Well, dear readers, my lids are heavy as I begin to write these here notes. My goodness, that was very poetic, wasn’t it. My lids are heavy on this night of floating blackness where e’er I gaze. My goodness, these notes are florid, aren’t they? My lids are heavy with musty brows and crusty eyeballs. What is this with my fershluganah lids already? Enough with the heavy lids. Lids – LIGHTEN UP. Now I’m feeling all florid and flowery and willowy and billowy, but soon my head shall be on my pillowy and sleep will become me like a gazelle with a toothache. My Lids Are Heavy – that sounds like a Mickey Spillane mystery, doesn’t it? Speaking of Mickey Spillane, yesterday was one of those days where I was just ever so slightly out of it. Part of that has to do with the fact that the Actifed I’m taking for Ye Olde Allergies are making me The Drowsy Chaperone. That never used to happen with Actifed, but they’ve changed the ingredients and it certainly is happening now. In any case, I was just ever so slightly out of it from the moment I woke up. I did manage to get a few things done, though, such as shipping out a few packages, and writing a letter of welcome to the LACC Theatre Academy alums. I also ate an unseemly number of bagels. I was, in fact, on a bagel kick. I kicked quite a few bagels around the house and it was ever so amusing. I had tuna on a bagel, cream cheese on a bagel, butter on a bagel – it was just an all around bagel sort of day. After all that, I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I managed to watch three count them three motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled Man In The Middle, starring Mr. Robert Mitchum and Miss France Nuyen. It’s part of the Fox War Movies series, but other than the fact that it takes place during the war, it’s really a courtroom drama. Crazy bigot Keenan Wynn shoots a British officer. They try to cover up his craziness, so that he can be tried and hanged. But Robert Mitchum, as his attorney, is hell bent on proving that his client IS crazy. I enjoyed the film because I enjoy Mr. Mitchum, and Mr. Wynn is very good in the film, as is Trevor Howard in a small role. The film was directed by Guy Hamilton just prior to his directing Goldfinger. The black and white scope transfer is stunning. The score is by John Barry, but it’s really just variations on a terrible “theme” by Lionel Bart. If you like courtroom dramas, you might enjoy Man In The Middle. I then watched the second motion picture on DVD, which was entitled The Silent Partner, one of those made in Canada films from the late 70s. It’s almost a pretty good movie. It doesn’t quite come off, and some of the writing is very sloppy (screenplay courtesy of Curtis Hanson), but it also has some very good scenes and overall it’s quite enjoyable. The film stars Elliot Gould, doing his usual somnambulistic turn. Susannah York is on hand, and she’s always fun to watch, and the villain is played by Christopher Plummer, who is excellent. There are a lot of Canadian actors in the film, many of whom you’ll recognize from other 70s and 80s films. The score is credited to Oscar Peterson, of all people – I’m sure he wrote a “theme” or two, but the score was clearly written by music consultant Ken Wannberg – it’s quite a good score, too. The transfer is actually perfect – the film looks exactly as it did on its original release, if not better. I then watched the third motion picture on DVD, which was entitled Romance On The High Seas. I don’t always love these old musicals that aren’t really musicals, but I must say I was completely captivated by Romance On The High Seas. It was my first time seeing it and I found it consistently funny and the songs were quite good (by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn). This is the film that introduced Miss Doris Day and the minute she appears on the screen you know that a star is being born. She lights up every scene she’s in, and she’s a complete natural. I never found her particularly pretty in later films, with her short, not attractive hair-dos – but here, with her hair down, looking fresh as a daisy, she’s so beautiful and sweet you just want to eat her up. The supporting cast is wonderful, with Don DeFore, S.Z. (Cuddles) Sakall, Jack Carson, Eric Blore, Franklin Pangborn, Grady Sutton, and many others, all turning in delightful performances. As you know, I am very critical of many Warner Bros. transfers, which simply get the color completely wrong, but they’ve done a great job with this film – the transfer has perfect color and is mostly very sharp (save for one brief section where the registration goes completely wonky). I’m looking forward to the other films in the set.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below, because My Lids Are Heavy by Mickey Spillane is coming up in the next section.
Today, I must ship a coulple more packages, then have a two-hour rehearsal in the later afternoon with Miss Joan Ryan. I don’t love that it’s later in the afternoon (at three) because it puts me in traffic coming home, but such is the way of the world.
I must say, my dance card is filling up for this week, what with a couple of meetings now scheduled and an opening night to attend come Friday.
My lids are still heavy and getting heavier with each passing moment on this heavy-lidded inky black night. And now, it is the midnight hour and all good little boys and girls should be abed.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, jog, ship, rehearse, and watch a DVD or three. Today’s topic of discussion: I’m sure we’ve done this before, but I can’t really remember – what are your all-time favorite courtroom dramas, both films and theater? It’s one of my favorite genres and I basically almost always enjoy a good courtroom yarn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, for my lids are heavy and my brow is lush with the green vines of yesteryear. Does anyone have a clew as to what the HELL I’m talking about?