Even Weary Bloggers Need a Break

It's off to Walt Disney World! The weather's due to be grand--the Disney Company has an exclusive deal with Mother Nature--and yours truly will drop his pretentious worldly sophistication and enjoy the Disneyfied creations that the Magic Kingdom offers. Please stop by and say hi! I'll be the adult-looking fellow crying because I'm cranky from the heat or upset that my wife won't let me have that eight-foot stuffed Pluto toy. Perhaps I'll have a nostalgia-fueled nervous breakdown in what's left of Tomorrowland since most everything I loved from it is in the Disney equivalent of Boot Hill. Ah, the whiff of diesel in our world of tomorrow...I also hope not to suffer from too much Johnny Depp Envy when riding my favorite attraction, Pirates of the Caribbean, which has been crassly co-opted blessed with the addition of Johnny's delightful visage.

Over the last week or so I've been studiously examining various past Walt Disney World guide maps from The Florida Project. This excellent site has scans of several WDW guide maps, making it possible for the deluded and bitter Disney fan to fret and harrumph over the many ill-advised changes that've been made over the years. Whether it be the destruction of a perpetually-broken down attraction (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) or an altered shop (Disneyana and Mickey's Mart), the olde maps are--to quote Barry Fitzgerald--sure to bring a tear to your eye. So after my blogging batteries are recharged from this trip, you can bet that I'll feel like a hundred Pesos again, ready to prattle on and on and on about Hollywood's Golden Age...

Missing Movies: The Macomber Affair (1947)

As a longtime Ernest Hemingway fan--note the badge at the bottom of this blog--I've wanted to see the 1947 film The Macomber Affair but it's never on TV. The one fleeting image I had of this movie was back in the mid '90s, when I first learned of this movie's existence it was the above still from a Hemingway coffee table book! The Macomber Affair is based on the brilliant story The Short-Happy Life of Francis Macomber, which is included in the author's short story collection, The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories. The movie stars Gregory Peck (who appeared in 1952's The Snows of Kilimanjaro), Joan Bennett, and Robert Preston.

The story is about a married couple (Preston and Bennett) out on a safari with "Great White Hunter" Peck. The wife henpecks and has no respect for her husband because he bolted when confronting a lion. The bulk of the story is the tension between the couple and...well, I won't spoil the end. I wonder if the film changes the story's tremendous finale? As for the casting, it looks like they did well. I love Joan Bennett, but Jane Greer would've made a great Margot Macomber, too. However, it's Preston's performance that I'm most interested in seeing. As for Peck, I'm sure he exudes enough Captain Ahab/General MacArthur-esque confidence to pull of the role of Wilson.

From the few reviews I've read, the movie is considered one of the better adaptations of Hemingway's work. I was disappointed that The Macomber Affair wasn't included on the Hemingway Classics Collection DVD set. It was a United Artists release with a score by Miklós Rózsa (Lust for Life; Ben-Hur; King of Kings) . I've been on a Rózsa kick lately and would be interested in hearing this score and of course seeing the film. This looks to be something right up Turner Classic Movies' alley. If they don't air it, then perhaps it can berendered via the made-to-order DV-R. The Macomber Affair should be made available, especially with that cast, as Peck was well on his way to being a superstar and Preston and Bennett already crafty veterans, plus there's that Hemingway connection and a music score by a legendary composer. I'd like to think that The Macomber Affair is a forgotten gem just waiting for rediscovery. The film is ranked #521 on TCM's list for films not on DVD.

200 Posts!

Blogs I Love, Part II-A

As I splashed another cup of lukewarm coffee down my gullet this morning, I realized that I had been more like a regular panelist on other people's blog comments sections, and with Spring in fulll swing, I descended into my usual mode of blogging underachievement by devising another segment of Blogs I Love. I've been spending a lot of time at these blogs lately, what with me actually having interests outside of 1930s and '40s movies. Here are a few blogs well worthy of your time and attention. One of them I've listed before but the other two are largely non-film blogs with fascinating subject matter. Let me introduce them:




Goodfella's Movie Blog- Previously mentioned but due for another nod is Dave's blog. He's wrapping up a Film Noir counrdown of epic proportions. Also not to be missed is the amazingly enlightening comments section, where the big brains of film criticism discuss--and often disagree with-- Dave's rankings!

Voyages Extraordinaires, which has the sub-title "Scientific Romances of a Bygone Age." This blog is not mere "Steampunk" as blogger Cory Gross goes into detail on the era as well as the subsequent art, literature, and cinema influenced by the Victorian Age. This includes Disney and Doctor Who in addition to progenitors Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. Do have a look.

Vintage Disneyland Tickets- I've never been to Disneyland but I am making a return trip to Walt Disney World at the end of the month--hence my distracted nature--Tim has posted tons of fascinating Disney-related items such as guidebooks, promotional items, and material meant only for employees' eyes. Through the site one gets a vivid history of Disneyland and I've learned a lot in the short time since discovering the place.

Classic Films I've Never Seen: Walt Disney's Fantasia (1940)

This is the first entry in a series of classic Golden Age films that, you guessed it: I've never seen! We begin with Walt Disney's Fantasia from 1940. I've never had the chance to watch what looks to be a beautifully rendered animated film set to classical music. I'm aware of what the movie contains, and I also realize that there was some abomination of a remake in 2000, the coincidentally named Fantasia 2000, which I avoided at the time because I didn't want that to be my first exposure to the concept. Perhaps 2010 is the year that Disney will open its vaults and allow me to procure a copy of the 1940 "real deal" original--without censorious cuts, either.

I blame my not having seen Fantasia for having come of age in the late '70-early '80s, a time when the Walt Disney studio largely abandoned quality animation and instead focused on live-action epics like Snowball Express, Herbie, The North Avenue Irregulars, Freaky Friday, and The Cat from Outer Space. Nothing against those films, as I liked them all and even nursed a crush on Barbara Harris, too. I must also admit that my attention was given over to "gritty" fare like Star Wars and The Six Million Dollar Man. Still, even as a hair helmeted seven-year-old dope I knew that Disney had a reputation as an animation powerhouse and I wanted to see more of the magic I'd witnessed in Pinocchio (say the word a hundred times and it ceases to sound like a name) and Dumbo. I wasn't really interested in the animated offerings they did release during my own childhood, as they never appealed to me like the one-after-the-other masterworks they cranked out with frightening regularity in both the animated feature length and animated short films.

From what I've seen of Fantasia, it looks marvelous. Disney always gets credit for their wonderful animation--no one, but no one ever rendered water in motion like Disney. Yes, I'm easily entertained, but the Disney crew earned their reputation for excellence. Even if the scripts of most Mickey Mouse cartoons were lacking, it never mattered to me--remember my stance on plotlines--because the animation was always hypnotically watchable and it looks as though Fantasia's animation might've been the peak of that brilliance. I can't wait for the day I see it.

Postscript: In looking up Fantasia, numerous pictures of some singer come up; who the heck is she???