Enough is as Good as a Feast

Mary Poppins is enjoying a resurgence in fame. There is a new biography of P. L. Travers, the author, that has just emerged: Mary Poppins, She Wrote, by by Valerie Lawson. In addition, Disney is premiering Saving Mr. Banks this Christmas- a description of the the original Disney's fight for the right to the book.

By Definition, Film Noir...

Director Fritz Lang lived in both the silent film era and the one of the "talkies". Three particular films illustrate this evolution incredibly: Metropolis, M, and Scarlet Street. Metropolis is a silent film, with big gestures and a constant musical score. M is the bridge between silent film and synchronized sound; there is dialogue, cars honking, and even whistling. Not every scene, however, contains sound. Here, Lang takes the best of the silence and sound.

Scarlet Street is an entirely different story. It is film noir at its finest, and the film from which the above stills were taken. It tells a fantastic story of middle-aged Christopher Cross, Kitty, the girl he becomes infatuated with, and Johnny, her unscrupulous fiance. Now, film noir generally contains: a mostly decent man is talked into immoral or illegal activities by a femme fatale, and his downward spiral. Scarlet Street follows this pattern wonderfully. It is also full of dialogue, showing that Lang is really a director who can work with everything he has.



Play it Again, Sam! (or not)

I've just finished a watched of "Casablanca", that swoon-inducing movie that practically invented romantic clichés. Surprisingly, the ever-quoted "Play it again, Sam!" line isn't actually in the film. Here, however, are several other beautiful lines:
There's the ever popular: "We'll always have Paris."
Or, my special favorite: "...I have a feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."