Book review - "Maureen O'Hara: 'Tis Herself"

Reading Maureen O'Hara's autobiography, one gets the impression the actor was very much as she appeared on screen: beautiful, imperious, cool - but with a flashing temper that often resulted to violence on her behalf, very Irish... but for all that not terribly shrewd and susceptible to being conned.

She was raised in a very strict, loving religious environment that prepared her well for dreams, hard work and acting, but little for matters of the heart. How else to explain how she was suckered into two marriages - one a person she barely knew just before leaving overseas (it wasn't consummated), the other to a man she didn't love.

In both cases the men simply persisted. I wasn't inclined to believe this at first but then reconsidered - I knew an Irish girl once very like her, a strict upbringing and imperious nature that fended off suitors... but if people were persistent and confident she did what they told her to do. Thing is, the people who were persistent enough were usually pricks - as in O'Hara's case.

O'Hara isn't a likeable character at times - she often has a stick up her backside, gets on her high horse, and seems to find conspiracy theories under every bush (someone wanted to kidnap her when she returned to Ireland, she blames John Ford for robbing her of an Oscar nomination for the Quiet Man and for missing out on a role in Friendly Persuasion, claims her third husband was assassinated, says the camera man of the Battle of the Villa Filora deliberately filmed her unflatteringly because she made a crack about the English soccer team, says there was a conspiracy in Hollywood to deny her an Oscar around the time of Only the Lonely). She attacks what she claims have been inaccurate stories about John Ford and the making of The Quiet Man.

Ford fans will find the book especially interesting (or distressing): O'Hara says the director was an erratic bully (which sounds believable) who was capable of kindness and charm (also believable) who grew progressively more cruel (still buy it), who hit her once in the face (yeah I buy that), who wrote her weird love letters (she quotes them and it makes sense esp as one realises Ford probably fell in love with O'Hara as her Quiet Man character around this time)... and that he drew pictures of penises and she caught him kissing a famous Hollywood leading man (Tyrone Power? Rock Hudson? Jeffrey Hunter?). Was John Ford a closet gay? You know, it would explain a lot.

She was groped by Errol Flynn (but later was charmed by him when they made a film together), John Farrow and George Montgomery. John Payne, John Wayne and Natalie Wood were sweeties; so was Jeff Chandler though apparently acting with him was like "acting with a broomstick".

Australian readers will be interested on the account of O'Hara making Kangaroo here. She says she loved the original script but Lewis Milestone rewrote it. She also says Peter Lawford and Richard Boone were busted by the press in a brothel but O'Hara smooth talked them out of running the story. She says she liked Australians but didn't like the filming experience here.

I never thought of Maureen O'Hara's career having turning points and ups and downs - it all seemed like one long Technicolour wash. But this shows that she did - signed by Charles Laughton who got her career off to a one-two punch with Jamaica Inn and Hunchback of Notre Dame. She was a star, but stumbled in Bill of Divorcement (O'Hara complains she didn't receive roles worthy of her due - she was a competent, spirited actor, a genuine star, but I don't think the world missed out by not seeing her as Medea; she played indignant ladies too often). Dance Girl Dance is now beloved by feminist film fans but at the time was something of a squib. However she went into How Green Was My Valley which prompted a long association with John Ford.

In the 1940s she specialised in beautiful heroines, especially effective in Technicolor. She changed her image slightly with At Swords Point - it was a swashbuckler, she'd made them before, but here she was an active fighter, she participated in the action. She thus prolonged her career playing a series of spitfires: Against All Flags, The Quiet Man. She also revived her career with a comic turn in The Parent Trap. This kept her going through the 60s but she thrived in film retirement living in the Virgin Islands. Grand read from a screen legend and apparent nutter.

Book review - "The Nicole Kidman Story" by James L Dickerson

A slapdash cut and paste bio for the most part, filled with slackness (the author doesn't comment on films like Wills and Burke and the Bit Part because he couldn't get the VHS - you're a biographer, sunshine), only a few interviews, some irritating seeming typos (was Ron Howard in a slump after Parenthood and Backdraft?) and sweeping comments about its lead.

It is worth reading for one section - or rather, there is one section worth reading: an interview with the model who got to hump Nickers for the fantasy sequence in Eyes Wide Shut. This interview goes on for about four pages and it is riveting - he was picked for the film without knowing what it was about and spent six days naked with Nickers while Stanley Kubrick overlooked the whole thing, directing them into various positions; Nickers was generally game but even she called a halt every now and then (she even more a protective thing over her vagina so the bloke could go down on her). This section is weird, kinky and slightly erotic - it would make a great short film. I know Kubrick was a genius but he was also a dirty perve. The rest of the book is crap.

Movie review - "Nacho Libre" (2006) **1/2

On one hand its admirable the director of Napoleon Dynamite didn't sell out with his follow up. Despite a high concept sounding idea (Jack Black as a Mexican wrestler), the film goes along its quirky style, confounding expectations (a romantic interest that's unconventional, his wrestler loses most of his games, the final scene), a quirky (sorry I can't think of a better word) sense of humour. It is not American at all - although Black plays an Anglo he's a totally Mexican-ised one, complete with accent, and there are no other American characters or actors. Mexico looks authentically ugly and repressive. I enjoyed the fights, particularly the ones with the two midgets, the weird training montage, and also the fat orphan (how directors love to cast fat kids but I guess it works). I have to admit I would have liked it had it been a bit more Hollywood.

Movie review - "The Devil Wears Prada" (2006) ***1/2

One of a series of bright, reasonably budgeted movies released in 2006 that made film fans rejoice that maybe Hollywood hadn't lost the knack of producing solid, entertaining fare. Anne Hathaway is very likeable in a role that Lindsay Lohan must be gnashing her teeth over missing - a journo student who works for a bitch from hell.
The latter role is also one of the best roles for a 50 plus female actor in Hollywood in recent years and Meryl Streep makes the most of it: stylish, a bitch, but cool, never Joan Crawford, never losing her humanity, obviously very good at her job (she has a marvellous monologue about one of Hathaway's daggy sweaters, some excellent writing there) but never losing the fact that she isn't a very nice person.
Stanley Tucci also brings freshness to what could have been a stock role, the gay designer, although I found Adam Greiner a little irritating.
Watching the film in a cinema was a little odd because they would make a joke about fashion every now and then and only women would laugh - i'ts not often I feel out of the loop in a Hollywood film. You can still enjoy it.
The film has fashion porn up to its eyeballs with some terrific montages. Incidentally, I didn't think that Hathaway's "betrayal" of her co worker Emily (played by Emily Blunt, a real find) was the same as Streep's betrayal of Tucci - Tucci is a nice person, a friend, and it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, whereas Emily is a bitch who his horrible to Hathaway and it is an annual thing she misses out on.

Movie review - "Wildcats" (1985) **

Some 80s high concept comedy: Goldie Hawn coaches an inner city high school football team (that's urban slum inner city not yuppie inner city). It might have been funnier (if less believable) if Goldie was more of a Private Benjamin type but she's an entirely competent coach, just a female one. 

This follows the sports movies template - intial disbelief, then acceptance, then struggle, recruit a star player, start to win, scary threat before climax, final victory. I love this template and those cliches. I just wish there was a joke or two (maybe a love interest for Goldie), although it passes the time pleasantly enough. 

James Keach is in good form as the ex - although why is it so horrible for him to want his girls to attend a private girls Catholic school? (They don't paint it as an evil place just a bit stuffy). One of the pleasures of watching sports films some time on is seeing if any of the cast went on to have futures - in this case there are two, Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes (who has a funny moment trying to seduce a middle aged black female judge), although the biggest support role goes to the Refridgerator Perry.

Marie Antoinette

The upcoming Sofia Coppola film has prompted this New Yorker piece on Marie Antoinette. My own thoughts (on the queen, I haven't seen the film): she wasn't as bad as what they said but her insensitivity and selfishness (which she shared with all royals) meant she deserved to have her head chopped off. The thing is she and Louis XVI would have made perfect powerless constitutional monarchs: Marie all into fashion and being silly, Louis into hunting and clocks. The media and public would have loved them in those roles. It was just when they were expected to actually do something...

Book review - "Swifty: Life and Times of Swifty Lazaar"

One of those memoirs that were written up to the subject's death and completed by another writer, so it has a very up to date quality. Lazar was a legendary agent who always pops up in biographies and memoirs of people like Michael Caine and Betty Bacall. He hit his stride in the Golden Age of agenting after WW2 up until the 1970s, where he mostly worked representing writers (from the 70s onwards he concentrated on representing writers of autobiographies); he was also famous for his party on Oscar night.

His book is delightful - short, bright and to the point, like the man himself. He takes us through what was evidently an energetic life: poor childhood, college, working as a lawyer during the depression, becoming an agent for MCA (involved with many mobsters - including watching an assassination), moving to LA and becoming an agent, war service, launching a new career by befriending Moss Hart, becoming a super agent of authors.

Lazar is upfront about how he positioned himself - dressing well, aping style (he was short, bald and very short sighted but it didn't stop him), emphasizing his colourful past to give him an edge, being good company, being very fast and aggressive, sometimes unscrupulous (he often lie and could stick in the knife - such as telling the customer of a rival agent who represented the Nicholas brothers that there was a third Nicholas brother).

He was famous for not reading the books he sold and asking large prices. Part of him seems a bit defiant about this - knowing for all he did for his clients he did drive up prices and not really make the entertainment world a better place, just his clients a lot richer. And he never moved into production like a Lew Wasserman or a Charles Feldman. But he was obviously good company and made a lot of people a lot of money and genuinely loved being an agent.

His life offers useful advice - be self starting (Lazar initiated many deals himself, often acted for people who had other agents), don't say no, be tenacious but once it's over it's over, have fun with what you do, go straight to the top when making a deal. The last chapter is written by Annette Tapert about Lazar's final days and is sad and touching as most of these chapters are - Lazar unexpectedly outlived his much younger wife and died soon after. Michael Korda who wrote the intro also profiled Lazar for the New Yorker.

Book review - "Edmund Goulding's Dark Victory" by Matthew Kennedy

Eddie Goulding was one of the top directors in Hollywood from the 20s to the 40s and made many classic films - yet from the 50s onwards languished in critical obscurity and only recently is making a comeback. I don't know exactly why Goulding was unknown in his lifetime - he wasn't a darling of the auteurists like Hitchcock and Hawks, he made women's pictures (but so did George Cukor - but then Cukor lived longer), he was mentioned often in Hollywood bios such as by David Niven (Goulding was famous for pitching stories and selling them to studios - then being unable to remember what the stories were). Part of the reason behind his recent comeback is, to be honest, his kinky sex life - Goulding was a bisexual fond of hosting orgies in his house (as he grew older he mostly watched). He was an alcoholic, but who wasn't back them. The sexual stuff gives him an edge as people re discover his films looking for kink.

This very good biography does a superb job of rehabilitating Goulding. Lucid, well researched, it makes convinving arguments of Goulding's skill, especially with actors and talky scenes (though he did direct the mostly male war film The Dawn Patrol). It doesn't deify Eddie - Kennedy gets stuck into him for being slack at times particularly towards the end of career. He also quotes an actress for whom Eddie went the grope. It seems Eddie was a bit of a genuine perv in private but also capable of great charm and kindness in public.

The thing that surprised me the most about Eddie's career was his success in other fields. I always thought Goulding was one of those directors at sea when it came to writing like Mitchell Leisen but he broke into movies as a writer, churning out scenarios (he thrived in the days of high output when studios would take anything), even writing the rural classic Tol'able David; even after he made it as a director he continued to provide stories, establishing a genre with the story for The Broadway Melody of 1928. He also wrote songs, some of which were hits, and he wrote plays and novels.

Goulding's personal life was so exotic part of me wished someone had earlier written a totally salacious bio on him first to counterbalance this, similiar to the disguised portraits of James Aubrey that used to turn up. Kennedy's sober, well researched style somehow seems to miss a little of the fun. It's still a very strong biography, however. Goulding may have received some rough treatment towards the end of his career (he may have been cold shouldered but he still kept on working - and the quality of his work did drop off), but he stayed a top director for over 20 years.

Book review - "Kate Remembered" by A Scott Berg

Berg is one of those imposingly excellent biographers who takes eight years to write a book and researchers them methodically, writes well and has best sellers. This bio is a little different because it is more of a personal memoir, though it does encapsulate Hepburn's career. Berg was a fan of the actor who became her friend - he seems to have been pleasant company and a good listener; also his writing of a book on Goldwyn meant Hepburn could find out about what her contemporaries were up to. Berg is keen to put Hepburn centre stage, so much so it means he is often a shadowy figure all the time. For instance, I couldn't help wondering where he had all this money and spare time for visits to an old movie star, even if she was a friend. (His books sold well I am guessing. He is also gay although he only mentions his life partner in passing) Berg no doubt figured that it was Hepburn the reader was interested in so kept himself aside - he was probably right, I just wish he'd brought himself forward a bit more.

That mentioned, the book is worth reading. Berg is a skillful writer and Hepburn a worthy topic. I particularly enjoyed her comments and observations about show biz: Howard Hughes, Spencer Tracy (Berg puts forward his own theories on the actor's alcoholism), Glenn Close (she doesn't like her - due to her feet! - maybe also because Close plays Hepburn-like parts), Harrison Ford (big fan - she liked manly men), Julia Roberts (thought she was the first genuine female star in ages - which she was), Melanie Griffith (she liked her but thought she was too lethargic to make it as a star - which when you think about it is a brilliantly astute observation), Larry Olivier (admired him but didn't like him - blamed him for forcing Vivien Leigh to do theatre instead of movies), Jeremy Irons, Michael Jackson (hilarious vignette of him visiting Kate and Tom Stoppard popping in).

The book isn't all looking back - Warren Beatty enlisted Berg to persuade Kate to do a cameo in Love Affair (an entertaining section of the book with Beatty coming off as a bit of a pompous idiot though also an intelligent man capable of great charm), and Berg chronicling Kate's last few years which she declined but never really went bonkers. It isn't all about Kate either - Irene Selznick becomes a major character; she was a big mate of Kate's, also of Berg's, but when Berg knew her there was a bit of a Selznick-Hepburn feud. (When you think about it Irene Selznick was a bit of a gay icon, too, what with being bitter about men and producing Tennessee Williams and Arthur Laurents). Illuminating and moving.

Movie review - "Annie Hall" (1977) *****

Still classic Woody Allen rom-com can almost make you weep at how he's declined - it really all came together for him with this film, which is so confident, funny, assured and imaginative. Watching it again I was struck how influential the film has been with its breaking of the fourth wall and observational humour. Woody is in tip top form and Diane Keaton is beautiful and charming. The amount of acting talent is stunning - Tony Roberts and Coleen Dewhurst were always good, but look at the newcomers: Jeff Goldblum, Shelley Hack, Chris Walken, etc. I once read the original script and it was fascinating how it had changed structurally (for instance there was a scene in Hell which Woody re used for Deconstructing Harry) but the basic material was all there. The film is fun to see again because you anticipate the classic bits - Woody taking on pompous critic in the movie line, Shelley Duvall at a rock concert, the visit to LA, Paul Simon dancing.

Book review - "Wonka Vision: The Making of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" by Mel Stuart

Like much of Generation X, I love Willy Wonka - far more than the recent Tim Burton version, which despite a strong cast and some dazzling design, made a series of errors: notably an addition of a zzz snore plot about Wonka's father, and removal of the plot about the man who tried to bribe the kids to steal the everlasting gobstopper. The original film's cult continues to grow, prompting this "making of" book from the director, a man who cut his teeth on documentaries before entering features and who never made a film this good again.

For fans of the movie the book is fascinating. Among the tidbits are
- the film was totally financed by Quaker Oats, a cereal company who wanted to make a candy bar - a brilliant move, which they failed to follow up - AND they gave away rights to the film later!!! They could have had a long term pension.
- The title was changed from the book for fearing offending people because of the slang term Charlie
- The oompa loompas were changed from blacks at the request of African American lobbyists
- It was shot in Germany
- Roald Dahl's script was rewritten and added to by two other writers, one of them David Seltzer - among their additions were the hilarious opening satirical moments.
- The director didn't want music and when forced to include it turned down Anthony Newley to sing 'The Candy Man' (I think this was a mistake).

The film was not a hit on release - Stuart blames marketing, and even though this is an old excuse there may have been something to it: it was such a bright colourful movie with hit tunes. But then again it was a bit weird and trippy in places and Wonka was scary rather than comforting. Also, studios other than Disney had tricky times selling their children films.

It's been a while since I've seen the film. The colours, the satire and Gene Wilder stick in mind most of all. Stuart has copped it for bad direction and while his subsequent career was not that distinguished and the book is a little self serving I think he deserves a bit more credit.

DVD review - "The West Wing" Season 7

I read the transcripts for the 1st 14 episodes before watching this, so it was a little weird. It's different watching to reading it - the visuals were a little less flashy this season, also the lack of warmth amongst the cast members except Donna and Josh was noticeable. For instance, its great that Toby is off fighting gaol time but it would have been great to have him working on the Santos campaign. There are some bright additions to the cast but apart from Jeaneane Garofolo few of them get a chance to create much of a character - which means its interesting watching actors portray them to see what they do with them: the bright eyed girl who turns out to be a lesbian is a find, but the bland male model character is a bit irritating. For some reason Mary McCormack and Garofolo have serious eye shadow action going on. Indeed all the women are glammed up a bit.

There was a lot more romance this season: Josh and Donna (finally, in the last season - though when it happens they don't really get the most out of it), Will and Kate (two military nerds together), CJ and Danny, Santos and his wife (an interesting character since she doesn't really want to be there), Annabeth with a crush on Leo (which sounds kind of off but works), Barlett's middle daughter (Nina Siemasko giving a lovely performance, happy and pretty for once - as required by the script) and her fiancee (played by the guy who played Skipper on Sex in the City, playing basically the same character).

My fave episodes were the one about abortion (when it showed the difficulties of republican politics, quite fairly I think), the ones just prior to the election, the election itself (very exciting). Post election the show inevitably loses some momentum, and it sort of seems as if we're watching the pilot for a new series over the next few episodes, with Mary Louise Parker and Emily Procter and Rob Lowe coming back. I did like how we saw how the staff go about looking for jobs with the white house winding up.

As someone who has seen every episode of this series, I appreciated how they brought back some minor cast members at the end: Hoynes, Russell, Ginger (the sprightly secretary for Sam and Toby who was replaced by that older Latino woman who in turn disappeared - in one episod Ginger expressed interest in watching porn to Sam, which indicated a potential goldmine in the character that was never followed up), Ed and Larry, Ainsley Hayes, all three daughters, Carol the assistant press secretary. Aaron Sorkin even makes a cameo. Seven years is a long time - I don't mind admitting I felt a bit teary towards the end. Magnificent series.

Movie review - "Enron: Smartest Guy in the Room" (2005) ****

Superb doco which has the advantage of a rivetting story - the Enron collapse. The filmmakers have come up with gems - the female Fortune reporter who was one of the first to ask tough questions about the company, videos where Enron's own chief execs make fun of that incredibly stupid accounting system where they were allowed to count pretend money (for my mind, the biggest reason for what happened), taped recordings of these awful Enron traders. I didn't see it as a criticism of capitalism per se - just of unrestrained capitalism, without adequate checks and balances. They were there, they just needed to be used. I love a good corporate collapse story and this is one of the best. Many parallels to our own - naked Emperors, visionaries, etc.

Book review - "Walter Wanger, Hollywood Independent"

Excellent career review of Hollywood producer Wanger, who always seems to appear in film lore as poor old Wanger, whether shooting Jennings Lang in the testicles for rooting his wife, or going bankrupt, going to gaol, producing two of the most infamous flops in Hollywood history (Joan of Arc, Cleopatra).
This has tended to obscure the fact that Wanger's career was littered with successes, but they are mostly unknown (he was head of Paramount production age 26 in the 1920s, had a distinguished stage career producing Nazimova) or were hits that are known for being auteur works (eg John Ford's Stagecoach, Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent, Don Siegel's Invasion of the Body Snatchers and - dare we say it - Maria Montez's Arabian Nights.)
Bernstein sketches Wanger's career with great skill and much research, illuminating his strengths (charm, taste, hands off approach) as well as weaknesses (story construction, hands off approach). It also is excellent on the notion of independence in Hollywood - perhaps at the expense of character and flavour which this is a little thin in (the only criticism).
Most extensive analysis goes to Wanger's 50s trilogy of comeback films: Riot in Prison Block 11, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and I Want to Live! - perhaps Wanger's most auteurist works - plus Cleopatra. I guess if your career's gotta end, it can end with a bang!

Movie review - Invisible #1 - "The Invisible Man" (1933) ****

Not as famous maybe as Universal's Dracula, Frankenstein or The Mummy but for my mind a better film than all of them (though I think Bride of Frankenstein is better than this). It is a perfectly realised shocker, laced with James Whale's humour via the wacky English villagers but that doesn't overwhelm the intelligence and believabilty of the mad invisible man. RC Sheriff's script is top notch - he was perfect for this kind of material - and Claude Rains' silky tones make him the ideal invisible man. I like how too his rival in love is a skunk and not some bland male lead.

Movie review - Corman #19 - "Machine Gun Kelly" (1958) **1/2

Roger Corman is best known for his sci fi and horror films but he turned out a fair few gangster films as well. This was important in helping raise Corman's reputation early in career - it is a decent story of Kelly, who in real life wasn't much of a gangster but had a cool name and was an interesting character (he was nagged into it by his wife); he also helped coin the term "G man". Kelly in this film similarly kowtows to his wife - but then he gets his back up a slaps her around (a few too many times). 

The opening bank robbery scene uses little dialogue, indicating Corman's growing confidence. Most of the film involves Kelly kidnapping a girl (something that happened in real life, only in that case it was of a businessman) 

There are shoot 'em ups but the film is most memorable for the characters and acting - Charles Bronson as the insecure Kelly, Susan Cabot as his imposing wife, and various odd bods in support (the police characters are bland as usual.) the ending is surprisingly flat - you expect someone to go out in a blaze of glory but it doesn't happen.

The DVD features an audio interview with Sam Arkoff which doesn't include anything you won't know after reading his autobiography, but it still fun. It cuts out halfway through a sentence for some reason.

Movie review - "The Dark Corner" (1946) **1/2

Not one of the better known film noirs despite ticking many boxes: a tormented hero, tough dialogue, superb photography, seedy underbelly, a plot involving sex/murder/double-cross, etc. Maybe this is because one of the stars is Lucille Ball - slightly odd then and even odder now; she's fine but it is a little weird to see her in a noir. Its reputation also may have been hurt by coming across at times as a son of Laura - like that film it was made by 20th Century Fox, has Clifton Webb as a snob driven to murder by passion, has painting of a woman central to the plot, and a rugged tough detective her (played by Mark Stevens, a poor man's Dana Andrews). The film has some striking visual flourishes and a decent plot with two good twists, but its dragged out a bit too long - it needed to have 20 minutes cut out of it, or else be re-strucctured or something.

Movie review - "Daughter of Darkness" (1971) **1/2

This European film has a strong reputation, mostly because of its creepy atmosphere, the lesbian touches and the fact that we never know if the killers are vampires - and the fact that the lesbian "vampire" is a lot nice than the abusive husband. I guess I didn't like it because of some erratic acting and the lack of likable characters.
Although it all seems European the married couple were played by an American and Canadian. The guy participates in a lively commentary on the DVD - like a lot of actors he goes on about how he looks a bit too much. He also clashed with the sadistic director. It has a moody atmosphere and some effective moments but a bit too much sadism for me.

Movie review - "Clerks 2" (2006) *** 1/2

Kevin Smith gets his groove back in a big way - this is the schmaltzy film he tried to make with Jersey Girl but which he couldn't do, weighed down by the big budget and his lack of knowledge of the arena in which the film was set. Like he did after Mallrats he bunkered down, lowered the budget and cast old, true friends. 

It's a sequel but an entirely justified one, with two friends from the original still plugging away. Thankfully it refers to events in other films less than any other in the Jersey films; it also has more emotion than any since Chasing Amy with particularly good work from Jeff Anderson. Moving, warm and funny, with sufficient gross out humour to ensure Smith hasn't lost his edge. 

The film is more visually comfortable than his last few - maybe being in the one location relaxed him. Rosario Dawson almost makes you believe that she could be attracted to Brian O'Halloran (she's a more believable K Smith female figure than Liv Tyler in Jersey Girl though playing another horny hot chick in glasses working temporarily in a dead end job). It just occurred to me - this film fixes up the errors in Jersey Girl (schmaltz, casting, script) the way that Chasing Amu fixed up the problems in Mallrats (casting, script). Sweet, funny and well made.

Play review - "The Sleeping Prince" (1953) by Terrence Rattigan

Terrence Rattigan's gift to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth - it was also a gift to Vivien Leigh, looking to come back to work after her nervous breakdown. Its a charming souffle about a showgirl who is supposed to spend a night with a prince and ends up meddling in affairs of state and capturing the affection of all around him. Light and skillfully done. Rattigan spins it out artfully by bringing in plots about a revolt back home, his son who is itching to take over, and the grand duchess.

DVD review - "Vixen" (1968) ***

Classic Russ Meyer film that made his fortune and his name, as well as being one of the most successful independent films ever. It still holds up today due to the colour photography, pleasing rural location work and most of all Erica Gavin's full blooded portrayl in the title role. Gavin was only 19 at the time but was working as a stripper so presumably knew something about life; she certainly did about performing. Its a charismatic, charged performance as Vixen takes all comers - mounties, a married couple, her brother. You can feel the heat coming off her, especially in the lesbian sequence. The exception is a black man whom Vixen goads into raping her. Vixen is a racist dumb character which I think partly explains the film's success - it enabled the audience to keep a distance from her, not identifying with her too much, be superior to her, while still enjoying her assertiveness and sexuality.

The DVD has two excellent additions - a commentary from Russ Meyer (who seems like an army GI who enjoyed the war so much he decided why give it up and continued to live that life for the rest of his life - making soft core porn was the only thing that offered similiar adventure). Meyer is what he is. The other one is a featurette - an interview with Gavin (looking a bit old but still bright eyed) and the black actor (looking in good shape but with sad eyes). Some interesting tit bits if you'll excuse the expression: Gavin had an affair with Meyer's associate producer which made Meyer furious and broke up a friendship, Meyer had an affair with the girl who sleeps with Gavin, the film's profits were cut into by large legal bills. He also chats about how he got his start in the business.

Book review - "Noel Coward Diaries" by Noel Coward

Brilliantly entertaining diary entries from the original King of Style covering WW2 through to the late 60s - they end just as Coward had been told he was being knighted. In the meantime he undertook something of a roller coaster life - he never enjoyed the eminence of his pre-war days (his war stuff like In Which We Serve and Blithe Spirit stands tall but his post war stuff never seemed to capture long term public affection the way say Private Lives did), suffered constant battles with British authorities, especially tax ones - which denied him a knighthood for so long. On the other hand he did enjoy some success, particularly as a cabaret performer - certainly moving overseas for tax purposes secured his future financially.

Coward's life seems to have been a constant whirl of travel, lunches, dinners, parties, and mourning friends who died. He only got down in the dumps towards the end of the 60s, but always managed to find something to be cheery about. He was hurt by critical attacks, which must have been unduly harsh, but had many friends, including the royal family. He must have been marvellous company.

I could never figure out the him and Lester Cole thing - were they a couple or not? If so it seems they were not exclusive. I particularly enjoyed his reviews of various plays movies and books, not to mention his views of famous people he knew and political events (he picked that the alliance with Russia would not last the war - he was a solid Conservative though it was the Labor govt who gave him his knighthood). Wonderful.

Play review - "On the Whipping Side" (1993) by Errol O'Neil

One of Errol O'Neil's entertaining looks at Qld history, in this case the 1895 shearer's strike. Occasionally falls into the historical play trap with "we're living through a moment" dialogue but generally well written about an engrossing period of time and an ace in the hole character in William Lane, the nutty socialist who tried to establish utopia in South America. Also gets points for having the feisty teacher character not wind up with one of her handsome suitors at the end.

Play review - "Hitchcock Blonde" by Terry Johnson

Enormously entertaining look at Hitchcock and obssession and sex and blondes. Interwines several plots into a most satisfactory meal; plenty of erotic appeal and it even managed to squeeze some life out of a middle aged academic chasing a young student. Best stuff involves hitch himself, though.

Movie review - "48 Shades" (2006) **

Flat version of Nick Earls novel which makes the mistake of not adding any plot but removing voice over or Earls' voice. So you have a not-much story about a kid who spends a year with his aunt and attends BBC (the whimpiest school uniform ever).
Richard Wilson is OK with his old-young face and semi-English accent, but isn't really a star; Emma Lung is irriating in a cypher role. The girl who played the aunt was alright as was the landlord and Wilson's nerdy friend. Victoria Thaine was too old to play a young girl.
Great design - all the smoking on the back deck of a bi Queenslander made me feel nostalgic for the 90s (esp the goon on the clothes line) and the music is pleasant and the visuals fine - but not enough to make up for the slow handling.

Errol Flynn Box Office

In the Wake of the Bounty (1933) - cost £6,500 to make and earned £7,000. (Source "Counting the Cash in Australian Films"', Everyones 12 December 1934 p 19)

Captain Blood (1935) made a profit of $1.462 million.

The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), The Prince and the Pauper (1937), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), The Private Lives Of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) and The Sea Hawk (1940) established Flynn as the top star at Warner Bros. Each of the six films had high domestic earnings and earned very high foreign grosses.

The Adventures of Robin Hood was by far the most expensive and successful. It had the highest production cost ($2,033,000) of any Warner Bros film at this time, and earnings of $3,981,000 were the highest of the decade - a profit of almost $2 million.

Elizabeth and Essex cost $1.075 million, making a profit of $550,000.

Flynn also starred in three highly successful westerns [Dodge City (1939), Virginia City (1940), Santa Fe Trail (1941)]), which all had costs above $1,000,000 and earned solid profits. Santa Fe Trail made a profit of $1.48 million.

He also starred in films costing half that amount, including Green Light (1936), Another Dawn (1937), and The Dawn Patrol (1938).

In 1942 Errol Flynn’s contract specified that on every fourth picture at Warner’s he would receive a percentage of the ‘‘net gross.’’ This term was defined to be the gross revenues less all negative, advertising, and distribution costs and a 20 percent distribution fee.

They Died with Their Boots On (1942) made a profit of $1.5 million.

His highest earning film of the mid 40s was San Antonio (1945), which cost more than $2,000,000 and and earned $3.553 million (it was Warners biggest hit of the year).

His biggest hit of the late 40s was The Adventures of Don Juan (1948) which had earnings of just under $5,000,000 and costs of approximately $3,500,000.

It is highly unlikely that the western Silver River (1947), made any profit at all. Costs of $3,204,000 were barely met by earnings of $3,484,000.

Films such as Cry Wolf (1947) and Never Say Goodbye (1946) placed well outside the ten top earning films of their season, and Escape Me Never (1947) had earnings below its production cost. Never Say Goodbye earned cinema receipts of £116,821 in England (a solid amount).

Over at MGM he made two films.  
* That Forsyth Woman (1949) grossed $3,697,000 (domestic $1,855,000 and foreign $1,842,000) at a cost of $2,612,000 - making a loss of $574,000.

* Kim made $5,348,000 (domestic $2,896,000 - the tenth biggest film of the year - and foreign $2,452,000), at a cost of $2,049,000 - made a profit of $1,064,000. It wasn't as big a hit as King Solomon's Mines, which had also been offered to Errol, but that was still pretty good. He picked the wrong film but it wasn't that massive a mistake.

* Montana (1950) cost between $1-$1.5 million and earned over $3 million, including cinema receipts of £131,969 in the UK.

* Rocky Mountain (1951) earned

£125,231 worth of receipts in the UK.

* King's Rhapsody (1954) earned

 £90,884 in receipts in the UK - this was poor compared to earlier musicals from Anna Neagle.

He had two supporting roles in films for 20th Century Fox in the late 50s.  
* The Sun Also Rises (1958) made $3.5 million and cost $3.815. 
*  The Roots of Heaven (1958) made $3 million, cost $3.3 million.

TV review - "Murder One" (1995) season one

Perfect show for DVD watching since it has one long story strand over the first season. Daniel Benzali is a knock out as the super defending lawyer - bald head and ferocious looking, nonetheless often like a big cuddly teddy bear, a combination of Santa and Clarence Darrow. There is also excellent support from Stanley Tucci as a David Geffen like millionaire, Dylan Baker as a detective (there's a scene where he chats with a young girl and it makes you quiver after having seen Baker in Happiness), John Fleck as Benzali's devoted gay secretary (their warm relationship is a real delight), Barbara Blossom as the "mum" type of prosecutor, and the guy who plays the creepy shrink. Decent acting from others except maybe two of Benzali's team who seem a bit graduate-of-QUT, the girl with bug eyes and her boyfriend (the other two ingenues were a bit better, Mary McCormick and the kind of funny looking guy). 

You do kind of wish the law firm would lose at least one case. Some later favourites pop up in support roles, such as Brittany Murphy and Richard Schiff. 

I couldn't pick the killer and there were twists all up to the end. Also many enjoyable shafts at the legal system post OJ.

Movie review - "United 93" (2006) *****

The best movie I've seen at a cinema in years - I had such an emotional response to it that by the end I was totally gutted, I couldn't move out of my chair. Incredibly powerful, I felt as though I was a passenger on the plane. You see the passengers: old ladies, young women, family men. Its heartbreaking. My heart was pounding from the beginning because I knew what was going to happen - the most exciting sequences are when the terrorists take over and the final assault. Only real debit: some of the acting is a little iffy. But the ones who play the terrorists are terrific and generally the standard of acting is fine. A masterpiece.