Well, dear readers, I slept a whopping twelve hours, which I guess I needed to do. I woke up twice – the first time I thought I was a goner and that I’d have to run to the bathroom to throw up, but I toughed it out, found the most comfortable position I could, relaxed, and got over it and fell back asleep. And I got up once for a loo break. Once up, I was, needless to say, groggy and had a headache, and certainly the nausea, while not as pronounced, was still with me. I answered e-mails, did some work on the computer, knew there was no way we’d be able to announce tomorrow (probably Tuesday), proofed the packaging, and had a couple of telephonic calls.
At four-thirty, I went and had lunch with a teen and her mom, just to give some advice. We all had a very nice chat about stuff and I hope I was helpful in some way. Our waitress, who’s one of my favorites, recommended I have a turkey on rye, dry, when I told her I was still a bit nauseous. That turned out to be a good choice and it went down okay, and I had a little bit of white rice on the side. The teen had nachos with ground beef – I’ve looked at them from afar before, but up close and personal, they really looked good and she loved them, so when I’m completely over this I’ll go and try them. The mom had a bowl of chili, which she really liked. After that I came home and sat on my couch like so much fish.
Yesterday, I watched two motion pictures on Blu and Ray, both recent Twilight Time releases. The first motion picture was entitled Alexander the Great, a film about Alexander the Great, written and directed by Robert Rossen, the director of All the King’s Men and The Hustler among others. I happen to enjoy the genre and this is a very handsome production of a completely weird movie that’s almost hallucinogenic in its weirdness. It’s momentum is herky-jerky, scenes begin then suddenly dissolve to new scenes while you can still see characters talking, like a Cliff’s Notes of a movie, but still running 136 minutes. Despite that, it’s enjoyable if you like those kinds of movies. It’s kind of worth it just for Richard Burton in a blonde pageboy hairdo. But you also have Fredric March, Danielle Darrieux, Peter Cushing, Harry Andrews, Claire Bloom, Stanley Baker and other good actors all looking like they’re not quite sure what movie they’re in. But that’s part of the charm. The scope/color photography is great, as are the sets and costumes and music. And this is one of the better MGM/UA transfers, in fact, one of the best – perfect color, good detail (save for the opticals, of course) and it’s in stereo.
I then watched In the French Style, starring Jean Seberg and shot in Paris. I’m surprised I never saw this back in the day, since I was very much into anything French, thanks to my love of Sundays and Cybele and That Man from Rio. I think it’s probably because it played the Beverly Hills Music Hall – even though that theater was surrounded by movie theaters I went to all the time, I don’t think I EVER went there until the late 1970s – don’t really know why. Being a huge Jean Seberg fan I figured I’d love the movie and I did – it’s no masterpiece, but it’s the kind of film they can’t and don’t make anymore – no real plot, paced nice and evenly, and just a little character study based on two Irwin Shaw short stories. It’s beautifully photographed in black-and-white and has a nice, old-fashioned French musical score by Joseph Kosma. The director is Robert Parrish, who often seems to be confused with Robert Rossen by people who review on the imdb. They both had strange careers, they both made movies with Jean Seberg within two years of each other (Rossen made Lilith), the both made movies with Stanley Baker (Rossen with Alexander the Great, Parrish with this film), but more interestingly Parrish edited Rosson’s Body and Soul and All the King’s Men. It’s like A Tale of Two Roberts. Anyway, the transfer is luscious and it’s highly recommended by the likes of me.
After that, I just relaxed and while the nausea is not as bad, it’s still hovering.
Today, I’ll hopefully get the new packaging off for approval, I’ll prep the new release announcement, and hopefully we will have found our final cast member – if not, it’s going to be Guy Haines, because I’m now actively bored of trying to find male performers in LA who I a) like, and b) who are ever available. Talk about nauseating. Then I’m picking up Lanny Meyers and we’ll have a quick bite to eat, then mosey on over to LACC for our first choreography rehearsal – we’ll start with the big Hullabaloo number, which Lanny will write the dance music for – looking forward to seeing what Cheryl Baxter has come up with. It will be fun just to sit and watch for a change, but if anyone who’s not in the number has a solo, I think the MD and I will go work with them.
Tomorrow and the rest of the week is more of the same. We’ll announce our new title, more choreography rehearsals, plus rehearsing solos, and on Friday I really have to block anything that’s not blocked and I will have our full cast for at least four hours if not five.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, get the new packaging in for approval, prep the release announcement, find our final cast member and assign everyone their songs, pick up Lanny, eat, rehearse, then relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite films of Richard Burton and your favorite films set in France? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have related A Tale of Two Roberts.