Well, dear readers, I feel like a cat on a hot tin roof. I don’t know what that means, but I like the sound of it. Yes, Virginia, I feel like a cat on a hot tin roof or, conversely, I feel like a hot tin roof on a cat. Like a cat on a hot tin roof, I am walking around gingerly trying not to burn my feet. Have you ever walked around gingerly? Have you ever walked around paprikaly? I no longer have a clew as to what the HELL I’m going on about – in fact, I didn’t really have a clew as to what I was going on about in the first place. However, all that said, I feel like a cat on a hot tin roof. Yesterday, of course, I felt like a dog on a cold linoleum floor. Go know. Yesterday, for example, I awoke, I answered some e-mails, then had an early jog, then did some work at the piano – am having a bit of a slog getting through a ballad I’m working on, but I may have finally found a tune I like. We shall see. After that, I ate some luncheon, did a few errands, and then went over to the editing room, where we created the titles for the Kevin Spirtas DVD – they came out really well and are quite stylish. I shall have a DVD to proof tomorrow, and Kevin will have a video to view over the weekend. That only took about two hours, and then I came back to the home environment and sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I managed to watch two count them two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled Charlie Chan in Paris, starring Mr. Warner Oland as Mr. Charlie Chan. I really enjoyed this film, and its plot and direction are much more assured than Charlie Chan in London. I truly adore Mr. Oland’s Chan, and this was the first film to feature Keye Luke and Chan’s number one son. The film runs a perfect seventy-two minutes, and the denouement is actually quite clever. I’m looking forward to the remaining two Chan films in the box set – Charlie Chan in Egypt and Charlie Chan in Shanghai. I then watched the second motion picture on DVD, the noir classic, I Wake Up Screaming. It’s one of my all-time favorite noirs and it was a treat to see it again, especially in such a nice transfer. The film stars Miss Betty Grable (one of her best), Carole Landis (playing Miss Grable’s sister, just as she’d already done in Moon Over Miami), Mr. Victor Mature (one of my faves), Mr. Laird Cregar, and Mr. Elisha Cook, Jr. It’s beautifully directed by H. Bruce Humberstone, and has great camerawork courtesy of Edward Cronjager. The film runs a mere eighty-two minutes, and is perfectly paced. It differs in several ways from Steve Fisher’s wonderful pulp novel. The character that Laird Cregar plays, cop Ed Cornell, was, in fact, based on the pulp novelist Cornell Woolrich. The novel takes place in Hollywood, whereas the film takes place in New York. But, it does capture the novel’s spirit, and it’s just a gem. Since this was the second film in just a few days in which I viewed Miss Landis, I decided to look her up on the Internet, as I didn’t know anything about her. I was quite taken with both performances. I had no idea that she’d taken her own life at twenty-nine years of age. In any case, I recommend I Wake Up Screaming, even if you’re not a noir freak, it’s very entertaining.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because frankly I’m feeling like a cat on a hot tin roof, baby, so call me Brick and Click.
Today I must gird my loins and be strong. I must also gird my loins and start getting the word out on our upcoming cabaret series. I must also gird my loins and proof both the final check disc on Deceit, and also our current version of the Kevin Spirtas DVD. That should take most of the afternoon. I may try to go out tonight, even if just to take a drive, as I’ve been pretty much staying around the home environment since last Friday. I also must make some telephonic calls and do some writing.
My goodness, I’m feeling like a cat on a hot tin roof. I’m also going to start entering the first set of fixes from the first of my short story editors – I’m trying to get all the fixes in so we can actually start getting the book designed (Grant Geissman, once again). One of these fine days I shall start on my new novel, but my head is too filled with other things right now – but sometime in the next month I’ll begin it.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, gird my loins and do all of the above and more, I must lunch, I must drive about in my motor car, I must pick up a package or two, and I think I even have to ship a package or two. If you haven’t preordered your Deceit DVD, now would be a good time, especially if you want a signed copy. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite Tennessee Williams’ plays and films, and what are your favorite Tennesse Williams’ moments from same – along with your favorite performances in Tennessee Williams’ works? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I walk around gingerly, like a cat on a hot tin roof.