our week-long Guest Contributor fiesta last month). But perhaps most important of all, she gets what we're doing here. I'm confident I'm speaking for my co-conspirators in saying that this is something we can't value highly enough 'round these parts.

So please join us . . . and the 16th President of the United States here pictured . . . in raising a toast to our newest member!

A somewhat unrelated side-note in closing: I'd like to thank all of you who wished me your best, both publicly and privately, during my recent stretch of infirmity. Most of all I want to thank Senor Cooke and Senor Gibson for holding up the standard, as it were, the last ten days. In a few weeks I'll have to take another (hopefully shorter) leave of absence, but I have every expectation that Stephen, Richard and (now) Kimberly will fill in every bit as admirably.

Damn, but this is a good turn of events!

September 17, 2007

Artists in Action #258


Tom Wolfe splays his fingers

Before and After #85:
Leni Riefenstahl

Before


After

The Art of Cinema #254


The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T
(Roy Rowland; 1953)

Women of Paris #5


Ada Beatrice Queen Victoria Louise Virginia Smith (aka Bricktop)

The Cool Hall of Fame #96


Harry Nilsson

So Loathsome I Could Cry #7


Dr. Henry A. Kissinger

September 15, 2007

Seminal Image #727

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La Battaglia di Algeria
(The Battle of Algiers)
(Gillo Pontecorvo; 1966)

When Legends Gather #294

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Frank Lloyd Wright unviels his plan for the Guggenheim Museum in August, 1945 to Solomon Guggenheim and Hilla Rebay.

They Were Collaborators #363

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The Cochran Brothers

in the art deco style #2

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Robert Bonfils, Paris 1925 Exposition Internationale

The Art of Cinema # 253

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Il Sorpasso
(The Easy Life)
(Dino Risi; 1962)

September 14, 2007

When Legends Gather #293


Judy, Dino and Frankie clown around in Vegas.

They Were An Item #15


Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall sit down to breakfast.

Unwanted Image #12


Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel go for broke in a scene deleted from Pardon Us.

September 12, 2007

Sex Education #85


Ann-Margret gets her motor running.

Adventures in American Filmmaking #83


Today's Adventure: Cecil B. DeMille takes a break from guiding the Jews out of Egypt
on the set of The Ten Commandments. (1955)

The Ink & Paint Set #23


Charles Laughton
in Have You Got Any Castles?
(Frank Tashlin; Warner Bros.; 1938)

September 11, 2007

Artists in Action #257

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Vanessa Paradis lights up

Seminal Image #726

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Ace in the Hole
(Billy Wilder; 1951)

Through the Lens of Cyril Arapoff #12

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A stall specialising in the sale of dartboards. The market was originally founded in 1855 for the sale of cattle, but by the turn of the century the tradition of a street market being held there every Friday was firmly established.

Art of the London Underground #24

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Street Markets by A. R. Thomson; 1949

From the Sketch Book of Lawson Wood #19

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The Gentle Art

From the Southern Travellers Handbook for 1965/66 #7

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Second-Class passengers

Your regular second-class travellers are deep fellows. They come early to get a back seat - or at all events, to sit with their backs to the engine.
They watch the weathercocks too, and make their selection of place according to the wind [ED.: there was no glass in the windows then] and if it be warm weather, are chatty and communicative, especially as many of them are in the habit of meeting every day in the train. But in cold weather the second-class travellers talk but little. They wrap up the minute they get into the train, preparing for the worst; and after a few exchanged courtesis - lending an umbrella to the outsider, or spreading a cloak over two or three pairs of knees - you hear their voices no more.

Artists in Action # 256

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Brian Epstein looks down

September 09, 2007

In the art deco style #1

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Loris, How Many Times?; 1926

Art of Cinema #252

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La Piscine
(The Sinners)
(Jacques Deray; 1969)

Artists in Action #255

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Monica Vitti as Modesty Blaise

September 07, 2007

Notice of Impending Absence

For those of you who may be wondering about the relative dearth of new posts from this third of the Charlie Parker triumvirate, I can only plead an unexpectedly prolonged spate of ill health and give notice that I probably won't be posting anything for at least the next few days. Rest assured, however, that my confederates, Mr. Cooke and Mr. Gibson, will no doubt supercede whatever I might have done had I not been seeing to my physical well-being (or lack thereof).

Thanks

An entirely personal note to Kimberly and/or Bart: I'm sorry I haven't gotten to our outstanding bidness; truly. When I'm back on form I'll move forward on both fronts.

They Were An Item #14


George Burns and Gracie Allen

Collect 'Em All #36


Janet Gaynor
No. 21 in a series of 50 from Player's Navy Cut Cigarettes

Born in Philadelphia on October 6th, 1907, and christened Laura Gainer, Janet's present success is due to her stepfather, who stood by her and encouraged her when she was making the rounds of the film studios looking for a job. She began as an extra, and after rising to play lead in one or two Western comedies, was given a chance with a dramatic role in The Flood (a.k.a. The Johnstown Flood). It was Seventh Heaven that swept her to success and began her popular partnership with Charles Farrell, with whom she appears in Change of Heart. Her other films include Paddy the Next Best Thing, The House of Connelly and Servants' Entrance.

Adventures in American Filmmaking #82


Today's Adventure: Jack Arnold tells Grant Williams to act smaller on the set
of The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)

September 05, 2007

They Were Collaborators #362


Gloria Grahame and Nicholas Ray

Artists in Action #254


Anita Ekberg reclines

When Legends Gather #292


Garry Winogrand and William Eggleston

The Present Day Composer #50


Kirsty MacColl (1959-2000)

The Art of Socialism #6

They Were Collaborators #361


Benny Peyton's Jazz Kings

September 04, 2007

Artifact #1


The original manuscript for Jack Kerouac's On the Road, hammered out on a roll of teletype paper over an amphetamine-fuelled three week burst in 1951. The novel celebrates 50 years of publication this week. Currently, the manuscript belongs to Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, who purchased it for $2.4 million in 2001, and will be on display at the New York Public Library (22 blocks north of where it was written) from November to March.

P Is For Pulp #20


On the Road
(by Jack Kerouac)
(Signet Books; 1957)

Artists in Action #253


Lawrence Ferlinghetti holds a penguin while Pablo Armando Fernandez looks on.

Hear Democracy Now's hour-long Labour Day chat with Ferlinghetti (largely commemorating the 50th anniversary of the publication of Jack Kerouac's On the Road) here.

September 03, 2007

The Art of Labor #13:
Labor Day Edition

The Art of the Centerfold #35


Maria McBane
(Miss May, 1965)

Artists in Action #252


Paul Whiteman (the King of Jazz) tests a piano's endurance

The Art of the Leaf #2

September 02, 2007

Artists in Action #251


Duke Ellington straightens his tie

Sex Education #84


Barbara Stanwyck

The Cool Hall of Fame #95


Archie Shepp

Before and After #84:
Bing Crosby

Before


After

They Were Collaborators #360


Jean Seberg and Otto Preminger

W is for Winogrand #7


Metropolitan Museum of Art Centennial Ball
(New York City, New York; 1969)

September 01, 2007

They Were an Item #13


Ruby Keeler and Al Jolson

The Children of Lewis Hine #5


Newsie
(Los Angeles, CA; 1915)

When Legends Gather #291


Vincente Minnelli and Billy Wilder

They Were Collaborators #359


Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach

The Golden Age of Publicity #2


Shelley Winters sits atop a boxing glove in a publicity still for the 1954
MGM release, Tennessee Champ

Artists in Action #250


Norma Talmadge sees the future

Before and After #83:
Ayn Rand

Before


After