The Dick Cavett Show - Hollywood Greats

"I sometimes don't sleep as much as I should; but I'm afraid of the dark and I'm worried that I can't really do what I have to do the next day. So I stay awake and ignore it." - Robert Altman on The Dick Cavett Show (1/21/72)

Wow! I can relate to Mr. Altman. I got this disc three of The Dick Cavett Show - Hollywood Greats to see Marlon Brando and by this time I'm sick of seeing myself type his name. Along with MB there was the January 21, 1972 episode with Robert Altman, Mel Brooks, Peter Bogdanovich & Frank Capra. So many things running through my mind, how I wish I had experienced this first hand, how Cavett says something like - can you imagine going to see a motion picture for an actor or actress in a day when directors are the stars? Mel Brooks had me laughing out loud and Frank Capra said so much that I think I have to get his book THE NAME ABOVE THE TITLE. It got me thinking of who would be on a panel like this now? Who would I like to see? Godard? Lynch? Jarmusch? Soderberg? Scorsese? Coppola? Cavett posed the question, "Is Hollywood dying?". Now this is the early seventies. Altman had said that no good films had been made yet. Capra agreed with him. Capra said how film is the one artform that incorporates all and that it is still in its infancy, he agreed with Altman that no good films had been made yet. This makes me wonder how much the artform of motion pictures has evolved? Then that breaks into two things for me - motion pictures and storytelling. The directors on the show talked about how studios used to be run by one person, i.e. Harry Cohn, Jack Warner and even though those fellas weren't so popular or known for being kind, at least you knew where you stood. Now in the days of major corporations, conglomerates running studios, there are many non-creative people making creative decisions. Over 30 years later, this remains true. Each director was so compelling to hear speak I couldn't get enough of this one. The first time I saw The Dick Cavett Show was thanks to The Believer Magazine, the issue they had that included rare Jean-Luc Godard footage on. Highly recommended.




"I think that we couldn't survive a second if we weren't able to act. That acting is a survival mechanism and it's a social unguent and that's a lubricant and we act to save our lives actually everyday. People lie constantly by not saying something that they think, saying something that they don't think, showing something they don't feel." - Marlon Brando (6/12/73)

This was the second MB interview I've seen (1st - Edward M. Murrow, Person to Person) and again it far exceeded my expectations. To supplement my interest in MB I've picked up a couple of books Songs My Mother Taught Me and Somebody:The Reckless Life and Remarkable Career. The Reckless Life is garbage (the title could have told me that) and in Songs My Mother Taught Me Brando, with the help of Robert Lindsey shares his contradictions in a way that's got me hooked. On the DVD of this show, Dick talks about how it came about, the call he got from MB and how he agreed to be on the show. He brought Native Americans and an advocate for Native Americans with him. It was well done, everyone well spoken and got me thinking about what issues Native Americans are facing today with a little googling it's plain that there is still a lot of work to be done.


I found the John Huston episode pretty disinteresting, but I am looking forward to disc four with Robert Mitchum, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Osborne.

PS - Dick Cavett has a good blog on NYTimes.

The Wild One / László Benedek / 1953

"Art Kleiner's too old to be driving an automobile. Where was he going anyway? Always going someplace. Crazy, excited. Taking a lot of vitamin pills. Drinking. Overstimulated. Oughta arrest the whole lot of them. Call the militia." - Jimmy

Jimmy has the best lines in this one and almost none of them are listed in IMDB's "memorable quotes". This was another Netflix for me and the first time I saw it I wasn't completely sold, but something drew me to it to watch it again. There are many things about this film that intrigue me. It's fairly well made and Brando's performance is of course interesting to me. It looks like Triumph is going to put out a line of "Johnny" jackets soon which is interesting considering it's 2009 and this was made in 1953. Which begs the question, how is this film relevant today? For me, the ideas of gang culture, jumping to conclusions and fear of intimacy.

Can't agree with this though, because this type of sh*t happens every day!

the men / fred zinnemann / 1950

"Dedication: In all Wars, since the beginning of History, there have been men who fought twice. The first time they battled with club. sword or machince gun. The second time they had none of these weapons. Yet, this by far, was the greatest battle. It was fought with abiding faith and raw courage and in the end, Victory was achieved. This is the story of such a group of men. To them this film is dedicated."

This is how Marlon Brando's first film begins. The part that's odd to me is where it says "Victory was achieved". Was it? And is that a way to start a film? I suppose, considering that THE MEN is done in an industrial/documentary style. Some of the performances and story nuances are impressive but the overall style kinda throws me off but it's only an hour and twenty-five minutes. Brando doesn't quite look like he's come into his own skin yet in the opening sequence and I don't know whether it's the editor or Brando learning how to remember is body language between takes but this is the kind of stuff that's fun for me to watch and muse on. The film was not a commercial success despite marketing attempts like this:


It was, however, named one of the 10 best films of 1950 the National Board of Review. It is unflinching and it makes me want to revisit Oliver Stone's Born on the Fourth of July for comparisons.

Edward R. Murrow: The Best of Person to Person

Maybe you've seen George Clooney's Good Night, And Good Luck in which David Strathairn portrays Edward R. Murrow? I'd like to say that's what prompted me to Netflix EDWARD R. MURROW: THE BEST OF PERSON TO PERSON but it wasn't. It was my reigniting interest in Marlon Brando. To get to Brando (I didn't know which disc he was on) I had to go through disc one which I enjoyed so much Murrow's visits with newlyweds John & Jacqueline Kennedy, Robert & Ethel Kennedy, ELEANOR ROOSEVELT and more. It showed me a different side of America, of television, of etiquette, of class. Despite its conservative format its candid, insightful and revealing to see these stars of the screen and politics in their homes, with their families. The closest thing we have to it now that I know of is MTV Cribs which dismal in comparison. My purchase of J. Hoberman's THE DREAM LIFE: MOVIES, MEDIA, AND THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE SIXTIES couldn't have come at a better time and is the perfect companion to this because in it he begins with Chapter I: Making Pre-History, A.D. 1960 which provides a completely different and more exciting, astonishing, appalling history of the 50s than I ever read in school.

Disc Two brought Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall, Janet Leigh & Tony Curtis, Marlon, Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward, and Elizabeth Taylor & then husband Mike Todd and more. WOW! Mr. Murrow served up Brando and thensome. Far better than I could have ever hoped for. It's one thing to read about people and watch them work but Mr. Murrow elicits a sense of genuine connection and disclosure that seems rare to me today in the age of sensationalism? It appears as if the caliber of journalism, stardom and politics may be flooded with mediocrity today but this small snapshot of Murrow's work in the arena of pop culture gives me hope of what is possible. And without a doubt, Mr. Clooney and his likeminded cohorts are working to making exciting, progressive and conscious cinema.

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice / Paul Mazursky / 1969

"Consider the possibilities."

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice is an unlikely candidate for 4 Oscar nominations, but what do I know? With a score by Quincy Jones and a soundtrack that featured Merrilee Rush's cover of "What the World Needs Now Is Love" it seems more bound for Grammy nominations. It's a likable film, I put it on for the family via TMC On Demand. My brother ran out after about 20 minutes and my Mom had a running commentary which made it kind of fun. Looking at the other Oscar noms for that year it's hard for me to believe that Costa-Gavras' "Z" didn't sweep. Where was Army of Shadows, The Rain People or The Arrangement? I know the answer to that question. But here we are with Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice in the midst of the "Sexual Revolution"? Good family fun, keep that in mind for the holidays. They also have Five Easy Pieces Up now too, another great family film.

teorema / pier paolo pasolini / 1968

"Either express yourself and die or remain unexpressed and immortal." - P.P.P. (Empirismo eretico, 1972)



I didn't know what to expect after seeing Pasolini's Salò and was surprised at how little nudity there is in Teorema considering it's story. It's incredibly restrained or perhaps I just saw a conservative cut. Despite the choice of shots it's story is extreme and I love the way that it is presented in a way that leads to many intrepretations. I find it interesting that this is the first time Pasolini worked with "professional" actors and all the choices he made. I would like to be a part of some live discussions about this film vs. blog dicussions, anyways...

The cut I saw came with an extra/documentary entitled Pasolini and Death: A Purely Intellectual Thriller which features a testimony from Guiseppe Zigaina, a friend of Pasolini's. After seeing Salò and reading about Pasolini's death I wanted to see Giuseppe Bertolucci's Pasolini Prossimo Nostro but can't find a copy I can play in the US. So seeing Pasolini and Death will have to do for now. Zigaina's "testimony" comes off rather odd, with the dramatic English dubbing but utimately it was somewhat insightful on the theory that Pasolini orchestrated his own death as part of his art, the montage of his life.

One of the things Zigaina says and I think he said it's one of the most important things he can say was, "You're all very lucky that after a good meal and a few drinks you can discuss and put your labels on everything. He [Pasolini] was killed by the Secret Service; it was suicide by delegation, but it doesn't refer to the structure of his writings, the logic of Pasolini's mythical tale. They don't even read anymore, they just see one or two films and try to have something to discuss and there in lies the problem..So Pasolini precedes them and he says blessed are you who put labels on my death and define it in such a way."

Generale all'assalto by Guiseppe Zigaina, 1960

the roaring twenties / raoul walsh / 1939

bathtub gin

cagney as the taxi driver (1939)

"he used to be a bigshot"

the roaring twenties
scorsese was the first person i heard mention raoul walsh, and rightly so. doesn't get much more "gangster" than this. the title throws you off, but this film really shows you the tough guys cagney & bogart you always hear about that dudes still try to emulate, and chick go still go for the panama smith (gladys george) role. i should know i used to be a bigshot, haha. this may not have been the first gangster flick but it's been the blueprint for the last 70 years. most strikingly so to scorsese's early films who's that knocking, mean streets & taxi driver; but also many similarities seen in the helen morgan story. note: robert rossen on the list of screenwriters for this film.

how does priscilla lane get top billin over bogie?

*Thanks Robert Osborne for picking this.

Chadwick Bell SS10 (video)

still version:


video version:


I can't see straight I'm so up in these I don't know if my edits suck or not.

http://chadwickbell.com/

Salò / Pier Paolo Pasolini / 1975

Pasolini directs

"Compared with neo-realism, I think I have introduced a certain realism, but it would be hard to define it exactly." - Pier Paolo Pasolini

I think the first time I heard about Pasolini was reading something about Vincent Gallo, since then he's come up a few times and I've been meaning to check out his work. I started with SALO. Whoa. It came with plenty of warnings: highly disturbing, controversial, etc. What was most striking to me was the contrast of beauty to sheer horror, humiliation and torture. The beauty being the surroundings, architecture and children of Italy. Despite the subject matter Pasolini's choices felt objective. Think I might get Giuseppe Bertolucci's Pasolini Prossimo Nostro as a companion to this.

"One should never hope for anything. Hope is a thing invented by politicians to keep the electorate happy." - Pasolini

andrei rublev / andrei tarkovsky / 1966

"We must live our own experience, we cannot inherit it." - Andrei Tarkovsky

Andrei, Andrei. ANDREI RUBLEV is an exquisite piece of cinema showcasing mise en scène as an editing tool. This one was pretty over my head in terms of story, it being so episodic I couldn't quite follow it, but I really didn't care. The moments it captured with nature were enough for me and the aerial shots. Set in the 1400s it's apparent that humans are the cruelest beings on earth because of our ideas? I don't know if things really change or if they just shape shift? Watching a film like this may make you get all philosophical. Is it about faith? About art? About why are we're here? I don't know. It was my first venture into Netflix, which will be supplemented by a Roku soon. Andrei came recommended to me by my friend, the talented, Pablo Ygál. I enjoyed the Criterion extras on this one, Tarkovsky's musings on life and cinema are amusing in their simplicity. In one Tarkovsky is asked, "What would you tell young people?" He sits in a tree in the supposed wilderness and responds, "Learn to love solitude, to be more alone with yourselves...The problem with young people is their carrying out noisy and aggressive actions not to feel lonely. And this is a sad thing. The individual must learn to be on his own as a child for this doesn't mean to be alone: it means not to get bored with oneself, which is a very dangerous symptom...almost a disease."

The Errand Boy (Jerry Lewis/1961)

When I saw the BAMcinématek 1962: New York Film Critics Circle listing for THE ERRAND BOY I was actually more drawn to the mention of Intro by NYFCC member J. Hoberman than Jerry Lewis, even though I'm quite a fan of him in THE KING OF COMEDY. Hoberman's review of SHOOT THE PIANO player sticks with me, at least the part where he says the difference between Truffaut and Godard is the difference between talent and genius. From time to time I catch his reviews or one-liners and find them interesting so I was looking forward to hearing him in person.


Hoberman said that in 1962 Lewis was second only to John Wayne at the time he made this film and he didn't need critics to get his films received even though he was considered declasse. Parents didn't like him, they put him in the same class as comic books and Rock & Roll. Hoberman went on to talk about more of Lewis' films and his evolution as a filmmaker.

The film wasn't really my cup of tea but I did really enjoy this scene (and the puppet scenes)!



*BAMcinématek salutes the 75th Anniversary of the New York Film Critics Circle, the country’s oldest and most prestigious film critics organization, by bringing back 1962—the only year the NYFCC did not present awards (due to a newspaper strike). Join us as the Circle holds forth on 1962’s extraordinary slate of NY film premieres—both pop and art-film classics. “1962 was equal to Hollywood’s fabled 1939. We welcome this great opportunity to learn and revise film history.”—series introduction by New York Film Critics Circle Chairman Armond White


Here's a book I need to check out:

SHOESHINE (Vittorio De Sica/1947)

Vittorio De Sica

I will never forget seeing De Sica's The Bicycle Thief at Chicago's Music Box Theater about 9 years ago. Back then it was called The Bicycle Thief, now they're calling it Bicycle Thieves. It remains one of my top 5 favorite films. I've yet to experience De Sica's other works but thanks to the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Italian Neorealism Retrospective I did get to catch SHOESHINE.


"The first foreign language film to be nominated for the best original screenplay Oscar, Shoeshine follows two street kids whose love of riding and desire to own a horse of their own leads them into a spiral of crime, punishment, and betrayal that strains the boundaries of their friendship. De Sica’s first excursion into neorealism features extraordinary performances from its two young leads, Franco Interlenghi and Rinaldo Smordoni, called upon to play tough, complex, and vividly contradictory characters."

It didn't win for best original screenplay but it did receive an Honorary Award for its high quality. This was before they gave awards for Best Foreign Language Film which they didn't start doing until 1957.





One of the biggest challenges a director can ever face is directing children. De Sica fully directed the children of Shoeshine into the "tough, complex, and vividly contradictory characters" and is far superior to doing so compared to Truffaut in my humble opinion. This film is an exquisite comment on social and political levels of police corruption, the prison system and poverty. It was over so quickly and left a big imprint on my mind. I found myself in McNally Jackson Books on Prince street and was browsing through Foster Hirsch's book on Otto Preminger - The Man Who Would Be King, when Pauline Kael's I Lost It At The Movies caught my eye. NDG mentioned I should check her out but I resisted because I had a misconception that she was superfluous with words. I opened I Lost It At The Movies anyways and opened right to her review of SHOESHINE! It was brief maybe 2.5 pages and I read it quick, and really dug it. Her passion for the cinema, for storytelling was contagious.

Kael on Shoeshine:

"When Shoeshine opened in 1947, I went to see it alone after one of those terrible lovers' quarrels that leave one in a state of incomprehensible despair. I came out of the theater, tears streaming, and overheard the petulant voice of a college girl complaining to her boyfriend, 'Well I don't see what was so special about that movie.' I walked up the street, crying blindly, no longer certain whether my tears were for the tragedy on the screen, the hopelessness I felt for myself, or the alienation I felt from those who could not experience the radiance of Shoeshine. For if people cannot feel Shoeshine, what can they feel? My identification with those two lost boys had become so strong that I did not feel simply a mixture of pity and disgust toward this dissatisfied customer but an intensified hopelessness about everything."

And here is something I can relate to: '"There are so many kinds of innocence to be lost at the movies.' It is the first in a series of titles of books that would have a deliberately erotic connotation, typifying the sensual relation Kael perceived herself as having with the movies, as opposed to the theoretical bent that some among her colleagues had." (*wiki)

THE RED SHOES (restored 35mm print)

Marty & Thelma

When I saw Thelma Schoonmaker in May at BAM she knocked me out. I went to jock her but didn't know anything about her personal life. I didn't know of her marriage to filmmaker Michael Powell but her Intro and Q&A at the screening of his AGE OF CONSENT moved me quite a bit. At that screening she mentioned her husband's PEEPING TOM which I bought at Kim's & THE RED SHOES which I promptly rented at Cinema Nolita. That evening in May she spoke of when her husband was dying and his relationship with color up to his death.

I'm mentioned PEEPING TOM & THE RED SHOES on here already. But I had to be at the Film Forum screening of THE RED SHOES with Thelma's intro. This time I have more than jocking in mind, I had more respect and even a question. I didn't get to do anything but listen to her talk about the restoration of film and become absorbed in it.

Thelma and Scorsese have worked so hard to preserve films and I'm find it hard to believe so many tremendous films are trashed or endangered. My admiration for their work soars. Thelma explained the Technicolor process and how difficult and expensive the restoration process is. The resulting print is gorgeous. And the film penetrated even further into my psyche. If you are an artist of any kind or an avid appreciator do not miss this opportunity to see THE RED SHOES in a theater.

Thelma is currently working with Scorsese on a documentary of British Cinema which will no doubt enlighten me to many films I have not seen.

I just love Thelma and Dede Allen so much I don't know what to do with myself.

"I would trade one of my three Oscars happily if Dede Allen could have gotten one."

- Thelma Schoonmaker, ACE

Marty & Thelma introducing the restored print at Cannes 2009: