Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[DERBRUCER]

Well, Moss Hart wrote the libretto for LADY IN THE DARK, and he was married to Kitty Carlisle who co-starred in A NIGHT AT THE OPERA.

Well that was easy (Smart Ass!).

der Brucer (needs to work on harder test questions)

[Dan-in-Toronto]

Now then DRs - can you connect the LP (Lady in the Dark) with the DVD (Marx Brothers) in the requisite six degrees or less?

der Brucer

Adolph Green > Vera Ellen (On the Town) > Marx Brothers (Love Happy)

[DERBRUCER]

Cecil Adams dends out a weekly EMail newletter with stuff from his site: Straight Dope.

Here is a classic re-run of his:

Did John Wayne die of cancer caused by a radioactive movie set?
26-Oct-1984
 
Dear Cecil:
My girlfriend says that half of the film crew and eight of the cast of the movie The Conqueror starring John Wayne died of cancer after an A-bomb test in Nevada. It can't be the truth--that many people--can it? Please, Cecil, give us the Straight Dope. --John L., Santa Monica, California

Cecil replies:

I'm horrified to have to report this, John, but your girlfriend's claim is only slightly exaggerated. Of the 220 persons who worked on The Conqueror on location in Utah in 1955, 91 had contracted cancer as of the early 1980s and 46 died of it, including stars John Wayne, Susan Hayward, and Agnes Moorehead, and director Dick Powell. Experts say under ordinary circumstances only 30 people out of a group of that size should have gotten cancer. The cause? No one can say for sure, but many attribute the cancers to radioactive fallout from U.S. atom bomb tests in nearby Nevada. The whole ghastly story is told in The Hollywood Hall of Shame by Harry and Michael Medved. But let's start at the beginning.

The Conqueror, a putative love story involving Genghis Khan's lust for the beautiful princess Bortai (Hayward), was a classic Hollywood big budget fiasco, one of many financed by would-be movie mogul Howard Hughes. Originally director Powell wanted to get Marlon Brando for the lead, but John Wayne, then at the height of his popularity, happened to see the script one day and decided he and Genghis were meant for each other. Unfortunately, the script was written in a cornball style that was made even more ludicrous by the Duke's wooden line readings. In the following sample, Wayne/Genghis has just been urged by his sidekick Jamuga not to attack the caravan carrying Princess Bortai: "There are moments fer wisdom, Juh-mooga, then I listen to you--and there are moments fer action--then I listen to my blood. I feel this Tartar wuh-man is fer me, and my blood says, 'TAKE HER!'" In the words of one writer, it was the world's "most improbable piece of casting unless Mickey Rooney were to play Jesus in The King of Kings."

The movie was shot in the canyonlands around the Utah town of St. George. Filming was chaotic. The actors suffered in 120 degree heat, a black panther attempted to take a bite out of Susan Hayward, and a flash flood at one point just missed wiping out everybody. But the worst didn't become apparent until long afterward. In 1953, the military had tested 11 atomic bombs at Yucca Flats, Nevada, which resulted in immense clouds of fallout floating downwind. Much of the deadly dust funneled into Snow Canyon, Utah, where a lot of The Conqueror was shot. The actors and crew were exposed to the stuff for 13 weeks, no doubt inhaling a fair amount of it in the process, and Hughes later shipped 60 tons of hot dirt back to Hollywood to use on a set for retakes, thus making things even worse.

Many people involved in the production knew about the radiation (there's a picture of Wayne himself operating a Geiger counter during the filming), but no one took the threat seriously at the time. Thirty years later, however, half the residents of St. George had contracted cancer, and veterans of the production began to realize they were in trouble. Actor Pedro Armendariz developed cancer of the kidney only four years after the movie was completed, and later shot himself when he learned his condition was terminal.

Howard Hughes was said to have felt "guilty as hell" about the whole affair, although as far as I can tell it never occurred to anyone to sue him. For various reasons he withdrew The Conqueror from circulation, and for years thereafter the only person who saw it was Hughes himself, who screened it night after night during his paranoid last years.

--CECIL ADAMS

Seems like the Conquerer is another one of those "What were they thinking" moments.

Now, here is a film that might deserve re-making - I feel a Pogue story in the works!

der Brucer

[Panni]

Good morning.
CD - Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (Dawn Upshaw) - courtesy of DR Elmore.
Nothing other than that. Me writing.

[Ron Pulliam]

I love Cecil Adams' columns.

And for one of those "degrees of separation" moments, one of his sisters-in-law works in my agency.

[Dan-in-Toronto]

DR Panni,

Earlier today I was listening to:

Dawn Upshaw's beautiful (especially the title song) I Wish It So.


(Nothing playing at the moment. Reading material? A friend just lent me The Bar Mitzvah Murder. I hope to get into it this weekend. The cover art shows a knife buried in a chalah plus a kiddish cup dripping blood that's shaped like a skull. Subtle.)

[Stuart]

A friend just lent me The Bar Mitzvah Murder. I hope to get into it this weekend. The cover art shows a knife buried in a chalah plus a kiddish cup dripping blood that's shaped like a skull.

The mohel did it.

[DERBRUCER]

THE PANNI CHALLENGE!

The AP reports, in part:

NEW YORK (July 16) - Martha Stewart was sentenced Friday to five months in prison for a stock-trading scandal, moving one step closer to a drastically different lifestyle behind bars for the millionaire entrepreneur.

''I'll be back,'' she promised afterward, speaking in a strong voice on the courthouse steps.

 ''I'm not afraid. Not afraid whatsoever. I'm very sorry it had to come to this.''
…

In the courtroom, her voice was shaky as she appealed for a reduced sentence, asking the judge to ''remember all the good I have done.''
…
Earlier, Stewart, 62, dressed simply in a black pantsuit, showed no emotion as she strode briskly through a media horde. Supporters applauded and one shouted, ''Hold your head high, Martha!''

So...a Lifetime Movie...a Broadway Show...a Moore-like expose...what will it be?

"I'll be back"
"I'm not afraid"
"Hold your head up high"

Why the dialog writes itself!

der Brucer (waiving his customery agency fee)

[Jennifer]

Re: Martha Stewart

So how many months will she actually have to serve? (can she get out earlier than the 5 months?)

[DERBRUCER]

The mohel did it.

Blabber mouth....you Yente Telebenda, you!

And now a DR Elan moment:

From Looking Back:

FEBRUARY 28, 2003

75 YEARS AGO
 
• There is an organization in Palestine called the Legion for the Protection of the Language. The language, in this case, happens to be Hebrew. This Legion refuses to permit Yiddish newspapers or theater, not to mention the use of Yiddish in schools. The government refuses to do anything about it and acts like it's none of their business. Officially, a Yiddish newspaper is allowed. But the Legion has threatened all the printers with violence if they put one out. Recently, however, Tel Avivians came across big posters announcing a production in Yiddish of the play "Yenta Telebenda." People wondered if it would really be in Yiddish. The show sold out in one day, and the only way to get a ticket was through scalpers, who were selling them at twice their face value. The Legion was furious, and rumors spread that they had prepared stink bombs to throw into the theater if they heard Yiddish being performed. Others said they were packing heat. When the curtain rose, the young director announced that this version of "Yenta Telebenda" would be performed in the "language of our fathers, of the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, and of our great poet Chaim Nachman Bialik." Sure enough, Yenta Telebenda came out singing and cursing in Hebrew. The Legion was happy, the audience furious.

der Brucer

[Dan-in-Toronto]

Old Jewish joke:

If they call it [the Hebrew-language newspaper] "The Forward," why do you read it backwards?


(I think there's now an English-language edition. This joke is from before my time. Depressing thought: Actually, I think it's from my time.)

[Ben]

Not much to report media-wise. Two's Company wasn't on this week, instead Channel 21 decided to broadcast one of the hour-long (45 minutes actually) Christmas episodes of Waiting for God and then it looks like next week, instead of Waiting for God they will begin airing To the Manor Born (not bad, but they hadn't finished with Waiting for God episodes). Two's Company will air in it's original time-slot next week. I taped Jeopardy last night and when Ant came home from dance class we watched it.

We listened to the new Wonderful Town (Donna Murphy). A friend lent it to us so we could burn a copy (shhhh, don't tell anyone). We also have Hello, Love, the Mary Rodgers (via BK) CD. Anthony is making a compilation CD of many of his favorite classical pieces so we have classical music floating through the apartment.

Apartment redecorating continues apace. We now have new shelves above the refrigerator, after a minor crisis. Anthony was using the power screwdriver with the changeable bits and AFTER he took down the netting he put up to catch any possible dropped screws or nails, he dropped the screwdriver bit behind the refrigerator. When I came home we moved the fridge and the stove and retrieved the bit. It was good that we did because it was a dusty mess back there and we got to clean it out. Now the shelves are up and deftly hidden behind new sand colored curtains. As I was leaving to come back to the office from lunch this afternoon, Mr. Anthony had that look in his eye so who knows what I shall find on my return.

[Panni]

Dan-in-TO - I'm sure you've read it, but one of my favorite books of its kind is BINTEL BRIEF. The book contains a selection of sixty years of letters to the Daily Forward -- and each one is like a wonderful short story, some hilarious, some tragic, some both at the same time.

[William E. Lurie]

If Martha starts serving her five months now, she'll be out just in time to do her annual Christmas Special.

[bk]

I slept till ten, a real rarity, but I needed it (even though I was up at five and seven briefly).  I got hooked on Catching the Friedmans so didn't get to bed until a bit after one.  Looking forward to the bonus materials which has new revelations and interviews.

[Jay]

...Mr. Anthony had that look in his eye so who knows what I shall find on my return.

Will he be wrapped in Saran Wrap?

Will he be wearing his toolbelt and only his toolbelt?

My advice to you, Dear Reader Ben, is to pick up some flowers on the way home.  And take videos!

[bk]

Has anyone else seen Capturing the Friedmans?  If so, what did you think?  I'll have my full thoughts in tomorrow's notes, but I was quite taken with the film itself.

[Jennifer]

Well I am freaking out right now.  I spent more than an hour typing something out for a friend.  I sent it. And when I went to my saved mail folder the message was not there.  And I had erased the previous versions of it.

The email did not arrive.

So there are two possibilities.  One is that the message is so huge that it is taking a while to arrive.  And I must have erased my version in my sent mail folder by mistake.

Or two, i never sent it, and erased all copies of it that I had.

My body got so overcome by emotions I started crying.

[Ben]

Haven't seen the Friedman film yet. I will try to pick it up and watch sometime soon. I've heard good things about.

[Ron Pulliam]

Jennifer: Check your "Outbox" and see if it's in a holding status.

Also check under "Drafts" -- sometimes files end up there, too.

[Ben]

DR Jay, I'll have to settle for still pictures from the digital camera. The very old video camera (from 1985 I think, it weighs a ton and uses a battery the size of a small child) is out on the Isle of Long. ;-)

[Jennifer]

Jennifer: Check your "Outbox" and see if it's in a holding status.

Also check under "Drafts" -- sometimes files end up there, too.

My email is text only and it's quite different from most people's emails.

I have no "drafts" or "outbox".

I have my inbox and my sent mail folder.

I sent the message numerous times to myself as I was copying what i was typing.  I know those went thru, cause I saw them.

I am pretty sure I sent the message. But I was planning on only keeping the one message from my sent mail folder (the one i sent to my friend).

So I deleted all the other messages I had sent myself.

I'm thinking I probably accidently deleted his sent mail. But since i never actually saw it. And since the email hasn't arrived, I'm freaking out.

But he has hotmail. So sometimes it takes a while for certain messages.  I just wish I knew for sure that it would get there.

I emailed my tech guy, who usually can solve such things (I want to know if i can retrieve the message).

But to make things worse, I'm pretty sure he'll probably say HE needs to do it.  And this is a private message that I wouldn't want him to see.

Anyhow it's my own stupidity for erasing the other copies.  I'm just hoping this has a happy ending.

[Jay]

Has anyone else seen Capturing the Friedmans?  If so, what did you think?  I'll have my full thoughts in tomorrow's notes, but I was quite taken with the film itself.

I did.  Beyond the questions about the evidence that the film raises, the predominant reaction I had to the film was wonderment at why the hell those people (the Friedmans) would be willing to expose themselves like that.  Do people no longer value their privacy?  Is the fifteen minutes of fame really worth all that?

Since seeing the film, I have read that the filmmaker was very selective in what was and was not included.  Like Farenheit 9/11, because it is a documentary does not mean it is necessarily objective.

[Jennifer]

Oh and DR RLP, thanks very much for trying to help. I appreciate it.

[Jay]

Haven't seen the Friedman film yet. I will try to pick it up and watch sometime soon. I've heard good things about.

Given Dear Ant's line of work, I do believe you would have special interest in this film.  In fact, it began not as an investigation into a child molestation case, but rather as a profile of Manhattan's (supposedly) most successful children's party clown.

[Elan]

Brucer: thanks for the story! I've unfortunately only seen one play in Yiddish in my life (and I needed the simultaneous translation... unfortunately, my knowledge of mamaloshen is extremely meager).

While it invokes chuckles now, the question of determining the official language of Jews in Palestine (and the fledgling state of Israel) was not at all a trivial one. Hebrew was not used as a day-to-day spoken language for centuries prior to the mid-1800s, and it is not difficult to imagine that Israel might have been a Yiddish or German-speaking country.

[Jane]

Dan-in-Toronto I just read the story of Truffles, Banjo and Gord-ROTFLOL.

Fourteen years ago Keith was out of town I rescued Bogie and his sister Bacall from the Vets.  Considering we already had two cats and a dog I didn’t mention this until he returned home.  Then I tried to get the kids to only tell him we had one new kitten.  I thought I would wait and see how long it took him to figure it out.  But of course the boys each walked up to him holding a kitten.

Td what is the story behind the very nice photos? And where is Minx?

In keeping with yesterday’s discussion, last night our friends has recently seen MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING and said we shouldn’t miss it.  We went to a winery that had a special evening of wine, cheese and Jazz.  The wine wasn’t very good and we still aren’t sure we were listening to Jazz.

[Jrand73]

Oh...yes I loved the doggie story as well, DiT.

CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS....well I watched it this week on HBO.  It is a very disturbing film (?).  I ended up with very mixed feelings about the whole thing.  I am interested to read MR BK's views...and the views of the other DR's here at HHW.  I don't want to see it again.

It is like another "documentary" I saw called THEY SHOOT MOVIES DON'T THEY....

[Jrand73]

I have THE CONQUEROR on DVD - bought online in an official release for about $7.

Actually the action scenes are pretty good - but the acting....whew!  There is some great dialog, though, unlike anything else I have ever heard....one of my favorite lines being John Wayne's estimation of Susan Hayward:  "After her, all other women are like the second pressing of the grape!"

[Jane]

JRand congratulations on your big applause.  Very nice.

DerBrucer, hmmm, if I remember correctly you couldn’t find homes for the “blonds” or would have.

Jennifer, I do hope the email is just taking its time.  Good luck and GOOD VIBES.