Well, dear readers, I almost began writing these here notes in the next section. Can you imagine if I hadn’t realized? Why, it would have created anarchy and chaos and confusion, not necessarily in that order. Thankfully, I did catch it in time and here I am, beginning the notes in the proper section. Whew, that was close. You know what else was close? Glenn. And we’ll be right back after this word from our sponsor. I have been fighting allergies or something and I feel very stuffed up even though I’m not really stuffed up, and my voice is hoarse even though my voice isn’t hoarse and it’s all just very peculiar. I’ve been resting my voice but it still feels weird, so it’s either all in my head or something in the air is bugging me. In a little while I shall go into the shower and wash off whatever it is that’s bugging me. And that will be that. Speaking of that, yesterday was that and more. For example, I arose quite early, but only had time to deal with some e-mails prior to my breakfast meeting with a potential musical director for The Brain. That meeting went well – we discussed schedules and stuff, and I told the gentleman how I like to collaborate and work and told him that I can be difficult if I don’t like what I’m hearing. None of it seemed to phase him and he seemed to “get” what the gig would be. I’m going to talk to a couple of others, but I’ll probably end up going with today’s guy. After the meeting, I came home and had to pack up a bunch of Kritzerland orders (including some fairly large ones for amazon.com). I got the two big boxes shipped out right away, then came home and jogged (finally), and approved the cover/back cover for the softcover version of the book. I asked for one change on the rear dust jacket flap – hopefully, that will get done today and I can approve and then this phase is done. I’m also hoping the website will be live today – I saw a test run of it yesterday and it’s very cool – just had to change a couple of things. After that, I shipped the rest of the packages, and then came back home and finally opened the new play and wrote a couple of pages – slow going, but I am having a good time with it. I also sent a long list of potential titles to the fellow who will be booking the play. There are two or three that I’m quite fond of, so I hope he likes those. I’ve also got one more pass of changes for Cissy’s book that I’ll try to do with Grant before leaving for New York, New York on Sunday. After that, I was finished for the day and I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched one count them one motion picture on DVD entitled Birdman of Alcatraz. I hadn’t seen it in over twenty years, and I must say I find it quite wonderful for most of its long running time (147 minutes). The last twenty minutes or so does sag a bit, but the film is so beautifully directed by Mr. John Frankenheimer, and so beautifully acted by Mr. Burt Lancaster, that you forgive it its minor faults. The scenes with the birds (ironically, the Birdman of Alcatraz never has birds at Alcatraz) are quite magical, and the birds all give great performances. The supporting cast is fantastic – Neville Brand should have been up for an Oscar, Thelma Ritter (who was), Betty Field, Karl Malden, and the terrific Telly Savalas. The score by Elmer Bernstein is also great and fits the film perfectly. Transfer is okay, non-anamorphic, as per usual with MGM/UA.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because after watching Birdman of Alcatraz something occurred to me and I will talk about that in the next section.
This is the section where I almost started to write the beginning of the notes. Can you imagine? There would have been anarchy and chaos and confusion, I tell you. But happily it all worked out fine. So, what was it that occurred to me after I watched Birdman of Alcatraz? Well, I’ll tell you what occurred to me because why should I withhold such information from you dear readers? What occurred to me was that this was the second film in two nights that I watched and loved and both were made in the year 1962. I remembered that 1962 has always seemed like a fine year for motion pictures, so I did a little research to see if I was remembering correctly. Well, let me tell you, I was remembering correctly. They always tout 1939 as the greatest year for motion pictures, with classics galore. For me, I’ll take 1962 any day of the week. Not only was the year filled with classics, but several of the classics were trend setters and moved the art of film to new heights. I mean, let’s just start with the films that are considered all-time classics today and which all had many Academy Awards and nominations: Lawrence of Arabia, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Music Man, Whatever Happened To Baby Jane, The Miracle Worker, David and Lisa, The Manchurian Candidate, Days of Wine and Roses, Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (pretty much ignored by the Academy!). And then there were these other little films: Gypsy, All Fall Down, Advise and Consent, Ride The High Country, Mutiny On The Bounty, Dr. No, Cape Fear, Hatari, Lolita, Lonely Are The Brave, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, The Longest Day, and Chris Marker’s masterpiece, La Jetee. Foreign films included Oscar-winner Sundays and Cybele, and Antonioni’s L’Eclisse, Jules and Jim, Harakiri, as well as Bergman’s Through A Glass Darkly. And then there were these other little films, maybe not classics but all very entertaining: The Counterfeit Traitor, Jumbo, How The West Was Won, The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, Mondo Cane, Walk On The Wild Side, Two Weeks In Another Town, The Chapman Report, Orson Welles’ The Trial, Two for the Seesaw, Tashlin’s Bachelor Flat, That Touch of Mink, Sweet Bird of Youth, State Fair, Requiem For A Heavyweight, Experiment in Terror, Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Light In The Piazza, The L-Shaped Room, Damn the Defiant, If A Man Answers, The Interns, Freud, Billy Budd. And then we have these one-off sort of films: Pressure Point, Carnival of Souls, The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, Day of the Triffids. And that’s just films I saw – there are many more interesting ones that could be added to the list – even the failures are interesting, like Sodom and Gomorrah and Barabbas, and there were several low-budget things that were excellent. If we get one or two watchable films these days that makes it a good year. I just look at those titles above and my mind is boggled. And to think that Mr. Frankenheimer alone is responsible for three films that year – All Fall Down, Birdman, and Manchurian Candidate. All in one year! And Elmer Bernstein’s music for To Kill A Mockingbird and Birdman. And Jerry Goldsmith’s for Freud and Lonely Are The Brave. And Mr. Mancini for Hatari, Days Of Wine and Rosers, and Experiment in Terror. And Mr. Rosenthal’s two brilliant scores for The Miracle Worker and Requiem for a Heavyweight. And The Music Man – one of the best Broadway to Hollywood adaptations ever. But not just one musical, but also Jumbo and Gypsy and State Fair. And the directors! Welles, Lean, Aldrich, Hawks, Ford, Frankenheimer, Peckinpah, Preminger, Wise, Huston, and on and on. I could watch every film on this list and be a very happy camper. I’m sure one can do this for various other years, but 1962 would give any year a run for its money.
My goodness, I was waxing nostalgic, wasn’t I? If I waxed nostalgic about Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, would that be a Brazil wax? Don’t worry – I won’t be waxing nostalgic about Brazil.
Today I have to go to LACC to set keys for three songs, then I have to hie myself back to the home environment to do the reading of PennyO’s show, which I’m really looking forward to. I will, of course, have washed my hoarseness down the drain when I shower.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, jog, get fuel for my motor car, write, set keys, and do a reading. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s 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, and do list your ten favorite films of 1962. I’d be hard put to limit it to ten, however.