Twelve movies

[One to four stars. Four sentences each. No spoilers. Sources: Criterion Channel, DVD, TCM, YouTube.]

Junebug (dir. Phil Morrison, 2005). One cannot live by film noir alone. A lovely, understated movie, in which Madeleine and George (Embeth Davidtz and Alessandro Nivola), a recently (and hastily) married couple, drive from Chicago to visit George’s family in North Carolina. It’s a crowded, difficult house, with patriarch Eugene (Scott Wilson) nearly inarticulate, matriarch Peg (Celia Weston) burdened with responsibilities, George’s brother Johnny (Ben McKenzie) reluctant about impending fatherhood, and George’s wife Ashley (Amy Adams), a firecracker, as her mother calls her, all agog with plans for the baby. Madeleine’s presence is the final complication: is she here to meet her husband’s family, or to snag the work of a nearby Howard Finster-like artist for her gallery? ★★★★ (CC)

*

She Played with Fire (dir. Sidney Gilliat, 1957). Brit noir with Gothic overtones: a minor fire brings insurance adjuster Oliver Branwell (Jack Hawkins) to a great manor house, where he is surprised to meet up with a woman he loved years before, the now married Sarah Moreton (Arlene Dahl). And then things get complicated — not because of adultery but because of another fire, and forgery, and telltale herbal cigarettes, and a strong touch of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Les Diaboliques. Why not four stars? There’s a large problem with the plot, because of an obvious question that’s never asked or answered. ★★★ (YT)

*

Crossroads (dir. Jack Conway, 1942). It’s 1935 (no war), and William Powell is David Talbot, a member of the French diplomatic corps, recently married to Lucienne (Hedy Lamarr) and the likely choice to serve as ambassador to Brazil. But something goes wrong: a threatening letter arrives in the mail, and David Talbot finds himself blackmailed for crimes committed when he was Jean Pelletier, before a case of amnesia wiped out his criminal past. Aside from an opening scene that is almost from pre-Code days, Lamarr has little to do. Also with Basil Rathbone, Claire Trevor, H.B. Warner (Jesus, Gower the druggist, and one of Sunset Boulevard’s waxworks), and Felix Bressart, who steals the movie as a wise, funny psychoanalyst. ★★★ (TCM)

*

A Woman’s Secret (dir. Nicholas Ray, 1949). Okay, but which woman? And when a shot rings out, whose account of what happened is to be believed? At the center of the story is a friendship — “an odd friendship,” one observer calls it — between a former singer turned manager (Maureen O’Hara) and her protege (Gloria Grahame). The implications are unmistakable, even if the movie takes everything back at the end. ★★★ (TCM)

*

The Dark Corner (dir. Henry Hathaway, 1946). It was better on a first viewing in 2010. This story of a private detective (Mark Stevens) being stalked (it’s complicated) by another private detective (William Bendix) is super-stylish, with lavish sets (that art gallery!) and slick cinematography by Joe MacDonald. Despite loads of snappy banter, there’s little chemistry between Stevens and his hopelessly devoted secretary (Lucille Ball, who reportedly hated the way the director treated her); the two standouts are Bendix and Clifton Webb as the effete owner of an art gallery. As Elaine said, it’s a good thing that Ball found her true home in comedy. ★★★ (CC)

*

Waiting for Guffman (dir. Christopher Guest, 1996). I wish I could remember who told us, years ago, to watch this faux-documentary about a midwestern town’s effort to celebrate its sesquicentennial. In Blaine, Missouri, the high-school drama teacher, NYC-refugee and gay caricature Corky St. Clair (Guest) is enlisted to stage a musical celebration of the town’s patchy history: founded by travelers who thought they had reached California, Blaine became the Stool Capital of the World and was later visited by ETs who probed several locals. Many types here: a resentful band director (Bob Balaban), a futureless Dairy Queen employee (Parker Posey), a dentist who feels the urge to entertain (Eugene Levy), and the inveterate amateurs whom Corky calls “the Lunts of Blaine" (Catherine O’Hara and Fred Willard). When news comes that a producer from the New York theater world, Mort Guffman, is coming to view Red, White, and Blaine, the need to do well becomes urgent, as Corky and his cast believe that Broadway might be in their future. A hilarious and poignant picture of people doing their best, and dammit, the songs are good, though the best number, “This Bulging River,” is only available as a DVD extra (or from YouKnowWhere). ★★★★ (DVD)

[If you live in a little town, you probably already know what sesquicentennial means.]

*

Gaslight (dir. George Cukor, 1944). A small cast — Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, and Joseph Cotten are the principals — along with a townhouse that grows smaller and more claustrophobic as the story develops. The principals give brilliant performances — Bergman as an apologetic, self-doubting bride, Boyer as her suave, dictatorial husband, Cotten as a protector watching from afar. And then there’s Angela Lansbury, in her first screen performance, as a nasty servant. Joseph Ruttenberg, a remarkably versatile cinematographer, gives the story a strong infusion of noir. ★★★★ (TCM)

*

Mr. District Attorney (dir. Robert B. Sinclair, 1947). Based on a long-running radio serial, with Adolphe Menjou as a hard-driving DA (he’s to the law what Julian Marsh of 42nd Street is to the theater), Dennis O’Keefe as his ethically wavering assistant, George Couloris as a white-collar criminal, and Marguerite Chapman as an inscrutable love interest. Chapman makes the movie, with a role reminiscent of Jane Greer’s Kathie in Out of the Past. With genuinely surprising and suspenseful moments as the movie nears its end. The radio DNA is most noticeable, I think, in the wisecracking by investigator Harrington (Michael O’Shea). ★★★ (YT)

*

What Happened Was . . . (dir. Tom Noonan, 1994). From a two-person play by Noonan, with Noonan and Karen Sillas as Michael and Jackie, co-workers having dinner in Jackie’s apartment on a Friday night. I can’t agree with one reviewer that the movie shows “how people actually behave on a date,” for at least two reasons: it’s not clear to both parties that this meeting is a (first) date, and most people are not Michael and Jackie, and would likely not find themselves engaged in the painful truthtelling that happens in the course of this evening. My favorite moment: the story of the book, which is more than a little heartbreaking. ★★★★ (CC)

*

Midnight Limited (dir. Howard Bretherton, 1940). I’m not a fan of train travel, and least not in its Amtrak incarnation, but I’m a sucker for a train movie: Berlin Express, The Lady Vanishes, The Narrow Margin, Night Train to Munich, North by Northwest, Sleeping Car to Trieste, The Tall Target, Terror by Night. I did not expect much from the low-budget effort (Monogram Pictures), but I found even less: ultra-cheap sets (not a single shot showing the window of a train compartment), wooden acting, and a preposterous plot. Hint to the detective: when a man on a train is robbed of $75,000 in diamonds, start by finding out who knew he was on the train. The one redeeming element of weirdness: George Cleveland (Gramps from Lassie) as a seedy “professor” who bears an at least passing resemblance to Joe Gould (two years before Joseph Mitchell’s New Yorker profile “Professor Sea Gull”). ★ (YT)

*

Crime and Punishment (dir. Josef von Sternberg, 1935). I’m not a fan of the novel, which seems to me the work of a writer trying to figure out something new to drop in, chapter by chapter. So in a perverse way, I like this highly condensed adaptation, with fine performances by Peter Lorre as Roderick (!) Raskolnikov, Edward Arnold as Porfiry, and Marian Marsh as Sonya. Condensation aside, we end up with the novel’s sentimentality all the same. Look for Johnny Arthur (father to Darla in Little Rascals shorts) and Michael Mark (the bereaved father in Frankenstein) in small roles. ★★★ (YT)

*

Fear (dir. Alfred Zeisler, 1946). A low-budget (Monogram Pictures) uncredited adaptation of Crime and Punishment, with Raskolnikov turned into Larry Crain (Peter Cookson), a contemporary American college student who loses his scholarship, pawns his father’s watch, and — well, you probably know what’s coming. Here, too, much of the Dostoevsky world is missing. Warren William (the first Perry Mason) is the investigator who dogs Larry; Anne Gywnne is a Sonya sans family, sans sex work. A surprisingly good movie on its own terms, and its full weirdness only becomes clear at the end. ★★★ (YT)

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iCloud Drive (Archive): delete?

I went looking for an explanation of why my Mac showed iCloud Drive (Archive), iCloud Drive (Archive) - 1, and iCloud Drive (Archive) - 2. I found the answer and deleted all but the most recent archive (2), which I then renamed as iCloud Drive (Archive). Gigabytes saved! Lifelong learning!

Uffizi e-mail etiquette

Eike Schmidt, the director of Florence’s Uffizi Gallery, has made rules for staff e-mail (Artnet). Among the rules: No bold, no multiple exclamation points, no ?! combinations, no sentences in all caps. Ellipses? Only sparingly.

When Uffizi staff need to e-mail an academic, they might want to consult How to e-mail a professor. Almost eighteen years old, and still going strong.

NPR, sheesh

“These cookies have taken on new meaning as an adult.”

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Nancy Christmas 2022

Olivia Jaimes follows in Ernie Bushmiller’s footsteps with today’s Christmas panels.

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Christmas 1922

[“Santa Drops Twelve Feet.” Brooklyn Standard Union, December 26, 1922.]

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it.

[Mineola is a village on Long Island. Look for another NYC tax photograph next Sunday.]

Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper, by Steve Mossberg, is the most difficult Stumper in a long time. Thinking that my first thought about 1-A, four letters, “Exercise for young ones” had to be wrong, I skimmed my way down the puzzle and found a starting point at 53-A, five letters, “Nae sayers.” And crossing that answer, 26-D, nine letters, “Margin for error.” And crossing that answer, 44-A, six letters, “Certain tusker.” And after that I stumbled around, a word here, a word there, until I got them all.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

4-D, six letters, “Trim; a tree.” Seasonal; wonderfully clever.

5-A, four letters, “Bear at a baby shower.” It’s been a while.

5-D, twelve letters, “Placebo recipients.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen the answer in a puzzle.

19-D, twelve letters, “Woods works.” I was very pleased with myself when I finally got the answer.

21-A, six letters, “Good word across the sea.” Stumper-y.

22-A, three letters, “Hybrid auto mode.” Yay Prius.

23-A, seven letters, “Singers, to labels.” Ah, the language of the music business.

28-A, six letters, “Provide coverage for.” For the Prius? Are we speaking of insurance?

29-D, five letters, “‘Wonderfilled’ food.” This clue let me know that I miss out on a lot of advertising.

31-A, four letters, “It flattens over time.” Slightly maddening.

43-D, six letters, “His fable book (1923) was one of Elvis’ favorites.” I always like knowing that entertainers are readers.

50-A, eight letters, “Pasta topping.” My first thought was MARINARA. But everyone has their own idea of what counts as a topping.

My favorites in today’s puzzle: 9-D, seven letters, “Anyone can play this” and 10-D, nine letters, “One will play this.”

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.

Nancy at Christmas

“From the legendary Ernie Bushmiller to the cutting edge current work of Olivia Jaimes, Nancy has long been the home to some strange Christmases” (Comic Book Resources).

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The view from here

“Icicles filled the long window / With barbaric glass”: so wrote Wallace Stevens in “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.”

I’m not Wallace Stevens, but I do have a window, and plenty of ice.

[Click for a more barbaric view.]

That’s the view through a storm-door window, covered in ice on the inside. The door opens onto a breezeway. To the right, the side of the gararge. To the left, driveways and a house across the street. The shadow of a blackbird is not crossing the window to and fro. It’s too cold.

Latest in Dancing

[Latest in Dancing. British Pathé, 1962.]

This brief clip plays in the middle of the 2 Tone documentary Dance Craze. You might remember the Madison from Hairspray.