Well, dear readers, has anyone noticed that we are halfway through a little month I like to call November? Is that not astonishingly astonishing? That means that not only are we about to go into the final month of the year, but I am about to have another birthday. Holy moley on rye, this has been the fastest year ever. But, let us savor the remaining six weeks, shall we? We shall. I think I’ll go out of order, notes-wise, because I am chomping at the bit to talk about the motion picture on Blu and Ray that I watched last evening. It was a motion picture entitled The Night Of The Hunter. It was the only film directed by Charles Laughton. It was based on a novel by Davis Grubb with a screenplay by James Agee. It starred Robert Mitchum, Shelly Winters, Lillian Gish, Evelyn Varden, Don Beddoe, James Gleason, Peter Graves and other terrific actors, including the wonderful Billy Chapin. I first encountered the film on television, probably in the late 1960s. I was mesmerized by it, fascinated by it, and fell in love with it instantly. It was unique, one-off. I’d never seen anything quite like it and I watched it whenever it came on. Eventually I snagged an excellent 16mm print, which I showed quite often. Over the years, the film has lost none of its luster or power – every time I watch it I am captivated all over again. Laughton, Agee, and company (especially Stanley Cortez) captured something so beautiful and complex and brilliant – a film that is almost always from a child’s point of view. The images are nightmarish, surreal, magical – some are as beautiful as anything ever put on film. It is just the right length. It is poetic. It is, in a word, perfect. Another person who made an immeasurable contribution to the film was composer Walter Schumann, who wrote a dazzling score – it’s a shock that he never went on to become a major film composer. Mitchum gives the performance of his career, and that’s saying something. Everything he does is just right. And Evelyn Varden is absolutely hilarious, while Lillian Gish is so real and incredibly touching as Rachel Cooper. She has the film’s final line, one of my favorite lines in all of cinema – speaking of the strength and specialness of children she says, “They abide, and they endure.”
Of course I ended up with a little connection to The Night Of The Hunter, when I helped develop the musical version in its early stages – composed by the wonderful Claibe Richardson, who became a dear friend, and the very talented book and lyric writer, Stephen Cole. And when it seemed like it was right, we made our concept album of it, and it remains one of my favorites of all the CDs I produced, perhaps because we all worked together for three years before we set foot in the studio. Our cast was beyond amazing – Ron Raines, Sally Mayes, Dorothy Loudon, Marcia Lewis, George Lee Andrews and on and on – even our very own Alet Taylor (the Oury) was in it.
The film was lovingly restored by neighbor and friend Bob Gitt at UCLA and it is that restoration that Criterion has released on Blu-Ray. First of all, how lovely to finally have the film in its proper screen ratio. I remember the fools on various discussion boards trying to say that the original DVD in the Academy ratio was what Cortez and Laughton intended. Of course, a simple look at any of the compositions would tell you otherwise – so right off the bat, the compositions look amazing and right. The contrast is excellent – there’s quite a bit of grain but that is mostly because there are a LOT of opticals dissolved, fades, and wipes in the film. It’s a lovely disc and is highly recommended by the likes of me. I haven’t yet jumped into disc two, which is over two-and-a-half hours of outtakes and on-set footage that is, by all accounts, incredible. I did watch the talking heads featurette on disc one – it was okay, but I can’t wait to dive into disc two.
Prior to watching that, I finished watching Santa Claus: The Movie – talk about going from the ridiculous to the sublime. But, I finally got through the entire film, and I must say it’s a complete dog. Of course, go to the imdb and what do you find? If you go back to the very first postings you will find nothing but negative thoughts on the film. And then the raves begin – it’s almost as if a cult of fans all showed up to boost the ratings – every “review” sounds exactly the same. I guess if you saw this movie as a four-year-old it is the greatest Christmas movie ever made. I’m afraid not, at least not for me. For me, it is the nadir. The transfer, however, is quite excellent, and I do like the score by Henry Mancini.
Prior to that, I’d have a pretty relaxing day, which is exactly what I needed. I had close to nine-and-a-half hours of sleep, which was great. I got up, I printed out more orders (Carrie will be sold out by this evening), and I answered e-mails, and kept tabs on how the tape transfers were coming along. Then I went out and had some bacon and eggs and a bagel. After that, two of my singers came by and got their CDs and music. Then I picked up some packages and no mail, after which I came back home, at which point Mr. Jason Graae came by to get his stuff. We ended up chatting for almost an hour, which was grand and hilarious fun. And that was my day.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because the one thing we know about these here notes are – they abide, and they endure.
Today, I will again try to sleep in as late as I can. Then the helper and I have some shipping to do and some other stuff to do. After that, I’ll eat something, and the rest of the day is pretty free – I’m hoping that our final singer will finally make it here to get her CD and music.
Tomorrow, I will be with my engineer in the morning, and then I can’t remember what’s happening in the afternoon, but something is. Then I’m having dinner with someone after that.
Then I have to prep my questions for Saturday’s LACCTAA event and that’s going to be quite a lot of work and take a bit of time. Then the event happens on Saturday, and then we begin Thanksgiving week, which is just astonishing.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, sleep in, ship and do other work with the helper, eat and then relax. 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 loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we acknowledge that these here notes abide, and they endure, not necessarily in that order.