Well, dear readers, I shall have to make these here notes short today, I shall have to be succinct and to the point and not blather on ad nauseum. First of all, I have to once again go through my galley because I decided I didn’t like the spacing between sentences and they’ve adjusted it for me, but in so doing the entire layout kind of changes and I have to make certain there are no unseemly widows or orphans or broken hyphens. I hate having broken hyphens, don’t you, dear readers? Right now, I feel like I have a broken back, so bad has that pain in my lower back become. I am now officially an Old Jew and there is nothing to be done about it. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I am now an Old Jew, much like Lizzie is an Old Maid. I thought it was getting better when I went to bed last night, but when I awoke this morning it was worse. I would say it’s like a consistent dull aching pain but there’s nothing dull about an aching pain. Oh, well, I’m not one to dwell on such things, I simply let a smile be my umbrella, or was it that I let an umbrella be my smile. I can’t remember because of this dull aching pain in my lower back which I’m not going to dwell on.
Your lists yesterday were great, very interesting and intriguing. We’re going to choose a couple at random (in our handy-dandy electronic hat) and do radio shows based on them, and also do phone interviews with the people who made them. Won’t that be fun? Won’t that be too too? I did listen to my very own radio appearance – I do apologize for being so hoarse, but my allergies have been really bad and that’s what happens when my allergies are really bad – I get hoarse, which I suppose is better than getting horse. Did anyone notice how many times I used the word “exemplary”? Or “brilliant”? Or “genius”? Or the sentence “One of the best ever”? I need a writer, dear readers. I just kept saying the same thing over and over again until I wanted to rip my eyes out of their very own sockets.
And speaking of our very own electronic hat, we don’t even have to use it today because we only had three guesses in the trivia quiz and only one of them was correct. I’m afraid we must take a poll and you must tell me if you are simply bored by the Unseemly Trivia Contest and if we should drop it. Let me know your thoughts.
We’ll get to the handy-dandy answer in a brief moment, being that these are brief notes. First let me tell you about a couple of new DVDs I watched last night. But first, a word from our sponsor, the Unseemly Button below. In order to bypass a word from our sponsor, let’s quickly click on it now.
The first DVD I watched was a film entitled The Gambler, with James Caan and an excellent supporting cast. It’s quite a good film in the ways that films aren’t these days – it is a wee bit pretentious, but Caan is really good and the dialogue crackles, and the character study of a compulsive gambler is riveting. It’s directed by Karel Reisz, written by James Toback, and features the wonderful Morris Carnovsky and Jacqueline Brookes (as well as Burt Young and Paul Sorvino). The ending is very powerful and not easy to watch. The DVD looks as it should – gritty and grainy. The score, adapted from Mahler, is by the brilliant Jerry Fielding.
I then watched Mr. Louis Malle’s Atlantic City. I remember adoring it when it came out in 1980, but for some reason I had trouble working up enthusiasm to rewatch it last night. But I’m happy to report that the film remains an utter delight, with a great great great (that is three greats) performance by Burt Lancaster, and wonderful work from Susan Sarandon and Kate Reid. If you’ve never seen it, you are in for a real treat. It’s very quirky script is by John Guare, and Mr. Malle’s direction is terrific. Robert Goulet even makes an appearance. The DVD looks amazing, in fact the film looks better on DVD than in the theaters. To watch Mr. Lancaster in this film is to get an instant lesson in what great film acting is all about. There is so much going on behind his eyes, in his pauses, well, it’s actually breathtaking. The strange non-score is by Michel Legrand.
Well I shall keep you in suspense no longer. It’s time to reveal the answer to our Unseemly Trivia Contest question. If you recall, the original question that I posed had its answer inadvertently posted to the site, so I had to run and come up with another very quickly indeed, and I suppose I’m rather proud of this one, since it stumped practically everyone, even with a major clue which I told you you could find in Sunday’s notes or posts. The question was:
What musical spawned a major television star, a multiple Academy Award nominee. and a beast. And what traumatic and life-changing event happened to certain members of the creative team?
Name the musical, the major television star, the multiple Academy Award nominee, and the beast. And name the certain members of the creative team and what the life-changing traumatic event was that befell them.
Only our very own Steve Gurey got the correct answers, which are:
The musical: The Rothschilds
The major television star: Hal Linden
The multiple Academy Award nominee: Jill Clayburgh
The beast: Robby Benson
The traumatic life-changing event that befell certain members of the creative team: Because of the troubled out-of-town tryouts and disagreements, Bock and Harnick broke up as a team and never wrote together again.
Congratulations to Mr. Gurey, who will be receiving a sparkling prize.
Someone e-mailed Guy Haines with a query about a song, but Guy Haines doesn’t really know from songs so he passed it along to me. The querier mentioned a song about a butler who keeps telling people that some woman is not available. I thought of Miss Otis Regrets, but that’s not it. Here is the latest information she wrote.
Dear Mr. Haines,
Thank you for your prompt reply. The song I am thinking of is not “Miss Otis Regrets.” I have thought of a bit more of the lyrics which concern a gentleman arriving at the door of a famous woman (actress?) to see her but the butler informs him that she is busy. There are several encounters of this kind and the butler finally admits that she is busy with pursuits in the “bedroom.” That’s why I mentioned that the song is a bit “off color.” The fellow who used to sing this song (Bill Wright, in La Jolla, Ca, is now deceased—-a great loss). I remember him saying the name of the composer but cannot recall the name but he was someone more obscure than Cole Porter or Jerome Kern. The song is funny like “Lydia, the tattooed Lady” and “Give it back to the Indians”.
Thank you so much for any continued pursuit of this mystery song.
So, if any of you dear readers have an answer, be sure to e-mail it to me and I shall pass it along.
Well, I must get cracking, I must greet the day and the galley, I must get in the swing of things. Today’s topic of discussion: More lists. I want more lists. We are loving the lists. So, your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to make up a list of twelve favorite things – the topic is yours to choose, and everyone must chime in with a list of some sort, otherwise Mr. Mark Bakalor will come and bitch-slap every last one of you. Rather than do a list right now, I shall do one and post it, as soon as I have finished taking a gander at my galley. And don’t forget, tomorrow is Ask BK Day, so get your excellent questions ready, because I am ready to answer them.