Murder, Torture, Death Camp Told in Kovaly Memoir

A survivor of Aushwitz and the cruelty of Stalin’s communism and the widow of murdered Jewish deputy minister of foreign trade has written a devastating memoir, “Under A Cruel Star: A Life in Prague 1941-68.”  This 1986 book by Heda Margolius Kovaly, was a must read for my Central European history class on the U of M Campus.  Kovaly's first husband was Rudolph Margouilis who was hung by the communist government in a show trial prompted by Stalin's anti semitism.
This is my great Central European fall where I was surprised to learn that the 1971 movie “Fiddler on the Roof” was filmed in Yugoslavia, a communist country ruled by the maverick Marshal Tito.

Nia and Toni Are Super in "Connie & Carla" drag queen comedy

“I loved you in “What’s the Matter With Helen” (a campy 70s AIP horror slasher flick with Debbie Reynolds and Shelley Winters) a drag queen says to Ms. Reynolds in the musical comedy “Connie and Carla.”  C&C is a redo of “Some Like it Hot” with straight women played by Nia Vardalos and Toni Collette escaping from the gangsters and doing very bad cabaret numbers.  I am mean but I love the reference to “Helen” and too bad no one asked if a redo of “Bundle of Joy” might be considered?  C&C has it’s moments and more worthwhile were the interviews with the director and stars on the DVD.  Ms. Collette is memorable in a whole bunch of films and the TV series “United States of Tara.”  Seen with “Girls will be Girls” (a men in drag comedy), C&C is a fun night at the movies.  The Debbie warbles a few notes as well.  Also  plan to see “Helen” on Halloween.

Rain Musical is Big Bloomington Hit

Kudos to Bloomington Civic Theater music director Anita Ruth and “Singin’ in the Rain” director Michael M. Ferrell on the sold out performances on going.  Not since “”42nd Street,” have local audiences appreciated the familiar tunes and the ‘30s nostalgia that is the big draw.  Enough with Sondheim!
Although the stage was free of rain, it worked for me.  Jeffrey Nelson is a standout as Cosmo, the Donald O’Connor role in the movie.  Some of the more memorable tunes are “You Are My Lucky Star,” “Good Morning,” “You Stepped Out of a Dream” and of course the title song.  Too bad you missed it.

"Madame X" is Hilariously Bad, Smaltzy Melodrama

I am screaming at the TV to Keir Dullea, “she’s your mother,” where Lana Turner is dying in the final scene of Universal-International’s 1966 schmaltzy melodrama “Madame X.”  Ms. Turner’s acting must have been inspired by Veda Ann Borg’s scenes in “Revenge of the Zombies,” but then Ms. Borg didn’t have any dialogue in that Monogram epic.  We are asked to believe that a 40-something Turner is the mother of a toddler.  Pleaz.  Somehow I think this would have been a better effort with Douglas Sirk directing and Dorothy Malone or Piper Laurie in the title role.  This was a Ross Hunter production and he scored successes with “Imitation of Life” and the Doris Day Rock Hudson comedies.  After MGM unraveled Ms. Turner found herself at U-I, which was definitely a different kettle of fish for her.  Poor thing.  She would have been great in “This Island Earth.”

Hedlund is Amazing in "On the Road" Movie

The iconic subversive ‘50s heroes Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassidy have finally made it to the big screen in the art house film, “On The Road.”  It took 61 years of breathless anticipation to reach this happy day.

For what it’s worth, Garret Hedlund is a knockout as the manic Neal Cassidy and Sam Riley isn’t bad as Kerouac.  Our erstwhile adventurers get wasted on drugs, booze and sex, but learn something about life if they could only remember what it was.  I felt like I was on the road to San Franciosco and Mexico with those amazing lads that were like a fantasy as I read the classic novel in the early 1980s. 

I am always late to the game and in my case I was watching “Father Knows Best” while Jack and Neal were boozing and debauching internationally.  Although Kerouac has been dismissed as a great or talented writer, “On the Road” and references to Jack and Neal are part of the lexicon we know. Women are relegated to submissive roles in both the movie and book and that is addressed in the documentary “New York in the ‘50s.”  You will also enjoy the “Ken Kessey’s Magic Tour” movie where Cassidy is the driver so get ready for adventure (in the ditch).  I watched both after seeing “On the Road.”

Late '60s Were Prime for British Comedies

The romantic comedy has been much maligned in recent years, but it wasn’t always a formalistic tired mess.  My all time favorite romcoms are from the late ‘60s and feature nebbish heroes, their flawed mentors and direction that reflects the free spirited sexual liberation underway then.
I saw all of theses at the Vista Theater in Boise and all are available on DVD or VHS.  They would be considered ‘art house by today’s standards.
British director Richard Lester led the way in 1965 with “The Knack” featuring Michael Crawford and Rita Tushingham, both kind of virgins lost in London, who navigate their way through a maze of crazy people to find each other.  Lester is best known for directing the Beattles in “A Hard Day’s Night.”
Was Frances F. Coppola influenced by the “Knack” when he made “You’re A Big Boy Now” in New York in 1967?  There are a lot of whimsical moments reminiscent of “The Knack” involving Peter Kastner and the bitchy go go dancer Barbara Darling played by Elizabeth Hartman, who is the object of his desire.  This is another poor soul lost in the big city who finds happiness with the girl next door type played by Karen Black.  Geraldine Page is memorable as the neurotic mom and Julie Harris is brilliant as the sexually repressed landlady.  The city is celebrated including the Bryant Park library and Central Park in Big Boy.
Another British gem is “Bedazzled” with nebbish Dudley Moore selling his soul to the devil played by Peter Cooke.  Moore, Cooke and British actress Elizabeth Braun lead us on a merry romp through unrequited love in contemporary London with a bit of social commentary on advertising and religion. Stanley Donen was the director who also directed two other British gems at that time, “Two for the Road” and “Charade,” and the later two had memorable Henry Mancini music

Wall Street Crime, Marriage Featured in Woody Film

News of a big New Jersey real estate stink involving Vikings owner Ziggi Wulf broke a day before the new Woody Allen movie, ‘Blue Jasmine,” also dealing with corporate shenanigans, opened here.
Good for Woody working today’s headlines into a drama about marriage infidelity and insanity in New York and San Francisco, a bi-coastal affair as it were.
Poor Woody must be in a dark mood theses days because although Blue Jasmine got four stars in the Tribune our small group found it disturbing and wished we had spent the $10 elsewhere.
The story is an eerie likeness to actual events in the 50s involving an aunt by marriage and the breakup of their marriage.
Cate Blanchett no doubt will be nominated for awards as well as Woody Allen, the director.  Alec Baldwin plays the corrupt capitalist/cheating husband.  Myself, I would have preferred Tina Fey as the wife with Tina and Alec exchanges GE and Comcast jibes.  I console myself with Netflix which has “Manhattan” at my fingertips.  Call me old fashioned.

Bacharach Has Written His Autobiography

Rod McKuen wrote a song, “For Bert,”which honored band leader Bert Kaempfert who had some hits in the 50s so why hasn’t anyone done the same for the Burt who wrote the music of my life?  Based on his autobiography, “Anyone Who Had A Heart,” Burt Bacharach commands a biopic or a song.  Anyone up to the task?
Bacharach certainly had the Hollywood leading man looks to star in his own biopic.  There is a rich history of Hollywood music industry musicals with Republic Pictures leading the way in the late 30s -- “Rhythm in the Clouds,” “Sitting on the Moon,” “Manhattan Merry-go-round” and “The Hit Parade.”
Burt B. is definitely a “babe magnet” and much of the book chronicles his romantic life including Angie Dickinson (wife) and Slim Brandy (girl friend with a funny name.)
My eyes glazed over with much of the fine detail on recording studio personnel but his hit song for Jack Jones, “Wives and Lovers,” is my sentimental favorite from 1963 played on RKO’s KHJ-AM in 1963.  We love you Burt.
Incidentally, his father Bert B., was a syndicated columnists for Hearst and I would read him in the Seattle P-I.

Way Way Back, Can't Stop the Music, both amusing

Eighteen year old newcomer Liam James is what the movie “Way Way Back,” is about-- a 14 year old in a dysfunctional family with mom played by Toni Collette and her boyfriend, the jerk,  played by Steve Carrel.  James keeps your interest but it’s Allison Janey as a middle aged floozie who steals scenes. Yet Collette could have played that part as well.
If you enjoyed “Away We Go,” this is the movie for you where the teenager is the catalyst for change and an affable water park manager played by Sam Rockwell is his off center mentor.  WWB is an unexpected surprise during a spring and summer where I have had difficulty staying awake in the multiplexes.
I haven’t checked, but James has got to be on the cover of every preteen fanzine at Walgreens and CVS.
If you enjoyed Janey as the uptight mom in “Hairspray,” than WWB will given you a different slant on motherhood.

“Can’t Stop the Music,” a campy 1980 musical with the Village People, Bruce Jenner and Valerie Perrine, was a special request that I showed at a movie party today four of my friends.  It’s over the top fun with lots of glitter and bad acting.  The movie’s plot was lifted right out of  the 1935-37 Republic musicals about enterprising song writers and agents trying to make it big in the music business.   I found it quite diverting and thank you Instant Netflix.

Keyes Biography is Entertaining Look at 40s, 50s Hollywood

Evelyn Keyes writes eloquently about navigating the stormy seas of romance and matrimony in the 1940-50 period during quite paternalistic times.  Her poor choices in suitors included Charles Vidor, John Huston, Mike Todd and Artie Shaw, all sexists and in some cases racist.  There’s way too much in ‘Scarlett O’Hara’s Younger Sister” about John and Mike and not enough about her outstanding acting in “The Prowler,” a film noir released by United Artists  that is basic Movie 101 viewing. 
Apparently there is no ghost writer on this book which makes Ms. Keyes the author of one of the best written Hollywood biographies.
Those of us that watch the Sony movie channels are treated to many of her ‘40s movies including “Johnny O’Clock” and “The Jolson Story.”
Her recollections about Artie Shaw’s compulsive obsessive behavior confirms what I heard in 2005 from a cousin who was friends with the famed bandleader.

My Own Private Idaho, Revisited

BOISE -- I had much needed respite from Minnesota in Idaho this past week starting with "Sweeney Todd" at outdoor amphitheater and the performance exceeded my expectations.
Took friends Duane (from Mrs. Cook's boarding house) and his wife Nancy to the Stampede, a real red neck Christian conservative hootenanny.
Stayed at most exotic Idaho Heritage Inn, former mansion of the Falks (department store) and Gov. Chase Clark with special display of books and photos featuring Sen. Frank Church, husband of Bethene Clark.
Big music award event this weekend at the Egyptian Theater, lovingly restored with private money.
We ate at most wonderful Boise Stage Stop on Highway 20-30 and who can forget the story I wrote for The Statesman on the 20-30 Trots and food poisoning.  Food at Stage Stop was excellent.
Trip to Camp David (see photo) was most exotic mountain adventure with blue waters of Cascade Reservoir and smell of the forest.  Dave Frazier wants to cut down trees but I told him to resist that urge.  Dave and I were fishing buddies and coworkers at The Idaho Statesman in the 60s.  What a time to be a reporter.

Comcast Compared to Gilded Age Monopoly

Here’s a good summer read:  “Captive Audience:  The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age,” by Harvard University professor Susan Crawford.
This is about Comcast which has such a commanding presence in high speed internet, cable TV and now movies and TV shows with the NBC Universal merger.  Is this something I should worry about given that I severed ties with Comcast three years ago?  Probably not.
What I did learn is that customers who need something approaching high speed internet are captives of Comcast and the rest of us are settling for considerably less.  According to Prof. Crawford, customers are leaving DSL in favor of Comcast internet and WIFI is not the answer.  So whatever the unfortunate telco is charging for DSL is too much.  We should be able to negotiate lower DSL fees given their anemic presence in the high speed internet world.
Instant Netflix with its recent Emmy nominations may be a threat to Comcast, we can all hope.  With Comcast, a commanding presence in cable TV, now running NBC TV I would imagine that NBC affiliates are nervous about the future of this legacy news and entertainment enterprise.  As a former NBC employee of the RCA era, I too am concerned but not enough to watch most of the NBC shows.  -- dz

Singer Jack Jones Featured in Cheezy Horror Movie

Any illusions you had about romantic singer Jack Jones,  the Michael Buble of his day, are shattered in the inept 1978 British horror movie “The Comeback,” which features Jones in the lead role.
Incredibly ill-advised was this career ending move to make a low-budget thriller rip-off of “Psycho.”  It’s a slash-fest dripping with fake blood on plastic dummies.  The murderers seek revenge for Jones’ recordings that corrupted their teenage daughter years ago.  They must have been listening to some bootleg 8 tracks not readily available in the U.S.
The movie is made in the mansion of the director Peter Walker who may be some rich dilettante who fancies himself a movie director.  Poor Jack must have been at the end of his rope when he appeared in this mess shirtless with dyed light brown hair, a gold tooth and smoking. 
Jones does sing a couple of forgettable numbers that may be available on a RCA LP somewhere.
Masochists will want to visit Instant Netflix to muddle through “The Comeback” which should be called “The Setback.”

Lone Ranger May Be Summer's Box Office Turkey

Having grown up with the “Lone Ranger” on ABC and Mutual Radio and then early TV in Spokane, of course I was drawn to the new movie of the same name with Johnny Deppp as Tonto.  Since I own a DVD of three episodes of the 50s TV show, I was primed with all things LR before going to the movie Thursday.  So I was blown away that the movie uses the same bad guy characters, the Cavendish Gang, that appear in the old TV show.  What took 50 minutes in the 1950s now is 2.5 hours long.  Glenn Strange, the Frankenstein monster at Universal in the 40s, played Butch Cavendish in the 50s TV show
They could have shown this movie in the small Ritz Theater in Spokane for the handful of people who showed up yesterday.  Who remembers the LR and the William Tell Overture theme?  Army Hammer is well cast as the handsome hero as was Clayton Moore in the original.  Much overwhelming are the special effects action scenes involving trains and whatnot.  The surround sound will wake the dead.
Depp is heavily encased in weird makeup and some Halloween costume that would shock the bejezuz out of Jay Silverheels, the original Tonto.
Certainly the Disney Studios has become more generous with violence and suggested gore with the new Lone Ranger than I can remember in any of their offerings of yesteryear.  Also Miss Helena Carter Bonham plays a charming prostitute.
The saving grace for this mediocre movie is the characterization of the railroad capitalists as warmongers involved in evil schemes that result in wholesale carnage.

Subversive, Whimsical "Urinetown" Is Too Much Fun

The satirical whimsical musical “Urinetown” launches well deserved barbs at greedy capitalists, environmental polluters and overblown Broadway musicals including Les Miserables.  It’s the poor versus the rich melodrama set to music.
Directed by John Command, has assembled a talented cast for this over the top spirited romp at the Jungle Theater promises to be this summer’s must see entertainment.
Several clichés are employed here including the handsome hero Billy who battles the evil industrialist Cladwell who is in league with slimy politicians to raise fees at public restrooms.   Cladwell  is a caricature of the Monopoly game capitalist figure with top hat and mustache.
Of courses Billy falls for the blonde beauty, Cladwell’s daughter, another cliché.  Moreover, show stopping production numbers borrow heavily from overblown Hollywood musicals with the Charleston chorus line and the “Negro” spiritual.  All of this poking fun at bad musicals is most endearing.
Although I was most skeptical about this endeavor given the title “Urinetown,” I lost myself in the moment which has to be seen to be believed.

Douglas Captures Flambouyant Liberace Character

Michael Douglas and Matt Damon were very brave to do “Behind the Candelabra,” an entertaining biopic of legendary gay performer Liberace.  Kudos go to the makeup artist or digital genius who transformed the actors from old to gay and back again.

Grotesque, vain and stupid best describe the characters in this melodrama.  Douglas plays Walter Lee Liberace and Damon is his young lover Scott who is not the brightest bulb.  Google Scott Thorson to update his sad story.

Noteworthy are the performances of Debbie Reynolds as Lee’s mom and Rob Lowe as the quack plastic surgeon and happy go lucky drug dispenser.  Reynolds does her Zsa Zsa imitation and Lowe is grotesquely transformed into a 70s nightmare.

For those who lack HBO, this is worth a view on DVD.  The costumes and sets are over the top and it captures the excesses of the era. 

Leonardo is Believable as J, Gatsby

The wealthiest Americans indifference to the poverty surrounding them is a theme in the new “Gatsby” at theaters now.  None of the characters are likable in the latest adaptation of the classic F. Scott Fitzgerald novel “The Great Gatsby”
What is incredibly tacky is the music, with hip hop signaling the arrival of the African Americans and Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” when affluent whites are on screen.
The excessive party scene is overkill and reminiscent of a similar scene in “Moulon Rouge,” also directed by Baz Luhrman, an Australian.
The History Theater here is performing “This Side of Paradise” which has a reference to Fitzgerald’s disillusion with Long Island which may explain Gatsby.
The actress playing Daisy Buchanan whispers and mumbles so I need to get the DVD with closed captions to decipher that mess.  She also has two moles on the side of her neck which look strangely like vampire bites but I don’t recall her in any clinches with Ian Sommerfield or Paul Westerly on “Vampire Diaries.”
The movie is also available in 3-D but I don’t know why.
Leonardo Decaprio look like a leading man in this film as opposed to the sad sacks he played in “The Aviator” and “J. Edgar.”  He is believable as J. Gatsby.  It’s all an illusion.

MILDRED PEARCE MEETS THE BEARDED LADY

In her late career circus movie “Berserk,” an aging Joan Crawford in skimpy attire loses the center ring spotlight to Golda Casimir who plays a singing, dancing bearded lady.  More than a five o’clock shadow, Ms. Casimir sports whiskers that jut out at a 90 degree angle.  Daniel Day Lewis should have been so lucky in Abe Lincoln.  This hilarious bit has to be seen to be believed.
Also unbelievable is the screen affair involving Ms. Crawford and Ty Hardin, a 20 something square jawed hunk who appears shirtless.  Needless to say with the voluptuous Diana Dors involved, both ladies compete for Mr. Hardin’s attention.  Ms. Dors is at her best and treats us to a knock down cat fight with other ladies in the circus troupe.  This inept mess involves murders and a crazed daughter of Crawford played by Judy Geeson.
Crawford recycles her tough broad role bit she is known for in “Johnny Guitar” and “Rain.”  This movie has something for everyone:  Crawford for fans of golden age movies, Hardin for the ladies, Dors for dad and Casimir for fans of the weird.

OLD FUNNY GIRL NOT ALL THAT FUNNY

For her cinematic revival, Barbra Streisand should have picked a circus venue rather  than a road trip with Seth Rogen in “Guilt Trip.”  Fortunately for us and Chevrolet the movie didn’t involve much slapstick with the Chevy Aveo in which they were entombed throughout.  But what was disturbing was the stereotypical Jewish mom role that Streisand recycles here.
Much of the movie is quite boring.  One wonders if Striesand had teamed up with hubby James Brolin for a remake of “Amityville Horror” would it have been more enjoyable?

Entertaining Topp Twins Combine Music and Comedy

The Topp Twins champion equal rights for gays, lesbians and the native New Zealand Maoris in the Topp Twins documentary available on DVD. 
The lesbian ladies take aim at the Kiwi middle class.  In this spot-on comedy bit they shun their quaint every day attire for over the top girlie garb and the dialogue goes something like this:
“You really need to feature gays in your parties and events because they bring so much color.”
“Oh yes, I agree.  They have color.”  (So gays are an entertainment option for straight upper middle class events.)
The triumphs and trials of the sisters are chronicled in this entertaining documentary.  Although the twins appeared in the U.S., I was not aware of their presence on the global stage until a couple of friends recommended the film.  This is definitely time well spent.

Hot Springs Cabins Haunted By Zarkin, Roy Rogers

HOT SPRINGS, S.D. -- A 40 plus year reunion for me was held this past week at the Historic Log Cabins in Hot Springs, S.D.  Last time I was here was September 1969 when I was driving from Boise to Minneapolis to start Fall Term at the University of Minnesota.
I  had dreams featuring Bob Berg and Mrs. Cook, people from my life in the 60s, while at the Roy Rogers cabin.  Photos of the Republic Studios cowboy great decorated the wall.
Last week our group of five enjoyed a one night stay in the historic cabins, only a few blocks from Evans Plunge which was not open when I wanted to go. 
Hot Springs also features a “historic” movie theater and given more time I would have seen “GI Joe” there.