Well, dear readers, we are making fine progress on the casting of our upcoming CD, which is looking like it will be much fun to do. So far our merry troupe includes the following (with the usual caveats about schedules and such): Dorothy Loudon, Alison Fraser, Christiane Noll, Judy Kaye, Emily Skinner, Lynnette Perry (back with us after an extended sabattical), and Guy Haines. I’ll have more cast announcements within the next few days. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that just too too?
Last night I watched two count them two motion pictures on DVD – both PAL Region 2 – the first was Ernst Lubitsch’s strange and marvelous To Be or Not to Be which I’ve only seen snippets of heretofore. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, heretofore I’ve only seen snippets, but now theretofore I’ve seen the whole damn thing. What kind of word is “heretofore” anyway? That is three count them three words in one. In any case, To Be or Not to Be is what would be called a “serious comedy” about the Nazis in Poland. It stars Mr. Jack Benny and Miss Carol Lombard and a great cast of supporting players, including an impossibly young Robert Stack. It is both hilarious and tense, and the plot machinations are rather on the brilliant side. Benny is hilarious as the vain actor, Joseph Tura, and Lombard sparkles as his wife. There is a running line of dialogue that becomes so funny after awhile that I was howling with laughter (“So, they call me concentration camp Ehrhardt?”).
The other film was a French film called Jeux Interdits (Forbidden Games), a harrowing film about the war, but also a wonderfully moving film about two young children, which I hadn’t seen heretofore or theretofore. The little girl (Brigitte Fossey), who was all of seven at the time, gives one of the most extraordinarily naturalistic and beautiful child performances ever committed to film. On the DVD there is an interview with her, conducted two years ago, and I must tell you she looks amazing and is instantly recognizable. They have her filmography, too, and she has never stopped working over the years, and has appeared in what looks like over thirty films.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below so I can tell you what I’m doing this very evening.
What I am doing this very evening is going to the opening night of Stritch, at the Ahmanson Theater. I will have a full report for you tomorrow.
We’re one step closer to being finished with Kritzerland – yesterday I approved the cover and all its copy. Hopefully, as soon as I get the galley back with the last few corrections, we will be done. At that point, I’ll begin taking preorders, so stay tuned. It will be available here some weeks ahead of all online stores.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must continue casting the CD, I must drive hither and thither, and then later, yon. I must don my nice clothing for the theater tonight and I shall be supping prior to the play. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask all your excellent questions. Because I’m seeing Stritch tonight, I may not get to answer them until Friday’s notes, but ask away and I’m looking forward to seeing them – also, feel free to talk about anything else your collective hearts desire.