Monica

Some super black and white shots of our goddess Monica Vitti, by Elisabetta Catalano. I have finally got my hands on that 2011 issue of Italian "Vanity Fair" with 12 pages on Monica, with some terrific photos and comments and features on her, on her then 80th birthday.  There is also now that new Blu-ray of L'AVVENTURA .... Those Antonioni films find new admirers all the time. 
My first appreciation on Monica back in 2010 is at Monica 1 label, got over 2800 views then. She is still a major European star even if she has been silent for some years .....

The landscape and architecture of that face ... and that distinctive voice and sense of fun.
I came across a piece on her by Alan Stanbrook from 1990:
"There are two Monica Vittis: the husky, effervescent comedienne, which is how she sees herself, and the grave, statuesque beauty gazing into a haunted future which is how director Michelangelo Antonioni saw her. They worked together five times, between L'AVVENTURA in 1959 and THE OBERWALD MYSTERY in 1980. A presence more than an actress, Vitti was moulded into a Bernhardt (and the face of European cinema) when she wanted to be a Betty Hutton or Kay Kendall. Humour has surfaced throughout her career, from CHATEAU EN SUEDE to MODESTY BLAISE.. The first film she directed SECRET SCANDAL (unavailable here) is also a comedy. A thick Roman accent denied her an international career, but, with Antonioni, she had more than that: like Jeanne Moreau, hers became the face of our troubled times."  

Two favourites: Lee & Kate

Two of our favourite ladies here are Katharine Hepburn and Lee Remick, and thanks to Daryl for sending me these two stills from their 1973 film A DELICATE BALANCE. I have used them before (see sidebar for that cover of "Films In Review" magazine), but lovely to see them again. 

I never saw Hepburn in person but got to meet Remick in 1970, as detailed before at her label, and also saw her on stage in London in BUS STOP in 1975. 

The story I have told before is that in 1957 when Lee was starting out she was up for the negligible role of one of the office girls in Hepburn's DESK SET with Tracy (the role played by Dina Merrill in the film). Kate advised her to take small parts to get noticed, but Spencer told her to hold out for a better role, which she certainly got in Kazan's A FACE IN THE CROWD that year - what a debut. Five years later of course they are both up for Best Actress in 1962, and a decade later played mother and daughter in the film of Albee's A DELICATE BALANCE, rather ignored at the time, but a real acting treat now.  Paul Scofield is marvellous here too as is Kate Reid, and they do Albee's play justice. Its one of Tony Richardson's better later efforts. (He also directed Lee in the 1961 SANCTUARY, a rare one we tracked down some years ago, as per review).  

"That'll be the day"

A western double bill, for late autumn afternoons. Only the best western ever: John Ford's THE SEARCHERS, and a routine oater from 1949 MASSACRE RIVER, only of interest now for teaming of the young Guy Madison and Rory Calhoun - see previous on them, below, or at labels.

We have written about THE SEARCHERS here before, and my 2010 appreciation on Jeffrey Hunter is at 'Jeff Hunter 1' label. Looking at Ford's classic again (I also have it on Blu-ray, as Martin would say) it is a timeless American Classic and the climax is as emotionally stunning as the end of CITIZEN KANE or CASABLANCA. Maybe they are the Top Three American Movies Of All Time?  Its certainly in my Top 10 (along with my other favourite western JOHNNY GUITAR)

The images and the scenery - did Monument Valley ever look more iconic? - stun one again, as does Ford's narrative, Wayne is superlative, Jeff Hunter has his best ever role as halfbreed Martin Pawley - he and Natalie are so poignant together, a perfect Fifties pair, Vera Miles excels as ever, and grown men cry when Ethan picks up Debbie at the end ....

Ford has some amusement too with Wayne's son Patrick and the regulars are all here from Ward Bond down. The early sequence when the settlers realise that Scar is about to attack is chilling and brilliantly done too, as is the scene where Ethan and Martin meet Debbie again in the wigwam with those scalps. Ford orchestrates it all perfectly, as per previous reports; and of course that line of Wayne's "that'll be the day" which gave Buddy Holly the title of one of his best songs ... Max Steiner's score is one of his most evocative and complements the images perfectly. 
Ethan Edwards is racist towards the Indians and the depiction of them may be problematic for some now, though Ford 'atoned' for that with his CHEYENNE AUTUMN in 1964; the squaw Martin gets married to is despatched rather heartlessly. 

MASSACRE RIVER on the other hand is pure studio dross, but a very rare film. I had ordered the dvd only to see it crop up on our Western channel, otherwise known as TCM uk. This must be where Guy Madison and Rory Calhoun got pally, as per my previous on them, and the various reports on their longtime relationship, despite their marriages, and some scurrilous rumours, but there are lots of photos of them together - just like Cary and Randy. 
They share a tub in this and one can see the chemistry between them. Calhoun was an ex-con who got into the movies, mainly rememered now for his two with Monroe and with Hayward in WITH A SONG IN MY HEART. Madison continued in westerns and dramas - both were filming in Europe by the early Sixties, Calhoun in the rather good COLOSSUS OF RHODES by Sergio Leone, so maybe they were meeting up then too. 

THE SEARCHERS though will live forever. 

Strictly groovy

Daisy and Aljaz may have now left the STRICTLY COME DANCING marathon, but I LOVED their routine last night, a terrific dance - and dig those costumes! - to one of my favourite club classics, "Groove Is In The Heart".   Groovy baby, Their other dances were super too, now on YouTube, 

RIP, continued ...

Leonard Cohen (1934-2016), aged 82, Canadian singer, songwriter, poet, novelist. What a year for music departures, starting with David Bowie back in January, and then Prince and an Eagle - now Leonard Cohen leaves the scene at 82, after - like Bowie - just releasing a late great album "You Want It Darker". I must admit I do not know it yet, but my friend Martin has raved. It will be an essential. 
For me, Cohen is always associated with that late Sixties era, those songs like "So Long Marianne", "Suzanne". "The Sisters of Mercy" etc during that hippie era, and his mournful soundtrack for Altman's McCABE & MRS MILLER in 1971. He of course had that great late renaissance in his Seventies as his work was discovered all over again and his tours were extremely popular. His muse Marianne died some months ago and it was reported Cohen told her he would be following her shortly ... "Dance Me To The End of Love" indeed.

Mose Allison (1927-2016), aged 89. Another music legend departs. Mose was a deeply loved jazz and blues pianist, singer and songwriter, from the Mississippi Delta, a white man who had the blues, I first discovered him as a teenager, with this EP of 6 of his recordings, songs like "Please don't talk about me when I'm Gone", "I don't worry about a thing", "I love the life I live", "The Seventh Son", "Parchman Farm". "Young Man's Blues".  His live recordings capture him perfectly too. 
He was increasingly popular and influential in his old age, doing an annual 3 week residency in London each year, and influencing and being covered by the likes of The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Van Morrison, Georgie Fame, Pete Townshend. He was a social critic before Dylan, and a satirist before Randy Newman. We love Mose. 

Robert Vaughn (1932-2016), aged 83. Prolific American actor, if never quite front-rank. He was the last survivor of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, which we loved back in 1960. He co-starred again with Steve McQueen in BULLITT, and other credits included THE TOWERING INFERNO and even a stint on British TV's CORONATION STREET a few years ago, and he made that credible too. He was of course one of THE MEN FROM U.N.C.L.E. for years in the 1960s,and also star of the long running BBC series HUSTLE, and was a very stylish guy. 

Raoul Coutard (1924-2016), aged 92. Legendary French cinematographer who lensed many New Wave classics, including Godard's BREATHLESS, PIERROT LE FOU, UN FEMME EST UNE FEMME, Demy's LOLA, Truffaut's JULES ET JIM etc, He and Henri Decae and Nestor Almendros must have shot all the French classics of the 60s onwards. 

Sir Jimmy Young (1921-2016), aged 95. Another veteran BBC broadcaster departs at a great age. One has to salute his achievements and longevity as one of the longest broadcasting disk jockeys

Strictly, mid-season report ...

We are now halfway through our annual dance fest STRICTLY COME DANCING, and the weaker contestants have been weeded out, so its hotting up as the best couples battle it out. My money from the word go has been on sensational Ore Oduba, whom I barely noticed as a BBC sports reporter, but the guy owns the floor and dances up a storm each week and is compulsively watchable, as is his dance partner Joanne Clifton. She and her brother Kevin (who dances with Louise Redknapp - their Argentine Tango was sensational too last week) will be very competitive to win. so it will be interesting to see how that goes. Judge Rinder and new girl Oksana are super too, but seem lost in the middle. The other great is Danny Mac - I expect him and Ore to battle it out in the final. 
Olympic athlete Greg Rutherford with the divine Natalie 'Legs' Lowe are also making up that top foursome, while the young couple Claudia and AJ are also compulsive. Its all to play for ..... and brightens up our winter weekends, while Claudia, Tess and judge Darcey (the most stylish women on British TV) ramp up the glam stakes. Each week we wonder "what will they be wearing?" ..... 
Ore and Joanne do a divine tribute to SINGIN' IN THE RAIN ...

Italians: Bolognini

So, Bolognini or Bertolucci? No, its not an Italian sauce. We have been liking quite a few Mauro Bolognini Italian flicks of late here at The Projector, as per Bolognini label.

The Italian greats of course are Rossellini and De Sica, followed by the Big Three of the late 50s and early '60s: Antonioni, Fellini and Visconti, followed by Pasolini and Bertolucci. But there were several others prolific in those years, that great LA DOLCE VITA era, such as Bolognini, Monicelli, Germi, Risi, Rosi, Lattuada, while now the new guys like Paolo Sorrentino (THE GREAT BEAUTY, THE YOUNG POPE) and Luca Guadagnino (I AM LOVE, A BIGGER SPLASH) grow in stature. 

Today, lets focus on Mauro Bolognini (1928-2001), rumoured to be gay - he certainly filled his films with attractive people, his best output coming from scripts by Pasolini (as in LA NOTTE BRAVA) or adaptions of novels by Alberto Moravia or Italo Svevo. His 46 credits include these I like:

GIOVANI MARITI (YOUNG HUSBANDS) in 1957, with Gerard Blain, Raf Mattioli, Isabelle Corey, Sylvia Koscina, and Franco Interlenghi. Its as the title implies a drama about young husbands and their marriage problems.

LA NOTTE BRAVA (THE BIG NIGHT, see below) in 1959, glamorises Pasolini's tale of Roman layabouts and petty hoodlums and prostitutes, including the wildly attractive Laurent Terzieff, Jean-Claude Brialy, Tomas Milian, Mylene Demongeot, Antonella Lualdi, Elsa Martinelli etc. It also has a rather gay scene - right. Pasolini took to directing his own scripts after that, such as ACCATONE.

LA GIORNATA BALORDA (FROM A ROMAN BALCONY), a delicious 1960 drama with Jean Sorel and Lea Massari. We reviewed these in full at Bolognini/Italian labels.

SENILITA in 1962, from the Svevo novel, set in 1920s Trieste, with a great performance by Claudia Cardinale as the heartless vamp, and Bestsy Blair as a frustated spinster in love with the wrong man.

LA CURRIZONE (CORRUPTION) in 1963, one of Jacques Perrin's great performances as the son of wealthy industrialist Alain Cuny to uses his mistress Rossano Schiaffino to lure the son into his business plans.

METELLO in 1970 is a great costume period drama with Massimo Ranieri and it looks ravishing in colour,

GRAN BOLLITO is a chiller from 1977, with Shelley Winters as that very over-protective mother who will do anything for her son, including turning the neighbours into bars of soap, as Rita Tushingham finds out. It also has Max Von Sydow in drag as one of the victims. Bizarre is the word.

I haven't seen the acclaimed IL BELL ANTONIO, one of Mastroianni's great performances from 1960. He later did several costume dramas for Italian television: Isabelle Huppert as the LADY OF THE CAMELIAS, and and THE CHARTERHOUSE OF PARMA.

He also did several segments in those Italian '60s episodic films, usually made up of 4 short films by different diretors. He directed the deliciously funny episode in LE BAMBOLE (THE DOLLS) in 1965 where Gina Lollobrigida (above) tries in vain to seduce Jean Sorel (as one would,,,,,), and the Claudia Cardinale segment of THE QUEENS in 1966, the Silvana Mangano episode in THE WITCHES, also '66. Belmondo and Cardinale are both marvellous in LA VIACCIA in '61. A lot of these, like his I TRE VOLTI with Princess Soraya,  did not get wide distribution outside of Italy, so he may be rather unknown to many.
Movie reviews coming up: THE NEON DEMON, NOCTURNAL ANIMALS, PLAN B, some French double bills and features on Catherine Deneuve and Anouk Aimee ...

THE Italian double bill ?

A friend and I were discussing fantasy double bills, here is my Italian choice ... two of our timeless favourites, discussed many times here, as per labels. Rossellini's 1953 classic VOYAGE TO ITALY (below) with Antonioni's L'AVVENTURA. The Rossellini really paved the way for those Antonioni classics. 

Alternatively, for great Fifties Italian cinema: Fellini's 1953 small town drama I VITELLONI twinned with Bolognini's 1959 saga of petty hoodlums and prostitutes, as scripted by Pasolini, but glamorised and how by Bolognini ... LA NOTTE BRAVA. (We are doing a post on Bolognini next ...).

Below: Jean-Claude Brialy and Tomas Milian in a rather steamy scene (for 1959) from LA NOTTE BRAVA. 

For Italian glamour and decadence, one could not beat Bertolucci's THE CONFORMIST with a Visconti: THE LEOPARD or his final masterpiece L'INNOCENTE from 1976.

I would also have to make a dramatic double bill of Wertmuller's 1975 opus SEVEN BEAUTIES, with maybe Vancini's THE LONG NIGHT OF '43 ...  and what about Visconti's SANDRA from 1975, with maybe Antonioni's LE AMICHE ....  endless possibilities. More on all these at Italian labels. French double-bills soon, perhaps. 

Latest MM memorabilia

We have found a treasure trove of Monroe memorabilia including some "Vanity Fair" magazines I had not seen, and photographer Lawrence Schiller's memoir MARILYN & ME (see post below) covering that shoot on SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE in 1962 when he took those pool photographs which made the cover of LIFE magazine and are still fascinating now. 

This year too VANITY FAIR ICONS appeared, a choice glossy magazine for MM fanatics, with great text and photographs, including appraisals of the Strasbergs, De Maggio, Miller; excerpts from Tony Curtis's memoir, and Lawrence Schller's. and reports on those MM documents and possessions which were stored away after her death, and inherited by Lee Strasberg's third wife, who did not even know MM. 

The first serious writing on Monroe was probably that nice feature by David Robinson in that October 1962 issue of TOWN magazine, which I had when I was 16 - it was great to find it again recently on a vintage magazine site, it costs quite a lot now!  There was also that early fan mag, covering the MM years.

Back in the early sixties, we liked those early MM books, before the avalanche of them followed: that early one by George Carpozi; MARILYN, THE TRAGIC VENUS by Edwin P. Hoyt (first published in 1967),  and NORMA JEANE by Laurence Guiles with that silvery Beaton cover shot. THE FILMS OF MARILYN MONROE of course, Then the 1973 Norman Mailer tome certainly brought Marilyn into the mainstream, collecting as it did those major photographs by Milton Greene (which a lot of us had not seen before), and the pool pictures by Schiller, and some Eve Arnold shots, and that Mailer text cementing Monroe as the American Icon. Schiller, now 79, and a writer/producer, shot those pool pictures when he was 25. 

Eve Arnold's book on MM contains a wealth too, as does the Barris, Stern, Schiller books on those late photoshoots. The best of the later books is the enormous MARILYN IN THE FLASH, reviewed last year, covering her many public appearances. A lot of the other MM books are not worthwhile and just rehash the usual stuff or try to seek a new angle on her death. 
The books by her maid Lena Pepitone and by Susan Strasberg are worth reading though for different facets on the Monroe persona and life, James Spada's 1982 MARILYN:  A LIFE IN PICTURES is another nice one, and Donald Spoto's huge biography seems to get everything right

(No, Marilyn was not killed by the Kennedys. Her 'suicide' may have been accidental, after being fed all those barbiturates by different people over the years; and her psychiatrist Ralph Greenson and her housekeeper, Eunice Murray, may have had a hand in it.).

So, the Monroe industry goes on and on ..... 

Marilyn by the pool

Its been fascinating reading once again about those final months of Marilyn Monroe's life in 1962, which contained some of her best photo sessions and images. MARILYN & ME by Lawrence Schiller, a nice pocked size memoir, is a particular treat though it includes none of his colour shots of MM and that blue pool and  blue bathrobe. "Vanity Fair" though has printed a lot of them, and they are included in several of the MM books, particularly the Norman Mailer 1973 opus. The black and white shots are terrific though. 

So, in March 62 Marilyn had that trip to Mexico (meeting the likes of director Luis Bunuel - there is a photo of them in the MARILYN IN THE FLASH tome (along with pictures of her with Garland, Callas, and more). 

In May she was filming SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE, and looked great in the surviving footage, as per previous reports. This was when Schiller shot the pool images and other shots of her at that time, and later he took that photo of Joe De Maggio at her funeral.  His text is interesting too on meetings with her showing her determination to oust Elizabeth Taylor from the world's press. This was also when she sang Happy Birthday to the President at Madison Square Gardens, before the film was cancelled. 

In June she did the Bert Stern THE LAST SITTING images, containing some great shots.

In July she did the George Barris beach photos at Malibu, generally regarded as the last pictures of her - lots more on these too at MM label. And she also gave that final interview to LIFE magazine - here is a link to that text of her interview with Richard Meryman. 

http://www.marilynmonroe.ca/camera/mags/life62.htm

As Schiller (who first worked with her on LETS MAKE LOVE in 1960, when he was 23) says in his book, each photographer captures a different Marilyn - from the early shots by Andre De Dienes, though the great pictures by Milton Greene, Cecil Beaton, Jack Cardiff, Eve Arnold, Bob Willoughby, Stern, Barris, Avedon, Sam Shaw, and himself - each captures a different facet and look of hers. 

Then the events of August 4/5 unfolded. There was one final picture, which journalist Anthony Summers thought fit to include in his GODDESS book "investigating" her death, rehashing all the supposed rumours - a hot topic then fascinating the conspiracy nuts - that morgue shot, which once seen, is hard to unsee.
This 1992 Bonhams auction catalogue is a rich trove of all the MM photos from those early and final shoots. 

Showpeople: favourite fotos

Part of our Showpeople strand here - see label for previous - focusing on some fascinating snaps of Marilyn, Marlon and Sir Larry .....

I like this shot of MM with Olivier and Susan Strasberg, taken in 1956 when Strasberg was playing in THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK on Broadway, and before Monroe and Olivier had started THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL in London. Marilyn looks marvellous here but Olivier and Strasberg seem to have eyes only for each other - the young Miss Strasberg (a friend of MM's due to Marilyn being at her father Lee's Actors' Studio) was it seems already romancing Richard Burton, so maybe had a thing for British actors ....

Marlon and Marilyn have been snapped together several times too, here at the premiere of EAST OF EDEN in 1955, and photographed by Milton Greene (who did those great mid-50s shots of Monroe) and also on the set of DESIREE in 1954, where MM is wearing a dress from THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS, being filmed by Fox at the same time.

Coming Up: several more on Monroe, after reading Lawrence Schiller's memoir on shooting those pool pictures from the uncompleted SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE, and some new Monroe magazines, like the VANITY FAIR ICONS issue on her, 

Friday treat

With thanks to Martin. I really must watch Vincente's under-cherished BELLS ARE RINGING again ("I have the dvd/blu-ray so can watch it anytime" as Martin always says), with the heartbreakingly wonderful Judy Holliday. 

RIP, continued ....

Jimmy Perry (1923-2016), aged 93.  Another stalwart of the golden age of BBC television, Perry was the co-scriptwriter (with David Croft) and creator of those immortal hit series DAD'S ARMY, IT AIN'T HALF HOT MUM, HI-DE-HI and more. They will continue to be watched as long as we watch television, He was actually a Butlins redcoat himself, which must have provided a wealth of material, as did his stint in Burma during the war; and his 25 year writing partnership with Croft was rich indeed.

Pierre Etaix (1928-2016), French comedian, actor, director, clown, almost he French Buster Keaton?. I remember his hit from 1964, YO YO. A lot of his work was unseen for years due to legal tangles. He worked with Tati, Bresson and even Jerry Lewis. 

Bobby Vee (1943-2016), aged 73. The almost impossibly cute Bobby Vee was one of those popular singers of the early sixties (like Bobby Rydell, Frankie Avalon, Fabian, Tommy Sands etc) until the arrival of The Beatles and the British Invasion, though he remained popular in the UK till the mid-60s, Vee, at 15, got his start stepping in for the late Buddy Holly in 1959. leading to his 6 gold singles. We kids liked those hits like "Rubber Ball", "The Night Has A 1000 Eyes", "Take Good Care Of My Baby", "Run To Him" etc.. He continued touring until 2011 and the onset of Alzheimers. 

Pete Burns (1959-3016) aged 57. Another music legend departs. It was impossible to escape from Burns's "You Spin Me Around" by his band Dead Or Alive, back in 1985. He later developed, in /Boy George's words, into "a great English eccentric", with all his cosmetic surgery and reality TV appearances. 

Evening, 2007

A drama exploring the romantic past and emotional present of Ann Grant and her daughters, Constance and Nina. As Ann lays dying, she remembers, and is moved to convey to her daughters, the defining moments in her life 50 years prior, when she was a young woman. Harris is the man Ann loves in the 1950s and never forgets.

Yes, EVENING sounds like one of those nauseatingly soppy afternoon tv movies for the home audience, not suitable for us trendy folk. We avoided it at the time, but seeing it was on telly we had to look it, if only for that cast. One way - the only way? - of jazzing up a story like this is to make it look good and pile in the names, thats what they did here, as directed by Lajos Koltai.

The dying woman is Vanessa Redgrave, and also popping in are Meryl Streep, Glenn Close and the great Eileen Atkins. Add in Vanessa's daughter Natasha Richardson, plus Toni Collette and Claire Danes (as the younger Vanessa). The men, including Patrick Wilson and Hugh Dancy, barely get a look it. It all looks terrific too, Rhode Island in the 1950s .... all those seascapes. 

The grand dames all get their moment with Vanessa, as the memories keep piling up and colliding with the present. It's a deliberately paced, visually gorgeous meditation on real life issues, and you can cry at it and not feel like you're being manipulated too much.