Well, dear readers, though it came later in the day, I did get part two of the miracle, so that was excellent, and now we shall hope for parts three and four to make it all complete. As I write these here notes Mr. Vaughan Williams incredible seventh symphony, Symphony Antarctica is playing. It began as the film score to a motion picture from the UK entitled Scott of the Antarctic, which stars John Mills. I once owned a 16mm IB Tech print of the film and it was pretty stunning and I really liked the film a lot, especially the score. The symphonic version is simply magnificent and is moody and occasionally dark and VERY cold. I’m freezing as I’m listening to it and I should probably put on my snowshoes and heavy coat and fur hat. Alas, I do not have such items of clothing and so I will have to shiver as I write these here notes. Yes, I’m sitting shiver – we don’t allow groaning here at haineshisway.com, even though the only groaners would have to be Jewish to know why they’d be groaning. There’s nothing quite like Jewish groaning, so have at it, oh Jewish dear readers.
Yesterday was quite a lovely day. The part two miracle didn’t happen as early as I thought it might, in fact it didn’t happen until the very end of the day. I didn’t quite get eight hours of sleep and I didn’t quite care. I got up, had some telephonic conversations, answered e-mails, did some work on the computer, then went and had a quick turkey sandwich and no fries or onion rings. Then I picked up one little package and came home.
I then watched the first half of the new Blu-ray transfer of My Fair Lady. I’d seen the work in progress about a year ago so I knew it was going to look splendidly splendid and indeed it does. Now, I saw My Fair Lady when it came out, at the Egyptian Theater in 70mm. I did not love it back then, which was unusual. I think there were several reasons that kept me from loving it, the main one being that I thought the direction by Mr. George Cukor was leaden, especially during the poorly staged musical numbers. And I wasn’t crazy about Miss Audrey Hepburn’s cockney flower girl, although I liked her from the Ascot scene on. I did love Mr. Rex Harrison and the entire supporting cast, but it just wasn’t as good as West Side Story or The Music Man, at least for me, in terms of being a movie. I went back a couple of times and also saw it in its general release but my opinion never changed. Then, over the years, I’ve seen it again a few times and my opinion still remained the same. And after viewing the first half of this loverly new Blu-ray, my opinion is still the same. Mr. Cukor was a fine director and, for me, My Fair Lady isn’t Cukor at the top of his game. He seems to have no feel for things musical, not in the shooting and certainly not the cutting. If you just compare it to West Side Story or the following year’s The Sound of Music, both directed by Robert Wise, who really understood movement and music and cutting, well, it doesn’t come up well in that comparison. I’ll finish the second half at some point today and go into further detail about the transfer and sound.
Then I had a surprise visit with our very own Mr. Nick Redman, so I have a bunch of new Twilight Time discs to watch and I can’t wait to dive into them. After that, it was time to get ready for the early evening event at Barnes & Noble. I did get another DGA screener, an odd one, too – Furious Seven – I’m surprised that the seventh film in a franchise is high on a studio’s list of something that could get a Best Director nomination, but I’ll give it a look-see and see what I think. Then I moseyed on over to the Bank of Bur for the event, bringing with me a few books.
The event was hosted by TV expert Herbie J. Pilato, and was kind of a Bewitched-themed evening. Guests were Chris York (the son of Dick York), the fellow who played little Adam on Bewitched, me (who played older Adam), the curator of some TV museum, and a magician named Pop Hayden. Herbie interviewed each of us. I had a really good time yakking and he asked good questions. But the hit of the evening was Pop Hayden, the one guy who had no tie to Bewitched. He did about ten minutes of close-up magic – card tricks that were just amazing. And he’s very funny. The museum guy brought a surprise – the original Agnes Moorehead Endora outfit. It got started about forty minutes late and lasted two hours – those of us who brought books, sold a few and signed them.
After it was over, I went and had another sandwich, this one a chicken salad and bacon sandwich. Then I came home, the editor stopped by with the finished video, which I now have on my computer, and that was that.
Today, I have to be in Beverly Hills at eleven to bring something to someone, then I’m coming right home, hopefully will pick up some packages, and then I’ll do some work on the computer before joining the Staitmans in their motor car for a long drive to sup at the Dal-Rae steakhouse. I’m going to try and be a good boy there – maybe a shrimp cocktail and if they have some kind of filet mignon in a Bernaise sauce, that’s what I’ll have.
Tomorrow is Halloween and I’ll be relaxing until the kiddies arrive and that’s how I’ll be spending my Saturday evening. I’m assuming it may go a bit later than usual since there’s no school the next day. Tomorrow I’m seeing Doug Haverty in a play and then we’re going to dinner. Next week is very busy.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, bring something to the Hills of Beverly, hopefully pick up packages, relax, and then attend a birthday dinner. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your Blu and Ray player? I’ll start – CD, Vaughan Williams and more Vaughan Williams. Blu and Ray, next up will be Black Widow from Twilight Time. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, after which I shall try to say something worthy of some more Jewish groaning.