Brit Wit, Not Shtick
The sort of humor that the British do so very well indeed.
How very, very witty!
Springtime Cabin Fever Music
A 70’s collection of songs about avoiding crowds, either by choice… or not. I played all of these, except for ‘Isolation’, during my AM radio DJ days on an Adult Contemporary station.
Eric Carmen’s ‘All By Myself’ is based upon Rachmaninoff’s Concerto for Piano #2, featured 30 years earlier in the superb David Lean film, Brief Encounter. Written by Noel Coward, this deftly nuanced, devastating study of two married, middle-aged people who fall crashingly in love is the finest example of a truly adult film in the best sense of the term. Celia Johnson is beyond wonderful in this role.
Thinking Out Loud
Self-reflection by someone with years of experience in social isolation.
https://youtu.be/B8A1dqsiNSI
Whole Lotta Wrecking Goin’ On
Something that I thought I’d posted last year I now realize I didn’t, so here it is now. The Wrecking Crew movie.
Recycled Space
I’ve talked about Byron Haskin here before. Haskin had quite the varied and interesting career in Hollywood. He is perhaps best known for directing The War of the Worlds in 1953, which is one of my favorite movies.
Here I am with Ann Robinson last November. Ann is a delight to meet with and chat, and I couldn’t resist buying that model of the Martian war machine.
Haskin had a knack for coming up with quick and economical special effects. He had worked with director Frank Capra on Arsenic and Old Lace, and it’s my suspicion that he produced the outer space effect at the opening to It’s a Wonderful Life. I say that because the footage was recycled by Haskin in S1:E29 of The Outer Limits.