A Victorian Farewell To July!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                       Seven months have just gone by.  And this month seemed to fly faster than the others.

                         A heat wave--two, actually--two summer colds, a colonoscopy--which came out OK--and an obsession with seeing movies that by this age I should have already seen.

                          Yes, July was both an exciting and challenging month.  I am always glad of the support I get from my readers, as well as all my friends here--David, Baby Gojira, Little Pippin, and Cucumbo.

                           To think tomorrow is August 1st already.  Before you know it, Proserpina will be packing to return to Hell.  That always makes me sad, but I will have more say on the day tomorrow.

                              Meanwhile thank you for the fun and warmth you brought us, July.  Seven down, and five to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                   See you next month, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, My God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Girls, Look What They Are Making A Musical Of!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                              Award-winning playwright Lynn Nottage and renowned composer and lyricist John Legend are combining talents to present a musical adaptation of the Fannie Hurst classic, "Imitation Of Life."  The question is, how are they going to do it????????????

                                                 First of all, it is a limited run, from November 21 to January 3.

                                                 How in hell will they do this story today?  Will the daughter have a pink princess phone?  Will the Lana Turner character be an actress.

                                                   And what about Annie Johnson and her daughter Sarah Jane, who can pass for white?  How will this be treated?  Will it?  Or will there be something different, like maybe Sarah Jane going trans.

                                                      The show is not being presented on Broadway, but Off-Broadway at  The Shed, located at 545 West 30th Street.  Will it move from there?  Only time will tell.

                                                      My advice to you, girls, is to watch the 1959 version as soon as you can.  Because there will be no Mahalia Jackson and a too late repentant Sarah Jane throwing herself on her mother's coffin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   This is the real thing, so see it.

                                                       Ironically, this vehicle so far is the most potentially exciting offering of the new theater season!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                         I can't wait to tell you girls about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                        

                                                   

                                            '        

We All Want To See "Wild Inside!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                                          This documentary, directed by Penny Lane--yes, that is her name--is for lovers of Flaco, the owl whose quest for freedom captured the hearts of just about everyone in the tri state area, and more.

                                           Flaco escaped from his Central Park cage on February 2, 2023.  Someone had left the door open, and Flaco made a bid for freedom.  To this day, the person responsible for Flaco's escape has never been found or come forward.

                                             With his proud, sophisticated stance, and New York determination, Flaco and his adventures captivated me right away.  I kept hoping he would fly out to Bay Ridge and perch on the windows of our apartment.  But Flaco, a sophisticate, understandably preferred the Upper East Side, though he did make it down to the East Village.  He definitely was partial to the East, rather than the West Side.

                                                 I don't know if the filmmaker was able to get an interview with Flaco--I would have loved to have heard his comments on our city!!!!!!!!!!--but, as he is the star, he gets about as much screen time as BARBRA did in "Funny Girl."

                                                    May this film find a distributor.  It was screened the other night in either Central or Bryant Park and was a big hit.  Actually, I just found out that it is opening today at the IFC Center, and so we can all go and see Flaco on screen ourselves.

                                                      Flaco will always remain in our hearts, and now he will be immortalized on screen.

                                                       Go, Flaco!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                

Gene Tierney As A Psycho Narcissist???????????? Darlings, You Have GOT To See "Leave Her To Heaven!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                                                                                    

                                  Having seen this film awhile ago, I had forgotten how good it was.

                                  Long before Glenn Close was born, long before anyone ever heard of Alex Forrest, there was Gene Tierney as Ellen Berent, and what a piece of work she is.  Of course, when you look as stunning as Gene Tierney--and who wouldn't want to look like this, girls????????--you can get away with almost anyth9ng.

                                      The funny thing is Ellen's mother, played by Mary Phillips and her adopted sister, played by Jeanne Crain, seem to have Ellen's number but think nothing of warning Cornell Wilde, who gets trapped in her web.  Mrs. Berent, Ellen's mother, says her problem is "Ellen loves too much."  That is the picture's understatement.  She gloms on to men and psychologically, if not physically, sucks them dry, like a black widow spider.

                                          This was a daring film to present to a 1945 audience, but it must have worked, because it earned Tierney her only Oscar nomination.  She lost to Joan Crawford in "Mildred Pierce, another film that has GOT to be dealt with on here!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                            But there is another star besides Gene Tierney in the film, and that is the rich color cinematography of Leon Shamroy.  He was one of the top cinematographers at Twentieth, and he personally photographed Jennifer Jones' screen test for "The Song Of Bernadette," as well as having been married to one of that film's co-stars, Mary Anderson.  See?  It all comes back to 'Bernadette.'

                                                The outdoor scenes of the lake are breathtaking, and the carefully lit interiors highlight each mood of the story.  John M. Stahl's direction saves this from being sheer camp, but he does not manage to restrain Vincent Price, who, as Russel Quinton, Ellen's ex, and now an attorney, overacts all over the place in a courtroom scene unlike any on "Law And Order."

                                                    Otherwise, Stahl has done a marvelous examination of a troubled woman, and the consequences thereof, which include two children being murdered.  Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                        But that title, "Leave Her To Heaven" is questionable.  Heaven has no place for Ellen Berent.  Satan is roasting a spit in Hell just for her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                           Oh, girls, don't be Ellen Berent, but let's all try to get our hair and wardrobe like Gene Tierney here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                       

Girls, You Have GOT To See "Brief Encounter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

                                  I first saw this film on TV, Channel 13, and a lot of its subtlety evaded me.  For instance, I had forgotten the film is an extended flashback, and that the ending, and its poignant final line is ambiguous--does Fred know about Laura's minute indiscretion, or doesn't he?  I always believed he did not.

                                   Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson are Alec Harvey and Laura Jesson, who meet in a train station tea cafe--and who continue to do so weekly for a period of time, coming to know each other in a way that would not be the same with their spouses.

                                     But though there is a move toward intimacy, nothing happens, because both, Laura especially, are decent, morally right members of the British middle class who would rather face pain than hurt the ones they love.  And good for them.

                                       Celia Johnson gives what is perhaps the signature performance4 of her career.  Her facial transitions say more about what Laura is feeling and thinking than most of the dialogue, though, by Noel Coward, it is as good as can be.  Trevor Howard is achingly heartbreaking as Alec Harvey, a doctor and their final parting had me weeping.  Oh, hons, this is a real tearjerker.

                                          I am so glad I had a second chance to see "Brief Encounter."

                                          If not one of the ten best romantic films ever made, at least in the top five, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                           And David Lean demonstrates he can direct more than epics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                         

So Much Fun, Girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                         The best laid film plans went awry this weekend.  First, I was all set to have us watch the A-list 1957 adaptation of "Peyton Place," with Lana Turner and Hope Lange!  Dinner plans curtailed that for Saturday, so we decided to watch it on Sunday evening.  With Baby Gojira and Kerwyn present.  But, as it turned out, only 26 minutes of the 157-minute film were actually recorded.

                                            So, we had no choice but to watch the planned alternative, 1977's "The Turning Point," with Anne Bancroft and Shirley Maclaine.  The year 1977 was a strong year for films, and while this was nominated for 11 Oscars, and in a lesser year may have picked up a few, it was completely shut out.

                                              Not that it can't be enjoyed.  This may not be the masterwork that "The Red Shoes" is but there is much pleasure to derive from it.

                                                 Having not seen it for so long, I had forgotten my favorite Anne Bancroft line.  After bitchy company director Adelaide (Martha Scott) suggests to Emma (Bancroft) that she could "stage" "Sleeping Beauty" next season, Bancroft slowly rises, and blithely says, "I really must do something about my face!"

                                                     Oh, girls, how many times have we used that one?  And how many times was it the truth???????????????

                                                      Then there is Lesley Brown's (as Shrley Maclaine's daughter Emilia) drunk scene, which is hilarious.

                                                        Capped off by the catfight of all catfights atop the roof of the ballet theater.  I love it, and so do all us queens!  Because even Bancroft and Maclaine could not keep a straight face during the filming of it!!!!!!!!!!  I love when Bancroft throws her purse at Maclaine, yelling "You bitch!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                                                            Sure, some serious topics are tackled--the world of dance versus the world of reality, the sacrifices one must make for art, the need to be driven, relationships between parents and children, friends and rivals, and Antoinette Sibley just steals the show as Sevilla!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                              "The Turning Point" is hilarious, artistic fun!  Who steals the show from whom in this one, hum, darlings?????????????????????????????????

                                                                Now, if you will excuse me, "I really must do soemthing about my face!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                                                              

She Has Some "Clouds In Her Coffee, Clouds In Her Coffee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                           No, girls, Carly Simon is still alive, thank God, but she is facing, at 83, some horrible situations.

                           She has been diagnosed with and under care for Parkinson's Disease, as well as undergoing surgery for basal cell carcinoma on her face, both ills leaving her to lead a now reclusive lifestyle.

                          Oh, Carly, thank you for getting us all through broken relationships by recording "You're So Vain," which acted as a catharsis to many of us during those times.

                            This is a sad day for those of us fond of Carly, but Carly is determined to deal with everything as strong as she can.  The creative energy she once put into her music is being put into her health.  Which could bring Carly back to the music.

                                So, let's all send out our special get well wishes to Carly Simon.

                               "Nobody Does It Better," darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!