Well, dear readers, once upon a time there was a little year I like to call 1960, a year in which I was twelve years of age (I turned thirteen in December of that year). Last night I watched a motion picture that was made in 1960, although it didn’t get to the US until 1962. It was and is a French film from France, entitled Les Yeux Sans Visage (Eyes Without a Face). The US release was cut down by six minutes and retitled The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus – amusing, as there is no character named Faustus. It played on a double bill with The Manster.
I’ve written about the film many times, so I shan’t spend much time other than to say it’s a masterpiece, a poetic horror film like no other, with a performance of brilliance by Edith Scob, who spends most of her time with a mask covering her face and emoting with her eyes. It was a shocker then and it’s a shocker now, with two sequences that are incredibly graphic even today. Beautifully directed by Georges Franju, with a unique score by Maurice Jarre. This is a new 4K transfer – obviously, I only viewed the Blu-ray. I have to pull out the Criterion Blu-ray from a decade or more ago – my memory is that was excellent – I’ll need to compare to see how much better this new transfer is. It certainly looks great. But to the point – the year 1960. There were four horror films released that year, each of which was amazing and each of which pushed the boundaries of horror in ways that hadn’t been done. One was Eyes Without a Face. The other three were Mario Bava’s Black Sunday, Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom, and, of course, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. The only one of the four I actually saw back then was Psycho, on its opening day first showing. Black Sunday I didn’t see until the mid-1980s, and it bowled me over. Peeping Tom I finally saw also in the mid-1980s and I was expecting some kind of sleaze fest based on the horrid reviews it got, but it, too, was, for me, a masterpiece. I think I also discovered Eyes Without a Face in the 1980s – probably on laserdisc. Interestingly, Peeping Tom and Eyes Without a Face played at the same exact time in England and both received scathing reviews, with one exception – one critic wrote really favorable reviews of both films – a voice in the wilderness. Peeping Tom was a disaster and ended the career of Michael Powell. It didn’t play the US until 1962. Black Sunday had many alterations made by AIP, but it was their highest grossing film up to that time. The big success was Psycho. Hitchcock funded the film himself and reaped the rewards and boy were there rewards to reap.
Even Psycho received some poor reviews back then, with Bosley Crowther’s being especially nasty – he changed his tune a few years later. But today, all four are considered bona fide classics. Quite a year for horror.
Otherwise, yesterday was fine. I got over eight hours of sleep, prepped the one number I have to fully stage that has movement – the other numbers I have to do don’t have much staging at all – then I made Wacky Noodles for food, and it was a very good batch – natch. I decided I didn’t need to go out. I had several telephonic calls and that was pretty much it.
Today, I’ll be up by eleven, I’ll review what I prepped and hope I can decipher it, I’ll shave and shower, and then I’ll mosey on over to the theater for our two o’clock to six o’clock rehearsal. At four, I’ll be joined by our choreographer, and she’ll finesse what I’ve done and then do Wild and Reckless. I’m hoping we get all their numbers done. After that, I’ll get something to eat, either at a restaurant or bringing something home – the world is my oyster in the regard. Or is the oyster my world? Then I can watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow is a ME day – total relaxing and no work. Monday morning, I take the motor car in to get the two minor things fixed, and then we’re back in rehearsal Tuesday night.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by eleven, review, shave and shower, have a four-hour rehearsal, eat, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What films did you see that were game changers or that really pushed the envelope? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, where I shall dream of the year 1960.