Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much spirited fish, listening to the last of Alwyn’s symphony 3 (of 5) and it’s very exciting, this final movement. It is so exciting, in fact, that I got up and pranced around the room like a spirited warrior eating a Filet-O-Fish. And the good thing is I just happened to have ordered a late-night Filet-O-Fish treat – the spirited warrior part I had to put on my acting hat and frankly I’m not that good anymore so I looked more like an old Jewish person eating borscht. And speaking of borscht, I did watch two motion pictures last evening. I’ll start with the second, which was entitled The Rookie, starring Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen and Raul Julia and Sonia Braga, directed by Clint. I know I saw it when it came out but I remembered nothing about it nor did any of it seem familiar. Unusual for a Clint film, some of the actors were either not well cast or just plain bad. Plus it is filled with his trademark too dark photography, where you literally cannot see what’s going on. I like Clint but this is one of his not-so-hot movies – silly, bad dialogue, cutesy, and a performance from Raul Julia, who I really like, that was completely ludicrous – he plays a German gangster – complete with his usual Raul Julia thick accent which is anything BUT German and adding a few Zs to the lines – zis is the way zis will happen. That kind of thing and just ridiculous. A little repetitious and too long at two hours. But the first motion picture I watched was a classic even though it is much maligned by those who should know better. The motion picture was and is entitled The Spirit of St. Louis – hence, the spirit references above and below – starring James Stewart, a lot of fine character actors, a brilliant brief turn by a comely young lady, and a fly. I’ve always loved this movie. I’m sure I saw it at the Stadium Theater but it may have also been the Wiltern. I loved it back then and I love it still. Some consider it sub-par Billy Wilder, and think it was poorly reviewed – it was not poorly reviewed. It didn’t do well at the box-office, however. The generally perceived wisdom is that Stewart was way too old to play twenty-five-year-old Lindbergh and that is true – he was forty-eight at the time, but in the end, who cares? He’s great in it. Wilder wrote it with Charles Lederer and Wendall Mayes and it’s a terrific screenplay with a wonderful structure and is compelling throughout, even though much of it is just Stewart in the titular aeroplane.
I’m not sure there was ever a better screenwriter than Billy Wilder – unique, brilliant with dialogue and structure and even his handful of lesser films are watchable, save for Buddy, Buddy, which was a sad end to his illustrious career. No one, not even Neil Simon, set up a joke better than Wilder, and he also happened to be an equally superb director and The Spirit of St. Louis is superbly directed, Wilder’s first film in scope. My favorite scene in the film is classic Wilder and so perfect a moment that I got tears in my eyes because that kind of perfection is mostly non-existent in film today. Before he takes off on his epic world-changing flight, it’s decided they need a mirror in the plane so he can see something not visible otherwise. The one they have is too big and heavy so they ask the huge crowd watching if anyone has a small mirror. And this adorable young woman steps forward and pulls her compact out and removes its small mirror and says that she does. They bring her over to the plane and they install it (using some chewing gum) and she asks if she can sit in the plane – Stewart lets her and explains what things do what. Then he helps her out and he asks her if she’s from New York and she says no, she came from Philadelphia to watch this historic event. Amazed, Stewart says, “You came all the way from Philadelphia?” And she replies, “I had to. You needed my mirror.” If that’s not great writing, I don’t know what is. The actress, Patricia Smith is perfect in her performance and especially the delivery of those lines. Her entire role lasts less than five minutes, but she’s unforgettable. I had to look her up and what a long career she had – never achieved stardom, but was in tons of movies and TV all the way into the late 199Os. She passed away in 2011. Spirit was her first movie after five years of TV and she followed it with The Bachelor Party, in which she has a good role. Then for whatever reason, it was back to TV – she did classic TV shows – Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, Gunsmoke, Route 66, Dr. Kildare, Perry Mason, The Fugitive, and then played Jack Lemmon’s wife in Save the Tiger. I want to watch more of her.
Yesterday was quite a nice little day. I got eight hours of sleep, answered e-mails, made Wacky Noodles, which were excellent, had a wonderful miracle, did some Sami stuff, had a couple of telephonic conversations, did stuff that needed doing, and then watched the two motion pictures, after which I got spirited and had a Filet-O-Fish, whilst flitting about like a spirited warrior.
Today, I’ll be up by eleven, I’ll shave and shower, then I’ll have a brief casting session, I’ll eat a little something, then I’ll relax until it’s time to go out to See Me Valley to see a show. I’m sure I’ll come right home afterwards.
Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and a ME day, big mother that I am. Then next week is very busy with all manner of things.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by eleven, shave and shower, have a casting session, eat, see a show, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite films of Mr. Billy Wilder and Mr. Clint Eastwood? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have seen The Spirit of St. Louis again and to have gotten spirited away.