Well, dear readers, the week continues. I ask you, where on all the Internet can you find such pronouncements, such hard information? Of course, now we’ll read on some other website that the week continues, because we all know they come here for the hard news and then post it like it was their hard news. But no, you heard it here first – the week continues. And we’re off to a fine start on this fine Thursday, aren’t we? Well, why shouldn’t we be off to a fine start on this fine Thursday, damn it all? But, before we even discuss this fine Thursday (and aren’t we off to a fine start), I think we should discuss the fine Wednesday, which is now behind us. Yesterday, for example, I had quite a day filled with interesting events. First off, I went an picked up my two auction lots – the lot of handwritten Jack Benny notes, and the preproduction painting from The Great Race. The latter is quite spiffy. Having now read through the former, I can most certainly tell you that Mr. Jack Benny was quite a randy fellow. I was going to publish some of his poems right here at haineshisway.com, but they are so randy they would not be proper for a family site such as ours. I will only say that his poem to Gisele would make a sailor blush. It’s quite amusing. These notes all came from someone who worked with him. Some are written on stationary from the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, and one long one, which I can share with you, was written on hotel stationary during one of his New York stays. There is also an envelope signed to the person who worked for him, who is the provenence for these items – it says: Dear Eddie – kiss my ass. Don’t we love that? There is also a typewritten poem to someone named Dee Dee. A treasure trove of Jack Benny, if you ask me. I then had a lovely luncheon with our very own Pogue. We ate at the California Pizza Kitchen and it was quite yummilicious. I then had conversations with Juliana A. Hansen and our pal Theresa Finamore. I then attended a work session with Mr. Kevin Spirtas and his pianist, John Boswell. I’ve worked with Mr. Boswell before on Joan Ryan’s album – I find him very adaptable. For example, Mr. Spirtas has a chart for a put-together of Something’s Coming and Tonight. I didn’t care for the arrangement at all. So, we sat for a half-hour and deconstructed it and got it to be good, each of us throwing out ideas, and John playing them instantly in his computer as soon as we discovered one that worked. I’m quite pleased with it now. We’ll be working more next week – I’ve left it to them to choose the material for our four medley ideas, then I’ll help them shape it once they’ve got what they like. It’s all quite a lot of fun. I also had several lovely e-mails for several lovely people. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that just too too?
Last night I watched a motion picture on DVD. It was entitled High and Low, and was directed by Mr. Akira Kurosawa. I have written about this film before, because I tend to watch it two or three times a year. I watched it last night because there is a new region 2 DVD of it from the UK. It’s full scope (2:55) and enhanced for widescreen TVs. The US Criterion DVD isn’t enhanced and is mis-framed at 2:35. I also have the Japanese special edition, which is enhanced and transferred directly from the camera negative, but without subtitles. The new UK DVD is good – a bit soft and contrasty, but certainly acceptable. It’s only when comparing it to the Japanese disc, which is incredibly vivid and sharp, that you notice the difference. The film remains one of my all-time favorites. I’m not all that huge a fan of Mr. Kurosawa’s period films – I like them and admire them, but I never watch them all that often. But High and Low is a modern-day film, and it’s adapted from a novel by Ed McBain, entitled King’s Ransom. It’s a brilliantly constructed film and Mr. Kurosawa’s direction is not only brilliant, it’s also breathtaking in how complex it is. He manages this complexity rarely moving the camera. Instead, his characters are constantly on the move in the frame – and their ever shifting positions and placement within the frame tells you so much about everything that’s going on. The first third of the film deals with a kidnapping, the money drop, and the return of the kidnap victim. The second third of the film is like a police procedural – we watch as the police put together all their information and discover who the kidnapper is. The final third of the film is the hunt and capture of the kidnapper. And then there is a coda where the kidnapper, in jail and awaiting execution, asks to see the man he got the ransom from. It’s a completely powerful moment in a completely powerful film. It’s also one of the most perfectly cast films in the history of the cinema. The score by Masaru Sato is amazingly amazing. And the sound design of the film, made in the early sixties, shows you what could be done without any of this fancy-shmancy crap they have to work with today. In the final third of the film, the source music and natural sound is used so incredibly that you just sit there and marvel at it. If you have never seen this film and you have an all-region player, by all means get the UK import. If you don’t, get your hands on the Criterion DVD – even with its imperfections, you will still find it rewarding. I cannot praise this film enough. It’s the fastest two hours and twenty five minutes you’ll ever spend watching a film.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because, as you have already learned, the week continues.
Have I mentioned that the week continues? If not, it does. If so, it does. It does, no matter what. Today I’ll be lunching with our very own Miss Tammy Minoff. She wants to tell me all about her feelings regarding my new book. She finished it yesterday and called to tell me that it may be her favorite of all my books. It was very nice to hear. She really enjoyed it and will tell me more this very day. Hoo and ray.
I also watched another Hong Kong musical, entitled The Dancing Millionairess. It’s not really a musical, as there are only two musical sequences, but I really enjoyed it quite a bit. The plot is quite stupid, but those two really long sequences are so loopy, so insane, so wacky, that I just couldn’t take my eyes from the screen. The final musical sequence must go on for fifteen minutes – one long dance sequence, interrupted by a song, more dancing, and then a big singing-and-dancing finale. Eye-popping colors abound.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must do errands, I must do a spot of work, I must drive about in my motor car, I must lunch with Miss Tammy Minoff, and I must pick up packages. I’m sure I’ll watch a DVD or three as well. Today’s topic of discussion: Yesterday was Ask BK Day, but I put it off until today – so today is Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers as the week continues.