Well, dear readers, I had so much fun in yesterday’s notes, telling you what you could have seen in November of 1963, I thought I’d arbitrarily choose another month and year. So, let’s look at the week of February 11, 1961, using the L.A. Times Calendar section for all events happening all over town. Here are my personal highlights – things I saw and things I wished I’d seen. Movie-wise, King of Kings was playing at the Egyptian in its 70mm roadshow engagement – I saw it four times during that engagement. West Side Story was over at the Chinese, in its third month, and at that time I was seeing it every Saturday matinee at two. Splendor in the Grass was in its second week wide – I wouldn’t see it until the 1980s. Light in the Piazza was in its exclusive engagement at the Beverly Theater. I still haven’t seen it. One, Two, Three was at the Paramount, but I wouldn’t see it for months, when it finally played at the Picfair, one of my neighborhood theaters. A Majority of One was at the Village, which is where I saw it. The magnificent Carthay Circle was playing El Cid, which is where I saw it. Opening Wednesday at the Fine Arts would be A View from the Bridge, which is where I saw it, Walk on the Wild Side was opening on Wednesday, too, but I wouldn’t see it for many years. Flower Drum Song was at the Warner Hollywood in its eighth week. I saw it there many times. Discount Record Center at Wilshire and La Cienega, where I would buy many albums, was having a 40% off sale for all Columbia Records. That may have been when I bought and discovered Dave Brubeck’s ballet Points on Jazz as played by Gold and Fizdale. Over at Benjamin Kritzer’s favorite record store, Chesterfield in Beverly Hills, they were having a 50% off sale on all RCA opera sets. I would have bought none. Under the Yum Yum Tree was in its sixth month at the Las Palmas, starring Robert Vaughn and Richard Erdman. Richard Long, who’d opened it had moved on, and it would soon move over to the Ivar with Erdman and Bill Bixby, which is where I saw it. It ran for over three years, not bad for a huge Broadway flop.
I would see my very first play, The Tenth Man, at the Huntington Hartford Theater, a life-changing experience. June Wilkinson was mesmerizing the males in Pajama Tops at the Legrand Theater. You could catch Elsa Lanchester’s one woman show over at the Ivar, you could order tickets for Broadway’s newest smash, Subways are for Sleeping, top ticket price $9.40 on the weekend nights. On the best seller list was The Agony and the Ecstasy, Franny and Zooey, Star in the Wind, Prologue to Love, Daughter of Silence, The Ivy Tree, The Florentine Ring, and something called To Kill a Mockingbird. I read two of ‘em. Over at Pepperdine College, the music department chose their best film score of the year and I’m happy to say it’s on Kritzerland – Elmer Bernstein’s Summer and Smoke. Runners-up were El Cid, One-Eyed Jacks (also on Kritzerland), The Guns of Navarone, and Fanny. Lena Horne was at the Coconut Grove. Not a bad selection.
Yesterday was a fun day. I got seven hours of sleep, got up, shaved and showered, answered e-mails, and then moseyed on over to the Smokehouse for a lunch with La Femme Pogue, who promises to return to this here site, and her delightful niece. I had my shrimp cocktail, cup of clam chowder, and wedge salad, and we shared the garlic cheese bread. Two hours later, after much fun reminiscing and laughs, I headed home, stopping first at the mail place to pick up one piece of junk mail. I came home and immediately futzed and finessed. Then I wrote about six new pages, took a break, dozed off for a few minutes, started watching a lame new movie whose name I can’t remember – oh yeah, Role Play, made a hot dog for a snack, wrote eight more new pages and I’ll do one more before bed, and here we are.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll futz and finesse, I’ll write new pages, I may make some pasta for food, I’ll write more new pages, and then I can watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow is more of the same and so is Sunday. I’ll definitely be crossing page 200 by Sunday. I don’t really know how many manuscript pages this will be, but I’d imagine maybe 300.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up when I’m up, do whatever needs doing, futz and finesse, write new pages, eat, write more new pages, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/Blu and Ray/streaming player? I’ll start – CD, the new Franz Schrecker compilation. Streaming, the new episode of Reacher. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have taken the haineshisway.com Time Machine back to February of 1962.