Mrs. Cook Was Mom To Boarders at 1007 N. 6th

In the kitchen with Margaret Cook

CLYDE AND THE OTHERS

Content with the communal living I  knew when I was a frat boy, I took a room in 1965 at Mrs. Margaret Cook’s boarding house, a few blocks from the Statesman in Boise.

Mrs. Cook was a reluctant landlady who was forced into it by her humorless farmer son, Clyde, married to the righteous Priscilla, Queen of the Bible.  They were the real American Gothic with their children Nathan, Martha, Nealus and Luther.  Clyde, a former New Mexico extension agent, lured his mother to Idaho to raise his four children while he farmed on the desert near Mountain Home.  

At this point in her life she was ripe for retirement and almost crippled with arthritis.  While he was plowing, mom was running a boarding house so his children could attend Boise High School.  

Martha, a sullen teen, slept  on the first floor with her grandmother and the boys were in the basement with Dan the Man, a Boise State College student, YMCA lifeguard and a fine picture of young manhood.  Dan didn’t fraternize with me, Albert, Duane Mitchell, Terry Newman, Jose or Roy the Boy (flim flam specialist who taught us golf and cheated Mrs. Cook out of rent money.)  Dan kept company with the married woman across the street which caused tongues to wag.

Mrs. Cook referred to the relatives as “Clyde and the others,” but she had an attractive daughter who lived in Dallas who was very professional and urban.  The daughter would visit on holidays.

The house was a smaller replica of the Governor’s Mansion, three stories with transoms above the doors on the four second floor bedrooms.  

On Sunday’s when she didn’t serve meals, four of us would go to the Brass Lamp or the Village Pancake House.  Albert had a friend with stereo equipment and tape recordings of musical shows.  Through him I became familiar with the music from “Oliver!”  

Mrs. Cook was to cooking as the Three Stooges are to plumbing.  Memorable was the time she burned the hell out of the roast beef while she caught a nap.  Sometimes Clyde would bless us with milk from the farm which was noxious so she would dilute it with powdered milk, making it even more unpleasant.  Clyde would share the meat from critters he shot on the farm.

Mrs. Cook was in the Lady’s Circle at the Methodist Church and sometimes the ladies would meet in her living room.  Since I was working nights at The Statesman, I would be home during the days.  I am sure she wished I would disappear on Circle days.  

Priscilla supplied me with literature on Christianity so I could mend my heathen ways.  When the Others visited grace was said before the meal and it was a long painful affair as practiced by Priscilla.

I would sometimes go on errands with Mrs. Cook in her 1950 Chevy coupe with manual transmission.  I enjoyed taking her and a church friend in my car to lunch at McCall, Idaho’s answer to Aspen.

Mrs. Cook would invite us to public events at the high school sponsored by her church, such as a talk by the Jewish advice columnist Ann Landers.

Terry Newman was a smart kid whose parents moved to Colorado and left him in the boarding house so he could finish high school in Boise.  He had a portable record player and introduced me to popular music such as Steppenwolf and Jose Feliciano.  

The boarding house Jose was a Latin lover who kept to himself.  He installed a basement shower in exchange for rent money he owed.  I raised a stink when he didn’t get a city building permit before doing the work.

My social life picked up when Ralph Nichols, a coworker, moved nearby and we would go to Lucky Peak Reservoir.  Bob Gould from Spokane was an attorney for Albertsons and moved to Boise in about 1969.  We went to the Snake River Stampede Rodeo and saw “Bonnie and Clyde” but I was glad to find a better social life in Frostbite Falls.

As a family, we visited Mrs. Cook on a trip to Boise in 1973. Duane visited her in a nursing home in later years.

In 2006, I returned to the house now owned by an unkept woman with two big dogs and a broken screen door.

Robinson Pursues Artists Life

Here's Dwight Robinson with a reproduction of his painting, a wild west scene.  Dwight has a background in the natural sciences and worked for State Agriculture when I was working for Jobs and Training.  We traveled together on a Caribbean cruise, San Diego and New Orleans.  He also enjoys jazz and is expert on natural remedies.  He and his partner John live in Red Wing, MN.

Teen Musical, Tomlin Movie Both Span Generations

EDGY LOOK AT AGING

Lily Tomlin gives us an edgy look at the senior years in the new movie “Grandma,” now playing at the Edina Theater.  As Roger S. explained, the Tomlin character is struggling with end of life anger as she views her 30ish lover who can look forward to an exciting life full of interesting relationships.

As for the Tomlin character, she has hunkered down to a debt free retirement, going to the extreme by destroying her credit cards.  The later action complicates the plot when her teen granddaughter asks her for help in terminating an unwanted pregnancy.  The scenes with the teenager offer an opportunity to bridge the generation gap.

A former husband, played by Sam Elliott, offers another look at aging from the perspective of a proud grandfather but interested in reliving moments of past desire with the Tomlin character.  With so few films employing senior actors, “Grandma” is an opportunity not to be missed.

PINT SIZE ROMEO STEALS SCENES

I could hardly get to sleep last night with adrenaline pumping after Edina High School’s homage to the torchy ‘30s in their performance of “Crazy for You,” a new Gershwin musical.  Teen Jack Fischer, playing the juvenile lead Bobby Child, has all the right moves whether it’s side stepping in tap shoes or just his over the top stage presence.  

Talk about your Glee-full resumes, Fischer is a member of the International Thespian Society and has lettered in theater at EHS.  

The ensemble has memorable numbers, singing and dancing that reminded me ofthe great Busby Berkley movies.  This feast for eyes and ears involves incredible coordination and staging, but it works and is rewarding.

The irony for me was that these kids were chirping to tunes that my Mom and Dad grooved on when they were teens.  Talk about bridging the generation chasms, “Crazy for You” at EHS is a landmark event.

The finale with the lead couple swinging on the moon is very campy 1930s romantic comedy.

Summer Day at Statesman Staff Picnic

IDAHO STATESMAN PICNIC

This was taken by a Statesman photographer, probably the summer of 1968, at a picnic for the Idaho Statesman where I was a reporter/writer from 1965-69.  Location:  Julia Davis of Ann Morrison park. 

RKO's "Brave One" Worth the Long Wait

‘BRAVE ONE’ WAS TRUMBO’S MASTERPIECE

Before I see the biopic on blacklisted screen writer Dalton Trumbo, I had to see the 1956 RKO Cinemascope epic “The Brave One” filmed in Mexico.  Trumbo was awarded an Oscar for his screenplay but couldn’t receive it until the 1970s because his political beliefs conflicted with the reactionaries in Congress.  It was shown on TCM last night.

A heroic bull representing the working class is the hero in this story and the matador represents the oppressive aristocrats, they way I read this yarn.   If ever a movie had to be in Cinemascope it was this one.  Jack Cardiff’s photography is breath taking and Victor Young’s music is memorable.  The Trumbo biopic is coming soon to theaters, but also see “The Brave One.”

Netflix "Master of None" Scores With Senior Comedy

THOUGHTFUL TV SHOW ON SENIORS

Aziz  Ansari takes his girl friend’s grandmother out of the stifling confines of a nursing home to an elegant dinner where they bond.  She tells him about going to a Sinatra concert in her teens and he says his own experience at a Hootie Blowfish concert pales by comparison, but she says “don’t be so sure of that.”

The “Older People” episode of “Master of None” opens with Aziz and his buddy’s grandfather struggling with his VCR and the young men advise him to get a Blu Ray player but he argues against that.

Few programs explore the intergenerational gaps so brilliantly as this. (Netflix streaming)

Halloween Movies, Good, Bad and Ugly

SPOOKY DIFFERENT KIND OF HALLOWEEN  Oct. 31, 2015

This year I actually did get afraid.  The 1942 RKO Radio Picture “The Cat People” that I saw Friday night on TCM with Gary left me with nightmares.  It’s easy to figure out; the swimming pool scene with the woman and water reflecting off the walls was incredibly claustrophobic.  No way would I be in that room, even if a jaguar wasn’t chasing me. It had to be in an RKO sound stage because no one would design that mess in a health club.  Director Jaques Tournier knew how to work lights and shadows for maximum fright.

We also watched a less successful Tournier effort: “Curse of the Demon” wherein the producer inserted a monster right out of a Roger Corman fright fest.  It was dumb.  What was even dumber was the scary guy in “Monster from the Surf” (1965).  

Also, last night I was left with two virgin bags of candy unopened.  Apparently trick and treat is not part of the tradition for kids who live in my building.  The candy will be just as fresh a year from now.  I didn’t even bother to put on my vampire costume as I watched two Karloff classics on TV.  I think I went to a Jaycees party in about 1968 with a date as a bum in Boise but most of my Halloweens aren’t even a foggy memory.  

AMC SOUTHDALE SHOWS 1931 "DRACULA"

“DRACULA” 1931 BEST SEEN ON BIG SCREEN

You miss a lot of the Bela Lugosi Universal classic “Dracula” on TV, including details in the costumes, sets and props.  It becomes abundantly clear that Dwight Frye as Renfield steals every scene he is in.   Seeing it last night at the AMC on the huge screen was a big treat.

Some plot essentials I missed on the TV showing included Lucy becoming a vampire and killing children.  Also the importance of Dr. Seward, who runs the sanitarium where Renfield is housed, is magnified and I will see the play “Dr. Seward’s Dracula” this week at the college across the street.

The VHS tape has the advantage of bridging the boredom gap with the Philip Glass music that fits the film’s mood.  The version shown at the Fathom TCM movie theater event had minimal music.  “Frankenstein” and “Bride of Frankenstein” have better scripts and are considered “art.”

“Dracula” looks like the stage play that it was originally.

The event included the Spanish language version shown in Latin America and made on the same set as the Lugosi version but with different actors.  The Spanish version provides more background, including Renfield’s admission that he wanted to atone for killing people when he became a vampire, so Van Helsing runs a stake through him.

Frye recreated that character in many other 30s movies and is seen as a gay hair stylist in Grand National’s “Something to Sing About,” an expensive musical with James Cagney that bankrupted the studio.  Frye is over the top in Majestic Studio’s “Vampire Bat” as a demented character with Faye Wray and Melvin Douglas.

Ghost Expert Explains Mysteries of Musical Appliances

SUPERNATURAL EXPLAINED BY EXPERT

BLOOMINGTON — Ghosts and spirits are the domain of Bobby Sullivan who spoke Saturday at the Penn Lake library as part of our Halloween.  I have a stereo that will start playing music unexpectedly and following Sullivan’s reasoning ghosts may inhabit that Curtis radio/phono/CD player.  He showed photos of ghost/spirit activity.  The ghost and zombies have been confused, but now we know better. Ghosts can drain batteries in cell phones and other devices.  Who knew?

MISS ECKHART WITH THIRD GRADERS AT ROOSEVELT

I am far left, second row.  And I have stayed "far left."  Miss Eckhart was one of the best grade school teachers, but left mid-term to marry a former governor.

Zarkin's Promotion Certificate From Spokane Grade School

In appreciation for all Roosevelt Grade School did, we put on a variety show. I played the comb and tissue paper, "Heart of My Heart". Memorable.

Here's where I first saw "March of the Wooden Soldiers" and made a clay recreation of Jesus in the Manger.  Quite interesting for a Jewish boy in a public school.

Third grade teacher Lou Eckhart married a senior former governor and bid farewell in her mink coat.

BELLAGIO COURTYARD OCT. 2015

VEGAS OCT. 2015 AT VDARA HOTEL POOL

WE NEVER LEFT VIETNAM

FOUR CAME HOME

The life experiences of four Minnesota Vietnam veterans were quite different as evidenced by their remarks last night at a forum at the Roseville Library sponsored by the Ramsey County Libraries.  One of the survivors has dealt with chemical dependency and the other three volunteer with a veterans organization hockey program.

The centerpiece to this discussion was the award-winning book “The Things They Carried “ by Tim O’Brien, also of Minnesota.  An actor read passages from the book.  The book may have been too painful for a couple of the participants to read, but no one disagreed with O’Brien’s assessment that the soldiers’ job entailed wondering aimlessly in the jungle and blowing up a few villages and villagers.  

None of the four returned to ‘Nam.

The forum was a prelude to the History Theater’s play based on the book, but I just can’t relive the trauma of the lives of O’Brien, Ted Lavender, Kiowa and Rat Kelly in ‘Nam after reading the book three times.  

Elsewhere, former co-worker Dave Frazier of Boise penned a memoir last year based on his rear echelon Saigon support public information duties with the army entitled “Drafted!: Vietnam at War and at Peace”.  Frazier was compelled to return to Vietnam as a tourist about three times and reconnect with families he knew from the war.  Frazier’s story is quite unrelated to the O’Brien book. (O’Brien pictured.)

TRUE CRIME: WHO KILLED WALTER LIGGETT AND WHY?

It’s been 77 years and we still don’t know answers, but his daughter, Marda Liggett Woodbury,  has compiled the “evidence” in her book “Stopping the Presses: The Murder of Walter Liggett.”

Cut to the chase:  Minneapolis (Murderapolis) was a hot bed of organized crime and corrupt, inept law enforcement in the Depression/Jazz Age.  Liggett, a newspaper editor,  was a crusader against local gangsters at a time when reporters who wrote the “truth” were on the mobsters’ “list.”

Also, Liggett called for the impeachment of Farmer-Labor Gov. Floyd B. Olson who Liggett saw as a betrayer of Farmer-Labor socialist goals.  Liggett suspected ties between the “Olson Gang” and organized crime.  There was no love lost between the governor and the newspaper editor.

Olson died of cancer a short time after Liggett was gunned down in 1938 in the alley behind his home at Lake and Harriet streets, now a trendy business district.  

Liggett’s wife and children witnessed his murder and his wife testified that Minneapolis gangster Kid Cann (Isadore Blumenfield) fired the shots from a moving car that fateful night.  Further confusing the story were accounts that other gangsters resembling Cann could have been the killer.  Minneapolis and Chicago combined had no shortage of gangsters.

The Liggett family lived a tough life during trying times that were made dangerous by Walter’s crusading attempts to destroy the powers behind organized crime and the Farmer-Labor Party.

Defying the Odds, Man Stands Up to Volcano

JACK MALONE’S TRIBUTE TO MAN BURIED BY VOLCANO

When I last saw my Roosevelt Grade School buddy Jack Malone in May 2009, he gave me the LP his company distributed honoring Harry Truman who is an iconic figure associated with the Mt. St. Helen’s volcanic eruption.  In a narrative that Jack wrote for the album cover:  “On May 18, 1980, Mt. St. Helens blew its top and according to authoritative sources, buried Harry (Truman), 84, under hundred of feet of ash and debris.”

“A Jack of all trades” is how Mr. Malone sees himself with a career that included managing an FM rock radio station in the Portland market.  Now there’s got to be a book in 1970s FM rock in a major market, but Jack didn’t write it as far as I know.

The LP is a collection of blue grass/country songs similar to the sound track of several popular movies.

Bad Movie "Bride of Monster" Featured in Classic Images

60th ANNIVERSARY OF ‘BRIDE’

The October 2015 issue of “Classic Images” magazine has a big feature on Ed Wood’s epic horror movie “Bride of the Monster” which was made 60 years ago with Bela Lugosi.  The movie is the product of the chemically addicted talents of Wood and Lugosi and I just bought the DVD this past spring.  

I first saw it at a midnight screening in 1971 on the U of M Campus with my ex-wife.  It’s a cult classic and is the focus of Tim Burton’s “Ed Wood” movie.  The actress (Landau) who plays Loretta King is a dead ringer for Ms. King.  "Bride" needs to be seen with Monogram's "The Corpse Vanishes" (1940) which has a very similar plot about an aggressive reporter and a mad scientist with Lugosi in the lead and Luana Walters as the journalist.

At least the later may be on YouTube and possibly even "Bride" as well.

SNAKE RIVER GORGE AT TWIN FALLS, IDHAO

Dave Frazier did the driving and I took photos on our way to the Minidoka Relocation Center.  We ate at an "elegant greasy spoon."  Twin Falls is a must.

More on Japanese Relocation Center, Jerome, Idaho

This was a surprise visit to Jerome on Aug. 25, 2015  and not much remains of the original site.
It was 95 degrees.  The sight is located near a river and not farm from Twin Falls.  Not many Idahoans know about Minidoka.  Tribute to Japanese Americans who served in the U.S. armed service during the war is also featured at the site.

Japanese Relocation Center Meant Disruption For Loyal Americans in WW2

JEROME, IDAHO — The Japanese American Relocation Center is remembered with a display and recreation of the guard tower near Jerome, Idaho.  This center is referenced in a novel I read for a class at the U of M OLLI this past winter.  Dave Frazier, former Statesman reporter, did the driving and we dined at an elegant greasy spoon in Twin Falls.

Six Supreme Court justices during World War II were responsible for this sorry chapter in US history because they were convinced by Justice Dept. officials that some Japanese Americans might be disloyal which was not true, according to Ian Millhiser in the book “Injustices.”

REPUBLICAN IS ARTICULATE ADVOCATE FOR PRE SCHOOL

BOISE —  “The state needs to empower parents with options for pre school education,” conservative Republican Rep. Christie Perry said Aug. 26 at a City Club Northwest Nazarene University forum on early childhood education.

Perry, chair of the Idaho House Ways and Means Committee, said the biggest obstacle to state pre-school is the paragon shift needed to overcome the present culture where policy makers fail to look outside of their own experience, ignoring the needs of others.  For those arguing that public funds need to go into infrastructure, our children are the roads and bridges of the future, the Republican legislator said.

Pre school tailored to local needs can enable children to comprehend math and reading when they enter third grade.  Presently two thirds of Idaho’s children lack reading skills when they enter third grade.

Perry called state sponsored pre-school a “conservative investment for the future” and the state will save millions by paving the way for successful educational experiences that will lead to productive career options.  Idaho is one of six state that lacks state pre schools, while Mississippi has devised a collaborative plan involving communities that provide state pre school.

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton advocates for state pre school and Minnesota legislators would be well advised to seek the council of Rep. Perry as she charts the way to Idaho’s early education revolution for children.

Also on the program was Beth Oppenheimer, Idaho Association for Education of Young Children.  Attending the forum in the Grove Hotel were Lt. Gov. Frank Little. U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, several Boise City Council members and Kathie Johnson, Head Start for South Idaho Migrant Workers’ Program.

The Big Stink Over the Beatles Concert 50 Years Ago

MINNEAPOLIS — The Beatles left Minneapolis this date 50 years ago and never looked back, at least until Paul returned last year for a sold out concert.  The big stink was over girl fans who breached security after the Met Stadium concert and entered the hotel rooms of the Beatles.  (I am sure they were gathering autographs from the mop head singers.)  A representative of the rock group’s entourage said Minneapolis was a “narrow minded town” when police demanded that the girl leave Paul’s room or they would break down the door.  Indeed!

On the anniversary radio special the police chief commented about the welfare of the “kids” and wished the Fab Four would never return to the Twin Cities.  And they never did.  

The anniversary show aired last night on WDGY included the press conference for the concert that was “hosted” by WDGY but that didn’t prevent cross town rival KDWB from horning in on the action.  WDGY DJ Johnny Dollar was the anchor for the radio coverage of the concert. 

Dennis Mitchell’s anniversary show was actually a tape from a Hollywood Bowl concert with screaming Beatle fans who are now grannies. 

The show includes a promo for “Help,” the movie.

I was living in Berkley at the time and not a Beatle fan.

DISTURBING NEWS VIEW DISCRETION ADVISE

At first I thought the Jake Gyllenhaal film noir “Night Crawler was a commentary on the sad state of broadcast news, but now I think otherwise.  Writer-director Dan Gilroy actually provides a commentary on our society where a crazed sociopath can swim nicely with the capitalist sharks and profit handsomely in the business world.

I ask myself, who is the greater monster in this sad story?  The bug eyed gaunt zombie news photographer Lou Bloom played by Gyllenhaal is the initial focus of our contempt, but things change moving along.  The aging TV station gatekeeper Nina played by Rene Russo may be the real villain in the film as she aids the demented Lou to provide her with blood and gore video that will boost the news program ratings.  The Nina character resembles Bette Davis as “Baby Jane” with more eye makeup than Tammy Faye ever contemplated.

There’s some kvetching about what she will and won’t do with the photographer sexually, but otherwise they get along swimmingly.

Gilroy, in an interview on the DVD, provides a perspective on the Lou character who spews Management by Objective nonsense and other business school dictums to his homeless sidekick employee.  Gilroy said that Lou is a product of the generation who spends a lifetime glued to the internet with little socializing.  This explains his lack of compassion and humanity in part.  So if it’s a slow news day one needs to stage manage events with a macabre twist and sell it to Channel 6 for the 11 pm news.

The real star of “Night Crawler” may be the 2014 Dodge Challenger SRT that is but a blur of red flashing before my eyes but I love that blur.

Documentary Revives VHS Nostalgia

REWIND THIS!

Sentimental saps like me are holding onto their VHS tapes and that subculture is pictured in Josh Johnson’s engaging documentary “Rewind This!”   I paid $230 for a Hitachi VCR in 1997 and most recently I bought a used Panasonic for $3.  Prices have dropped.

Afficianados of magnetic tape point to classics made by backyard Spielbergs like David  (the Rock) Nelson who claims “Dracula vs Sadam Hussein” as his VHS production. 

VHS attracted fans of chunk blower bootlegs and titles like “Heavy Metal Parking Lot” that are much appreciated by nerds who cruise flea markets in hopes of getting lucky.

I sometimes wonder as well why I persist with VHS given that it takes two players to watch the full array of my limited collection.  

With YouTube I have dispensed with many cassettes but even that’s a problem finding anyone who wants them or has a working VCR.  

One observer reminds us that in a few years 2 out of 10 tapes in our collections will be unplayable.  Since VHS opened a new world of movie viewing for many of us, it’s difficult to break the habit.  And I am aided and abetted by a friend who still records on VHS.

Diehards detect a resurrection of the beloved VHS, with Mongo now selling new tapes.  Whatever.

MILKMAN WARS

As a college student on summer vacation I was on the front line of the “milkman wars” when I solicited accounts door-to-door for Carnation Co. home delivery.  Using our own transportation, we shadowed delivery trucks from the Erie Dairy and Arden Farms, writing down the addresses of their customers.  Then we would followup, knocking on their customers’ doors and trying to get them to switch to Carnation home delivery.  It was a dirty business.  The Erie Dairy driver was not amused and who could blame him.

I think we were a public nuisance and the police were called.  I was conspicuous driving dad’s red and white Olds 88.  I made friends with the other boy “salesmen” and our leader was a mature man who told off color jokes on breaks.

A very notorious experiment in capitalism, was my two months with Carnation.  The cows were content but I wasn’t.  I got the job through the state employment agency and I thought it would be better than selling shoes for Edison Bros.  I was wrong.  

Carnation sponsored “Burns and Allen” on KXLY/CBS on Thursday night and is famous for evaporated milk.  Donald O’Connor and Jimmy Durante were in the U-I musical comedy, “The Milkman.”

(Darigold is the major Washington State dairy but I don’t think we tailed their drivers.)

Very Bad Reality Shows on Cable TV

DR. PEPPER PEEKS IN PANTRIES

Sean and Davina hit a rough spot on cable TV’s reality series “Married at First Sight” last night but not to worry because noted sociologist Dr. Pepper Schwartz, University of Washington professor, was on the scene to investigate.  Suspicions instantly arose when the good doctor found the fridg bare except for a soda can and potato chips and there were no family photos on the wall.  It looked like they were only staying for the weekend. She immediately put the recently betrothed on notice and enrolled them in a cooking class so they can hopefully bond.

Such is the state of matrimony in the Big Apple that couples are resorting to cable TV where they can star in their own mini-dramas while avoiding the pesky cost of dating.  It also silences family and friends who nag them about being single.  The first time they laid eyes on each other was at the altar and then it was too late to turn back without creating a nasty scene.  In the case of Shawn, eyes are the only thing he has laid on Davina after a month, but Dr Pepper is frothy with optimism.  Davina remains unconcerned about Shawn’s disinterest.  After all she’s getting weekly exposure on cable.  The sky’s the limit.  We truly live in amazing times particularly when we have friends like Gary H. who invite me over to watch cable TV. http://www.fyi.tv/shows/married-at-first-sight/cast/dr-pepper-schwartz

BINGING ON CABLE TV

The Belle of the South was relaxing in bed with a coke and potato chips when the doorbell rang on the cable TV reality show “Arranged.”  Surprise; it was the mama inlaw calling to investigate her new daughter inlaw’s domesticity deficiencies.  Sadly things were amiss in the newlyweds love nest including dirt on the ceiling fan and the bride hadn’t made Beauregard’s favorite casserole.  Good news:  Mom was staying the weekend to set things straight.  You can’t top that for southern hospitality or chutzpa.

With last night’s “Arranged Marriage,” I shared the concerns of a Gypsy family’s aggressive plans to find spouse’s for their teenage sons even if the boys were disinterested.  Much to every one’s chagrin we learned that 17-year-old boys generally are poor husband material, but the parents charged ahead without changing course.  It’s tradition, don’t you know!

Some of this had to scripted and rehearsed because no one could be that stupid.  Stay tuned.

http://www.fyi.tv/shows/arranged

SWORD AND SANDALS

In an attempt to cash in on the popularity of the Maria Montez Universal movies, Columbia in 1953 issued the hilariously awful “Prisoners of the Casbah” with Cesar Romero, Turhan Bey and Gloria Grahame.  The costumes are decent but the acting and sets are strictly poverty row studio shlock.  

Ms. Grahame is totally unbelievable as any kind of Arabian princess.  Bey is the butt of many jokes but he is sexy as the dashing hero.  (Bey was a co-star in the Montez movies.)  Romero, as the corrupt king, must have been rehearsing for his Joker shtick in the ‘60s campy “Batman” TV show.  Can you believe this mess?

EINSTEIN AMONGST GOMERS (by Dave Zarkin)

If you read “Drafted:  Vietnam at War and Peace” you will learn about a friend and coworker at the Idaho Statesman who turned lemons into lemonade while serving in the US Army in Saigon starting in May 1967 as a clerk.

David R. Frazier soon advanced from that lowly position into a sergeant and public information officer using photojournalist skills he learned at UPI.  He schmoozed generals and politicians with the greatest of ease.  The Tet Offensive was but an annoying sidebar to Frazier who wrote and edited a publication for the Armed Services in Vietnam.  He parlayed a dicey situation into a tropical beach party, almost.

In Vietnam, Frazier quickly concluded that the usual military confusion and stupidity could work to his advantage.  Through skillful maneuvering and luck he found a sweet spot where he was making money on the side by selling “hometown news” to newspapers in his native Michigan and not dodging bullets and land mines.  In Vietnam, he was an Einstein amongst countless Gomers.  This is not “Catch 22” or “Mash” but you get the idea.

By pushing yourself to the limits, you could earn “density points” in Vietnam, Frazier would say on the Idaho mountain fishing trips we took shortly after he was discharged from the Army.  He earned his density points but I had to read the book to find out what he did in the war.  While he was in Vietnam, I had completed active duty four years earlier with the Coast Guard Reserve and was a local government reporter for The Statesman.  www.drfphoto.com

REMARKABLE DJ Alan Freed

I binged this weekend on Alan Freed movies — “Rock Rock Rock” and “Don’t Knock the Rock” from the mid-50s.  Freed was somewhat of a stiff but somehow he convinced Hollywood that he had box-office appeal.  In fact, he sings on a Coral label single, “Rock Boogie,” which could be a collectable if you have it.  RRR features a 16-year-old Tuesday Weld who is conniving to get $30 to buy a prom dress and then there’s an abrupt segue where Freed introduces several rock acts including Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Chuck Berry and a bunch of unknowns.   Connie Francis sings while Weld moves her lips.  RRR,  from DCA a poverty studio, is inept in several area:  acting, editing, script and directing.  But there are some good acts and others so obscure you have to watch.  The actor/singer who plays Weld's love interest looks old enough to have children in high school himself and was recruited for his biceps rather than his acting chops.  The same DVD has a documentary on Freed which is worth seeing.  
 “Don’t Knock” from Columbia is almost high art compared to RRR with crooner Alan Dale who is about 40 romancing a teenager.  Production values are quite professional and the dance numbers are the best in any '50s rock musical.  Sony gets high marks for remastering "Don't Knock the Rock" and the companion DVD, "Rock 'round the Clock."

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

Abandoning self interest and coming together for the common good is what advances humanity,  So this message is wrapped up in the blockbuster Sondheim musical “Into The Woods” which director Rob Marshall (Chicago, Nine) delivers with gusto, dramatic pacing and a star studded cast.

As the Wicked Witch, Meryl Streep’s character is self absorbed and makes the baker and his wife crazy getting her a magic potion to reverse the ravages of old age (and who doesn’t need that?).  Ms. Streep gets a couple of extreme makeovers in the movie.

Johnny Depp recycles some of the makeup left over from “Pirates” as the Big Bad Wolf who seduces Little Red Riding Hood.  So the “woods” are the real world after you leave fairy tale land.

If you go for the handsome prince hang onto your popcorn because you get a double dose in the campy duet “Agony” performed by Chris Pine and  Billy Magnussen.  As Prince Charming tells Cinderella, “Although I am charming, I am not faithful.”  That sums up the false promise of that fairy tale.

In a rare moment at the West End Theater, the audience applauded during the closing credits.  Although it’s a Disney release, it’s too scary for small children but then so are most fairy tales. 

Horror Festival Is A Weird Universe

BLOOMINGTON CRYPTICON

I could barely contain my excitement at getting a photo with the outstanding Zach Galigan, movie star known for “Gremlins” (1984) and “Waxwork.”  Zach is still stunning. What a life!  One day you’re making movies for Spielberg and 30 years later you’re getting a $5 bill from Dave Zarkin to have your photo taken by a stranger.

MORE CRYPTICON

Felix Silla of “Return of the Jedi” was a featured celebrity at the Bloomington Crypticon.  The “exhibitors” and discussions were outstanding at my first spooky convention devoted to horror movies and related media.

CRYPTON MADNESS

Adams Family and Star Trek Next Generation actor Corel Struycken was kind enough to pose for a guy in a Spooky World t-shirt that Evon Minelli gave me in 2006.  I need to wash it.

BAD MOVIE PRODUCER AT CRYPTICON

Craig Muckler, producer of ”Microwave Massacre,”  is just one of the many crazy stories at Crypticon in Bloomington last night.  The movie is several years old and features the tag line:  “they came for dinner to find they were it!”  Comedian Jackie Vernon starred in this epic.

CRYPTICON CONFIDENTIAL

“Friday the 13th” star Betsy Palmer dismissed the script for this movie as a piece of bleep and did the movie because she needed $10,000 to buy a car, according to Adrienne King who played Alice in the movie.  King, who spoke at Bloomington’s Crypticon horror event Friday Oct. 24, 2014, said expectations for the movie were low, the script was written as the movie was being made and the production ran out of money twice during filming.  

King’s favorite scene in the movie involved a snake and a machete.  Palmer knocked King down in a scene where the Alice character is slapped.  Despite the rough stuff, King said that Palmer made her a better actress during the 10 days Palmer was on location in New York State with the 1979 movie.

King is a painter and operates Crystal Lake Wines (a homage to the movie) in Oregon.

HOW TO SCARE THE KIDS THIS HALLOWEEN

Chris Costello of Forest Lake is dedicated to Halloween, classic Universal Pictures Gothic horror films and building a front yard fright scene.  He spoke with boyish enthusiasm Friday night at Bloomington’s Crypticon fright festival.  Costello is featured on YouTube in a Halloween documentary filmed by a teenage fan.  You can find him on Facebook’s Thursday Night Fright Night movies for kids.

WHAT I DID FOR THE CONFEDERACY

When I first saw the 1939 “Gone with the Wind” it was in 1967 at the historic Ada/Egyptian Theater in Boise so I hadn’t much of a clue about the story before I saw it again (in HD) for the second time yesterday in a nearby mall cineplex.  In GWTW’s four hours we see Scarlett O’Hara (played brilliantly by Vivien Leigh) go from flirty school girl to a money-grubbing capitalist.

Scarlett is the strong take charge mistress of Tara, the family estate and cotton plantation, as the men are slaughtered on the battle field and her father goes insane.  In the first two hours, we learn of the horrors of war and anti-hero and river boat gambler Rhett Butler points out the futility and stupidity of the Confederacy going against the industrialized north.  The Butler character is a free spirit beholding to no one but himself who states the obvious throughout the film:  Scarlett is a self-centered opportunist and engages in marriage as a profit-making venture.  

1930s heartthrob Clark Gable had to be Butler with his winning good looks and sex appeal, but Ms. Scarlett is not swayed but his charms and yearns for the gentile manners of aristocratic Ashley Wilkes (played by British actor Leslie Howard.)  Her obsession with Wilkes and then her realization that Butler loves her leads to her sorrow but comes too late in her story.  Butler walks out the door, proclaiming:  “Frankly, I don’t give a damn.”

A post-war melodrama is the focus of the second two hours and is somewhat of a let down given the heightened drama of the previous two hours with the burning of Atlanta.  

African American actress Hattie McDaniel received an Oscar for her performance as the slave maid “Mamie” but was not allowed to attend the premier in 1939 in an Atlanta, Ga., theater in less enlightened times.  GWTW portrays African Americans in racial stereotypes associated with the 1930s and 40s in this country.  The movie is being shown during its 75th anniversary in theaters nationwide.  A PBS documentary on the war describes in greater detail the horrors of the Civil War with corpses of dead soldiers rotting in the fields.  I found it amazing that after 75 years an audience exists for any movie, but this one is special. 

Campy Gothic Horror Sendup is a Delight

I willingly drifted into Charles Ludlam’s ultra campy Gothic horror sendup “The Mystery of Irma Vep” last night at the Jungle Theater wherein Lady Enid and Lord Edgar attempt to learn more about the death of Edgar’s first wife, Irma.  A gander at the set for the British library drawing room country estate is worth the price of admission.  It’s like Roger Corman and Mario Bava on acid designed this nightmare.  I admit to being a willing captive of this subversive humor.  A garish portrait on the wall reminds us of Irma’s haunting presence as we are assaulted by a vampire, werewolf and mummy and are treated to that old standby, the wall that opens up to unspeakable horror.  No one slept while this three-ring zany circus was underway.

Bradley Greenwald and Stephen Cartmell are the incredible actors in this manic fast-paced tour de farce that has to be experienced up close to get the full measure of their insanity.  They play the roles of the butler, maid, werewolf, vampire, Egyptian guide and Lady and Lord Hillcrest.  We hold our breath as they do numerous costume and makeup changes in hopes that the maid will appear with Lord Edgar’s mustache, but to no avail. 

Of course the duo have to travel to ancient Egypt to converse with the mummy in hopes of learning how poor Irma met her untimely demise.  Having enjoyed Charles Busch’s “Die Mommy Die” I was a ripe candidate for this over the top nonsense.  It’s difficult to imagine how “Dracula the Musical” in October at the Howard Conn Theater will top this burlesque journey.  We shall see and then report to you faithful readers.  Stay tuned.  

"Yum Yum" Not a Tasty Treat in 1963

Didn’t we suffer through some rotten movies in the ‘60s?  Dean Jones doesn’t look like the dude who would agree to a chaste trial marriage with a sadistic professional virgin played by Carol Lynley in “Under the Yum Yum Tree.”  This movie got a lot of hype in LA in 1963 so I took a date to see it at Grauman’s Chinese Theater which was a big deal then. 

It’s being shown this month on GetTV so I revisited it and got a slice of the LA lifestyle circa 1963.  Horny bachelors of the day favored garish apartments with red walls and drove customized cardinal red Imperials.  Jack Lemmon played the lecherous bachelor landlord of the apartment building where the unwed couple cohabited while Walter Matthau or Don Rickles would be better.  The story dithers into a tit for tat Laurel and Hardy slapstick scene with Jones and Lemmon.  Reason to see this mess:  Paul Lynde as the gardener and Imogene Cocoa as the maid.  Lynley had an evil look that better suites her to “Dracula’s Daughter” than a romcom.  James Darren sings the title song and he could have handled the Jones role.  When it came to ‘60s comedies, AIP nailed it with the beach movies franchise.

THE LIFE LESS ORDINARY

He was the most famous wrier of his generation and she was determined not to be “a footnote to  someone else’s life” which didn’t bode well for the merger of Ernest Hemingway and pioneer woman war correspondent Martha Gellhorn.  Their tumultuous relationship is brought to the screen in the compelling “Hemingway and Gellhorn” film directed by Philip Kaufman.  I noticed this DVD at library checkout while I was picking up “A Stricken Field,” Gellhorn’s novelized account of covering the human tragedies in World War II Central Europe.  

With Gellhorn, the macho Hemingway more than met his match.  Nicole Kidman is outstanding as Martha and Clive Owen is memorable as the Hemingway who was boozing and fishing while the “misses” was covering the war for Collier’s magazine.  (I previously read her Collier’s articles.)  Hemingway dismissed Gellhorn as a “journalist” writing human interest stories.  When Hemingway stole her Collier assignment to cover the Normandy Invasion, she found a way to scoop him on that story by going undercover as a nurse on a British hospital ship accompanying the troops.  In a memorable scene, Joan Chen plays Madame Chiang Kai-shek  at a dinner with the Hemingways with Gellhorn raising unpleasant references to Chinese poverty and hunger.  While Hemingway feared being branded a communist sympathizer, Gellhorn confronted social justice issues head-on.

In the scenes involving the Spanish Civil War, John DosPesos, photographer Robert Capa and movie director Joris Ivens (“The Spanish Earth”) are featured.  European war scenes are shown in grainy sepia tone or two color (Cinecolor) process.  It worked for me, particularly when  matched with Richard Attenborough’s “In Love and War,” which is the “Fairwell to Arms” story about Hemingway being rejected by the nurse Agnes who recounts the affair thusly:  “The hurt boy became an angry man.”  Now I need to find a decent DVD of “Farewell to Arms,” the original.

“Philo Vance Returns” (after 60 years)

Imagine my joy when oldies.com advertised the long lost 1947 PRC Pathe thriller “Philo Vance Returns” which I last saw on KXLY’s Early Show in 1953 at the Barkers’ house on their Teleking TV set.  Vance solves the case of the killer lady with William Wright in the lead and directed by William Beaudine (one shot Willie) who is well known for his Monogram Charlie Chan mysteries.  Kudos to Films Around the World Video for making a viewable movie from both 35mm and 16mm prints.  I knew that the perpetrator was a woman but didn’t know her name.  

Even Big Budgets Couldn’t Save Musicals

In 1969 with Kent State, the Vietnam War and the cultural revolution, TCF released the 1964 musical hit “Hello Dolly” with a miscast lead and an inept director.  Anyone surprised that it flopped?  Young movie audiences were still grooving on “The Graduate” and “Wild in the Streets.”  Matthew Kennedy provides a history of movie musicals from 1960 to present day in “Roadshow: the fall of film musicals in the 1960s.”  Roadshow movies were a big city 70mm phenomena with tickets $4.50 and a souvenir program for sale in the lobby.   “Around the World in 80 Days” was  the only roadshow I remember in Spokane and Boise certainly was not a roadshow venue. 

Kennedy argues that the big studios had numerous roadshow failures because of inattention to details of casting and production.  When I was a Idaho Statesman reporter, my office mate Ken Burrows covered filming of “Paint Your Wagon” in nearby Baker, Ore.  This was a very expensive stinker with Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin, but a big deal for the Treasure Valley of Idaho and Oregon.   

Kennedy credits “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” “Fiddler on the Roof” and “The Sound of Music” as being among the winners.  The loser list is too long but includes “Star!”, “Dr. Doolittle” and “Hello, Dolly,” all from TCF which had to sell properties to raise cash and stay afloat.  The British got it right with “Oliver!” although Kennedy dismisses this movie even though it was commercially successful.  American International Pictures, with its beach musicals and horror movies, made money while the big boys hemorrhaged cash.  

Kennedy omitted “Across the Universe” and “Xanadu” in his discussion of movie musicals and these are two of my favorites.  With multiplex movie theaters today hungry for patrons, apparently the 3-D novelty is over, which is reminiscent of what became of big budget musicals in the 1960s.  Art houses are an alternative but often are not centrally located and are in areas with few parking possibilities.

YOU DON’T KNOW JACK

Amidst the regal splendor of Big Sur, beat novelist Jack Kerouac has an alcohol induced nervous breakdown in the 2013 movie “Big Sur” based on the Kerouac novel of the same name.  Kerouac is a conflicted tortured soul with feelings for Neal and Caroline Cassady.  Kate Bosworth plays Billie who is having affairs with both Jack and Neal.   Book store owner Lawrence Ferenghetti advises Jack that his problem is drinking red wine whereas he should stick with the white.  Jack is very much a pathetic mess here in his ‘40s and not enjoying the notoriety of “On the Road.”  If you are into the Beat Generation and all things Jack, this is for you (on DVD.)  The scenery is superb on the northern California coast.

BURIAL MARKETING 101

MINNEAPOLIS — What do I know about napkin etiquette lunching with ladies today at the turn of the century Woman’s Club (singular)?  Apparently, leave it on the chair when you excuse yourself to go to the buffet table.  We were guests of Margaret and Tom today for lunch at the club and a field trip to the Lakewood Cemetery on the shores of Lake Calhoun where Sen. Wellstone and Vice President Humphrey rest.  This was a choice marketing opportunity for Lakewood’s Mr. Joyboy who narrated an hour long slide show and conducted the bus tour of the grounds.  Most of us were long in tooth matrons contemplating the world beyond so we were prime prospects for Lakewood so we were treated to the grand mausoleum and the historic art deco chapel.  Joyboy nixed the notion that Uncle Charlie’s ashes go on the mantel but should rest in the mausoleum.  Lakewood is contemplating full service with a funeral home on the grounds.  Bowing to the technologically chic, they now have wifi on the grounds so there’s no need to show up for a funeral.  Get a friend to Skype the proceedings and watch it on your phone or computer without ever leaving home.  If any of this reminds you of Forest Lawn and “The Loved One,” we are on the same page.  

MY FAIR LADY

MINNEAPOLIS — It was SRO last night at the Guthrie and I was in the nose bleed section but what a night!  Tyler Michaels stole the show with “On the Street Where You Live” on a bicycle no less.  The ‘60s movie of the same name suffers by comparison to the Guthrie effort here which features leads who actually sing (unlike Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn.)  And who didn’t have a MFL LP in 1956?  Here’s mine that I bought at Newberry’s in Spokane.  The movie is based on the 1938 RKO/Rank movie “Pygmalion” which is excellent.

Bizarre "It's All Happening" Exploits Brit 60s Pop Scene

For a hilarious look at the pre-Beetle pop music scene in England, have a gander at the British 1963 film “It’s All Happening” with teen idol Tommy Steele.  The “Boy on the Beach” number is quite campy and the last half-hour features several bizarre musical acts that must have been popular in Great Britain at the time.  In the U.S., we had “Rock Around the Clock,” which was also a mashup of pop music acts and an annoying plot.  The rock/pop exploitation genre has produced some wonderfully bad stuff from the 50s and 60s.

JOURNALISM SCHOLARS GATHER AT UM SYMPOSIUM

MINNEAPOLIS — A panel of experts today at the University of Minnesota agreed that the ruling related to First Amendment press freedom, New York Times v. Sullivan, should stand although a petition has been filed with the court to over rule it.

They spoke at an event at the Humphrey School honoring the legacy of the late Donald M. Gillmor, Silha professor emeritus of journalism law.  (He was my advisor in Graduate School where my emphasis was Mass Media as a Social Institution with emphasis on urban affairs.  My star papers were on urban renewal in St. Paul.)

The panel heard a timely query from a law school student:  “Everyone is a journalist with social media on the internet.  They share without thinking.  What can be done about it?" The moderator said it can’t be controlled.

Among those attending the event was Gary Gilson, who taught a UofM OLLI class on television and was a producer at public TV stations in Los Angeles and Minneapolis.

Lunch was in the Humphrey Forum which engulfs you in a huge all things Hubert H. Humphrey collage.  I got a chance to chat briefly with Carol Lacey, whose byline I recognized from years gone by at the Pioneer Press.  In the ‘70s and ’80s when reporters had interesting timely beats, Lacey was the emerging women’s movement reporter.  She covered the 1976 Year of the Women events and now is an associate professor in individualized studies at Metro State University, St. Paul.  Read more about Lacey at:  

http://carollacey.efoliiomn.com

HAVE A VERY JEWISH EASTER

MINNEAPOLIS — About 350 people braved the cold and sleet to attend the annual Passover Sedar and feast at St. Joan of Arc Church in south Minneapolis last night.  The event combines many familiar elements of a traditional seder with some Christian ritual at the end.  Peace, brotherhood and let’s celebrate spring if it ever happens were the themes.  It’s definitely “sedar light” and somewhat raucous when held in this cavernous gymnasium.

I was introduced to the Rev. Fr. Jim Debracy as at the “Jewish” guy and after the event he wanted my evaluation which of course was positive.  Debracy impressed me with his 1980s stay in Jerusalem where he studied scripture and was recruited off the street to join a Saturday morning service at a local synagogue.  He was happy to do it.  Last night Debracy sported the embroidered yamicah that he bought in the Holy Land.

Joan of Arc is as progressive as the Catholics get in the Northland and those I met were a friendly lot.  Also attending was Lisa, who is Jewish and a student with me in the UofM OLLI classes.

Much traditional Jewish music added to the merriment which included the ritual folk dance that we all know accompanied by the accordion player from the Gashaus restaurant.   “Let My People Go,” which will be reprised Saturday for the Or Emet Jewish Humanist Sedar, was part of the group sing- along.  To recognize the inclusion of gays and lesbians at Joan of Arc, orange slices were on the tables and this will be part of Or Emet’s Sedar as well at First Unitarian Society in Minneapolis.

I would like to think that the Broadway musical “Fiddler on the Roof” has sparked Christian awareness of Jewish traditions, particularly with anthems like “Tradition” and “To Life.”  So it was no coincidence that last week a conservative Christian congregation in suburban Seattle had a successful run with “Fiddler” and it was a hit here at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater and Edina High School in recent months.  It brings a message that we like to hear repeatedly.

Bert Stern May Have Been Mad But He's Not Don Draper

If you remember the ads for the movie “Lolita” with Sue Lyons in heart shaped sunglasses then you need to see the documentary “Bert Stern, the Original Mad Man,” directed by Shannah  Laumeister.   Stern was the creative photographer genius behind other notable efforts including “Jazz on a Summer’s Day,” the loving tribute to Anita O’Day and the ’59 Newport Jazz Festival.  With an eye for framing the shot and with Hollywood good looks, Stern was riding high in the swinging ‘60s.  Laumeister is brave for attempting a film about such an opinionated, critical genius, but Stern wasn’t an advertising agency executive and not the model for Don Draper.

http://www.bertsternmadman.com

"House of Wax" -- B Movie With 3-D Novelty Gimmicks

Smoldering timbers were falling on me last night at the Walker Art Center’s showing of the 1953 3-D classic “House of Wax” which is a remake of of ‘30s two color film, “Mystery of the Wax Museum.” I had seen “House” in 1963 at a revival in 2-D at a movie palace in downtown Los Angeles.  The beginning and climatic end of the movie are griping but it slows down whenever Frank Lovejoy, who plays the cop, is on the screen.  Phyllis Kirk is the obligatory damsel in distress.

There’s a bit where a vaudeville performer uses a paddle with a small ball attached by a rubber string to annoy the audience.

It was the first major studio 3-D movie.  Now we need to see “The French Line.”

"Mission to Moscow" is Memorable WW2 Propoganda

It was easy to hate the enemy but difficult to love all our allies when we were teamed with the Soviet Union in World War II.  So in 1943 brave major studio Warner Bros. released “Mission to Moscow,” based on Amb. Joseph Davies book of the same name.  It’s fascinating war propaganda showing a train station in Germany where prisoners await transfer to the labor camps contrasted with Moscow where there’s plenty of caviar, fun and military hardware.  An actor portrays Stalin as a genteel soul.  The actual diplomat Davies makes a disclaimer at the start that he is pro capitalism but we can’t let Russia’s assets fall into Nazi hands.  At this time there was considerable anti-communist, anti-Stalin sentiment amongst the news media and politicians in the U.S.  Walter Huston portrays Davies and Michael Curtiz is the director.  A lobby poster from the film was part of the Rominov display at the Museum of Russian Art in Minneapolis.

http://www.ovguide.com/mission-to-moscow-9202a8c04000641f80000000005c8874