Happy New Year, Strangers!

At Last: The Charles family spends some quality time together--finally--in 1936's After the Thin Man.

One of my favorite scenes in After the Thin Man (1936) is when Nick and Nora, exhausted after solving the Wynant case and just back from a cross country train journey, come home to that beautiful mansion high up in San Francisco. Wanting nothing more than to “sleep for a week”, the sleuthing couple are dismayed to discover a wild party in progress, ostensibly in their honor, and they find that virtually all of their “guests” are complete strangers! Even Asta seeks refuge from the drunken revelry!

So here’s hoping that your New Year’s festivities are memorable for all the right reasons and that you’re all in the company you know and enjoy.


Happy New Year!

Paul Newman: Saying Goodbye to a Legend

First, let me say that I'm not one to bore people with what I dream, and people usually don't care to know what other people think or feel, and that it's rude to talk about oneself. But there's a bit more to this dream than the usual fragmented imagery I experience. So I thought I'd share:

I was in the downtown area where I live and instead of the New Age "art park" that exists there now, there was an old, dilapidated, federal-style bank. The area around the bank was fairly run down and the weather was cold and everything a drab gray. As I headed towards the bank entrance, Paul Newman walked out, hands in his trenchcoat pockets. He wore a golfer's cap, a light khaki trenchcoat, and pearl-gray slacks. He was older, in his seventies, and we began a conversation. We walked around the bank and the downtown area. He spoke with that great voice of his, as he sounded in his later years. Our discussion had a subdued quality, and I could hear Newman thinking in the pauses between the times he spoke. He was so knowledgeable and wise, yet world weary. I was enraptured by every word he said and didn't speak much, but when doing so, it was in that placid, thoughts-between-speaking manner that matched his own. I don't remember what we said to one another, but the atmosphere was one of great empathy and understanding. Shift then to me walking inside the bank, which was smaller on the inside than it was outside, and when I informed the teller that I had just spoken to Paul Newman, she said: "Mr. Newman owns the bank." That Newman owned the bank was testament to his vast wealth, but the fact that he walked around anonymously and without drawing attention to who he was and how much money he had, was typical of his great character. The dream was a way of saying goodbye to him and perhaps a way to express grief. The experience was therapeutic, as I have had a rough time accepting his death. Of course, I never knew Paul Newman, but have been profoundly affected by his work, both onscreen and his charity work. There'll never be anyone quite like him.

2009 Unreleased DVD Wishlist

When asked by the young Reverend Billy Graham if he’d pray with him, President Harry S. Truman reportedly replied: “Well, it can’t hurt.” Now I’m not praying for these movies to be released on DVD in 2009, but wishing for them certainly couldn’t hurt. My list is far from comprehensive, but these are the ones that lead the pack:

A Bill of Divorcement (1932) John Barrymore, Katharine Hepburn. Kate's feature-film debut; who wouldn't want that? Directed by perennial favorite George Cukor.

Fast Company (1938) Melvyn Douglas, Florence Rice. Joel and Garda Sloane, rare book dealers turned husband & wife detectives.

Fast and Loose (1939) Robert Montgomery, Rosalind Russell. Same characters, another murder mystery; my favorite casting combination of the three-film series, though not my favorite film in the series.

What a Couple: Robert Montgomery & Rosalind Russell in what will likely be the cover to a DVD release of 1939's Fast and Loose.

Fast and Furious (1939) Franchot Tone, Ann Sothern. Here's the favorite! Yet another incarnation of Joel and Garda Sloane. Ann Sothern is incredibly cute--and gorgeous.

She Moves Me: Ann Sothern plays Garda Sloane in 1939's Fast and Furious.

Vivacious Lady (1938) James Stewart, Ginger Rogers. A slap-happy good time of a film, with nightclub singer Ginger falling in love with engaged small-town teacher Stewart.

The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936) William Powell, Jean Arthur. A trifle compared to the other 1936 releases that starred William Powell, this husband and (ex)wife detective team movie has always amused me.

Skyscraper Souls (1932) Warren William, Maureen O’Sullivan. Pre-Code naughtiness in a film that would appear to be a commentary on the Empire State Building. Beautiful Deco sets and a delightfully debauched scene with Maureen O’Sullivan being plied with booze.

Johnny Eager (1942) Robert Taylor, Lana Turner, Van Heflin. The film that proved to me that Taylor could act. He plays a gangster who falls in love with the district attorney’s daughter (Turner). Van Heflin won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar as Taylor’s alcoholic pal.

World Weary: Robert Mitchum as Philip Marlowe in 1975's Farewell, My Lovely.

Farewell, My Lovely (1975) Robert Mitchum, Charlotte Rampling. The movie I've been waiting the longest for on DVD. It needs to be done right, unlike the cruddy pan-and-scan edition pictured above. Farewell, My Lovely is also one of my favorite novels of all time. As for the film, I prefer it to the infinitely more famous Chinatown. At least David Shire’s excellent music score is available.

So now it's wait and see time. It'll be interesting to see how many--if any--of these movies will make it to DVD in the coming year.

Jose Ferrer in Whirlpool (1949)

The plot of Otto Preminger’s Whirlpool (1949) concerns Ann Sutton (Gene Tierney), the kleptomaniac wife of a respected but inattentive psychiatrist, Bill Sutton (the oddly-cast Richard Conte) and how she is framed for a murder via hypnosis by a slimy quack, David Korvo (Jose Ferrer) who works his way into her confidence.

Whirlpool is not a movie to watch obsessively like other Preminger efforts Laura or Fallen Angel, and the film lacks the swirling imagery of its own theatrical trailer. In fact, Whirlpool cries out for a surreal hypnotism sequence, and it’s disappointing that the scene in the film itself is ineffective. Perhaps Preminger was relying solely on Jose Ferrer's power, because this lesser Otto entry is worth savoring just for Jose Ferrer’s lascivious performance as Korvo, who uses hypnotism to aid his murder plot and frame the lovely Gene Tierney for the deed. Whirlpool was only Jose Ferrer’s second film but he steals the movie from his first appearance onscreen and his absence is keenly felt whenever he’s not seen, as he delivers many of screenwriter Ben Hecht’s best lines:


“A successful marriage is usually based on what a husband and wife don’t know about each other.”

“I hope your new marriage will give you something to live for---if only a divorce.”

“You’re in top form today…almost makes me lonesome for your faded charms.”


I was so impressed with this early Ferrer performance (only his second movie) that I wanted his scheme to succeed! Ferrer makes it easy to like him; his entire performance is hypnotic, with his mellifluous voice pulling Tierney into his murder plot. Ferrer's Korvo is quick witted and charming and his appeal is helped by the fact that the Tierney and Conte characters are complete idiots! Weary flatfoot Charles Bickford is just too…weary…to care. If Whirlpool is to qualify as a Film Noir, it’s Bickford’s police Lieutenant Colton who is the typical Noir character: a tired-out, widower cop who just wants to believe that Tierney’s Ann Sutton is the killer of her husband’s patient, Theresa Randolph (Barbara O’Neil), who Korvo romanced and then bilked for $60,000. You know a movie’s in trouble when the audience cheers for the villain. But who cares? Ferrer is brilliant and makes off with every scene he’s in.

Jose Ferrer was at the cusp of a great career when he made Whirlpool. He had already earned a Best Supporting Actor nod for his film debut, 1948's Joan of Arc. In 1951, Ferrer would go on to win a Best Actor Oscar for his role in Cyrano de Bergerac and receive another nomination in 1953 for his portrayal of artist Talouse- Lau Trec in Moulin Rouge (1952). Ferrer worked steadily during the next few decades, appearing in dozens of TV movies and series like many actors of his era. For those unfamiliar with his work, Whirlpool is a good place to start, even if the film is no masterpiece, Jose Ferrer makes it all worthwhile.

Weaving His Web: David Korvo (Jose Ferrer) hypnotizes lovely but dopey Ann Sutton (Gene Tierney) in 1949's Whirlpool.