I think I’ve told a version of this story before, but it bears repeating. When we went house hunting twenty years ago I walked into the entryway of this old home, stepped into the living room, touched the wall, and said, “This one. This is the one.” I believe the…
BEGUILING HOLLYWOOD Posts
A GHOST STORY by MARK TWAIN I took a large room, far up Broadway, in a huge old building whose upper stories had been wholly unoccupied for years until I came. The place had long been given up to dust and cobwebs, to solitude and silence. I seemed groping among…
THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW by Washington Irving FOUND AMONG THE PAPERS OF THE LATE DIEDRICH KNICKERBOCKER. A pleasing land of drowsy head it was, Of dreams that wave before the half-shut eye; And of gay castles in the clouds that pass, Forever flushing round a summer sky. CASTLE…
The dark, malignant side of Charlotte Brontë, which flashes fiercely through the pages of her “Jane Eyre,” sets the tone for the moody film version of this great novel, which came to the Music Hall yesterday. No depths of consuming passion are plumbed very diligently in this film. No haunting…
“Gregg Toland was a great and happy influence on my work. Usually photography doesn’t influence direction, but Toland’s deep focus work did because we were able to let the audience do its own cutting. But if the photography allows you to see all four actors in one shot and in…
My favorite screen adaptation was directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga in 2011, starring Mia Waikowska and Michael Fassbender, screenplay by Moira Buffini. Now, Thug Notes is a new fascination – I especially liked their recap and analysis of Moby Dick, but we covered that a couple of weeks ago. Thug…
I don’t know which Gabor this is (Zsa Zsa?) presenting at the 1952 Academy Awards… But, Walter Plunkett shared an Oscar with Irene and Orry-Kelly for AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (color) and Edith Head won for A PLACE IN THE SUN (black and white).