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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

1955 movie: East of Eden

"East of Eden" was based on a book of the same title by John Steinbeck.
The title is inspired by the story of Cain and Abel; a story of the first murder and of the evil in man’s nature.

“East of Eden” is set in 1917 in the Salinas valley; beautiful farming country.

James Dean stars as Cal, the son of Adam Raymond Massey.
Cal has a split personality. Half the time he is fearless; jumps onto moving trains and rides to another town trying to contact his mother, the madam of a bordello. He ignores the bouncer who looks like he would have no problem smashing Cal’s head.

The other half of the time he seems to have the emotional maturity of an eight year old. Unable to stand still, chin on chest he pouts and stammers. I felt embarrassed for the kid, his emotions were shocking and disturbing for a man that age. Seeing Cal’s misery gives me the impression that much of the book has been left out of the movie.

Cal’s frayed emotions are supposed to be the result of a lifetime of enduring his father’s disapproval. The father openly favors the brother; Aron. Aron, Richard Davalos. Aron is not overly bright or ambitious and I am guessing, has always been easily manipulated by the father. Although clearly more intelligent and capable than Aron, Cal is constantly reprimanded by the father while Aron is showered with praise.. The more Cal tries to win the father’s approval, through inventive ideas and hard work, the more he is reprimanded.

Cal and Aron’s mother is Kate: Jo Van Fleet. The brothers have always believed the father’s story that the mother died when they were born. Apparently they are twins although this is not really clear in the movie. The truth Cal discovers is that the mother abandoned the husband and both sons when they were infants. Cal believes he must remind the father of her and that she, like he, is inherently bad.

Ironically, the father’s ambition was to leave behind something worthwhile. He wanted to be the farmer to bring refrigeration into farm operations. His enduring legacy; his sons, he managed to destroy.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

As he was a nice guy, Mike occasionally bought a DVD with me in mind. “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” was one of those. This movie always makes me happy. Rocky Horror is a spoof of the wonderful old science fiction movies made in the 50's and 60's. It is very loosely based on the Frankenstein story.

It was a dark and stormy night...
Brad Majors and Janet Weiss, A.K.A.: A..hole and Chicken Legs, ( Berry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon) are taking a very long drive without a spare tire. This is the first of several brilliant decisions they make which lead the plot along.
They get a flat. Well, how about that?
“Didn’t we pass a castle...?”
“Maybe they have a telephone we could use?”

At the castle Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry) is “making a man, with blond hair and a tan”: Rocky.
When Rocky runs amuck Frank-N-Furter wonders if he made a mistake splitting his brain...
Ahhh, what are the odds? 50-50?

In the late 70's, when I lived in Portland, Oregon, the Clinton Street Theater was a few blocks from my apartment. Every Saturday near midnight a crowd of Rocky fans gathered on the sidewalk to wait for the theater doors to open. Many were in skimpy, sequined costumes.
I had to see this movie! The audience was armed with flashlights, toast, newspaper, rice and I don’t remember what all. Clinton Street Theater has a stage. Throughout the movie, costumed fans walked out on the stage to deliver lines and sing along with the actors on the screen. People staying in their seats participated by using the props they had brought in and making scripted comments. What fun! See it and if you are bold, “be it”

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

1946 movie: "The Yearling"



Mike taped this one on VHS ages ago. "The Yearling" is a wonderful tribute to fathers. The movie is based on a book of the same title by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings written in 1938.

Gregory Peck plays Ezra 'Penny' Baxter. The movie starts with his return from the Civil War in 1878. Ezra wanted to live as far from civilization as possible. He found his retreat in the scrub country of Lake George Florida. There he made a home for himself, wife Orry, played by Jane Wyman and only surviving child: Jody played by Claude Jarman Jr.
There in the scrub country they scratched out a living. With work and planning they could manage their basic needs. Anything beyond their basic needs involved luck and sacrifice.

Remoteness from civilization came at a heavy cost. A doctor might be a day or more away. Shopping also involved a long trip and there was no school for Jody.

Jody grew up an only child. His four siblings were buried on their farm. Jody was lonely and having no playmates; longed for a pet.

Ezra, wanted to delay the day when Jody would have to give up the carefree joy of childhood and accept the hard reality of life: If you don’t work, you don’t eat. If you don’t eat you starve.
It’s not much of a world, but it’s all we’ve got. Ezra Baxter

If you have children you know how hard it is to watch your child experience life’s painful lessons, especially if you are not sure which cost is greater: the lesson or not learning it.
After much contemplation, Ezra decides to let Jody raise an orphaned fawn and spend one carefree summer just being a kid. The whole family must share the consequences of that decision.

If you have children I recommend both the book and the movie. The Yearling is a wonderful read-aloud book. There are many character voices to play with and the unfamiliar can be explained when it is encountered. For the same reasons I highly recommend reading aloud: "Summer of the Monkeys", also by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.
I read a chapter of this every day to our son when he was twelve. Mike was soon drawn into this story and we began waiting for him each day before reading the next chapter.

I see "The Yearling" is available on DVD now too.