Well, dear readers, here it is, the morning after our big event. We had quite a celebration yesterday, those of us that were here, and we danced the Hora and the Swim all the livelong day and night. If you missed out on the festivities you can simply use the Unseemly Archives to catch up on the merriment and mirth and laughter and legs that we had over the weekend. Or not.
Last night I watched two count them two motion picture entertainments on DVD. The first was the divoon The Shanghai Gesture, a film of the supremely strange and wonderful Josef von Sternberg, starring Gene Tierney, Victor Mature, Walter Huston, Phyllis Brooks, Eric Blore, and the amazing Ona Munson as Mother Gin Sling. There is simply no way to describe this film or it’s hallucinogenic qualities – it is one-off, dripping with atmosphere, the score by Richard Hageman is terrific, and you will never see performances the likes of which are in this film. Victor Mature as Dr. Omar, Doctor of Nothing. Mike Mazurki as The Coolie (“You likee Chinee New Year?”), Gene Tierney as Poppy (one of the strangest leading-lady performances ever), Walter Huston as Sir Guy Chateris, the man with a past, Phyllis Brooks (another incredibly strange turn) and above-all Ona Munson (“I’ve just been informed I’m your… mother”). The photography by Paul Ivano is breathtaking in the close-ups and the whole thing is just mesmerizing to watch. The DVD, unfortunately, while not terrible, does look like it was taken from a less-than-pristine 16mm television print, and the sound is awful. It’s one of these Raymond Rohauer Presents things (this guy also seems to own almost the whole of Buster Keatons silent films), and apparently Mr. Rohauer couldn’t be bothered to give them good elements for the film. But, if you haven’t seen it, you should try to take a gander.
I then watched Swing Time, which I have on a DVD-R from my laserdisc. I try to watch this movie every few months because the musical numbers are absolute joy and absolute perfection and I never tire of seeing them. This is my favorite Astaire/Rogers film, and they are just the best in it, along with able cohorts Eric Blore (again), Helen Broderick and Victor Moore. The score is amazing – A Fine Romance, Pick Yourself Up, Never Gonna Dance, The Way You Look Tonight, well, it just doesn’t get better. Why these Astaire/Rogers films remain unavailable on DVD is a mystery, but someday hopefully pristine transfers will be gracing our merry shelves.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I have much to attend to. “Much” needs attending to these days, “much” has been acting up and going on tears, and I must knock “much” down a peg or two or, at the very least, a marge or two. What the hell am I talking about?
For the second time in a week I ate at Todai last night. I need a big long vacation from there now. It’s one of those all-you-can-eat places, Japanese-style. So, you just keep eating and eating until you top-off and can eat no more. It’s not that what I was eating was so fattening, it’s that there was so much of it. Shrimp, and crab legs, and California rolls, and shrimp fried rice, and fried scallops and tempura and chicken teriyaki and on and on and on. However, I didn’t hold a candle to the couple next to me, who I overheard were on Atkins, but who must have had nine plates of food each, every kind of fish and chicken and I’ve just never seen two people eat that much food in my life. I don’t care what kind of diet one is on, you cannot eat such volume and lose weight. Wasn’t that nice of me to not hold a candle to the couple next to me? Why, if I had held a candle to them they might have caught on fire and then where would we be? Well, they’d have been one hot couple. We don’t allow groaning here at haineshisway.com.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must go hither and thither and today I might even go yon if I’m of a mind to. Today’s topic of discussion – since we were talking about Mr. Astaire and Miss Rogers, let us say what our favorite Astaire/Rogers moments are, either with or without each other. I’ll start – the whole of Swing Time, but most especially Pick Yourself Up and Never Gonna Dance, two of the greatest musical numbers ever committed to film – they are art and they are sheer genius. Mr. Astaire’s Shine on Your Shoes from The Band Wagon. Miss Rogers’ turn in Mr. Billy Wilder’s The Major and the Minor. I don’t want to hog all the choices, however, so it’s your turn and I’ll be back to check up on your excellent posts. By the way (BTW, in Internet lingo) we will have a brand spanking new Unseemly Interview up this week, with Miss Christianne Tisdale, who is about to open in Very Good Eddie at the Goodspeed Opera House. Also, hopefully Donald has a new radio show up as well, and we’re going to start a brand new feature this week. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, we will be bringing you a brand spanking new feature called Juliana’s Journal. I’ve asked our very own Juliana A. Hansen to keep a journal of her experiences doing the national tour of Thoroughly Modern Millie. From the auditioning process to rehearsals to the tour itself, she will bring us all the backstage drama and fun, and I should think it will be very interesting for one and all and also all and one. In fact, since I’ve seen the first installment, I know it’s interesting. Post away, my pretties and I will see you in a bit.