tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37868804524332796302024-02-01T18:57:23.328-08:00A Hundred or More Hidden ThingsThe Life and Films of Vincente Minnelli
by Mark GriffinMark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-9862829609743192802023-06-02T12:14:00.012-07:002023-06-02T12:27:42.824-07:00New York Rocks<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
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It is with great personal pride that I announce the forthcoming release of the new HBO documentary <i>Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed</i>
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The film will have its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival in Manhattan on June 11th, with the HBO broadcast debut following soon after. In between, there will be screenings at film festivals in Provincetown, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
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Participating in this project as an associate producer and consultant has been a true labor of love. Heartfelt Congratulations to director Stephen Kijak, our tireless team of producers and an extraordinary group of interview subjects.
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Special Thanks to Dan Works, Keary Nichols and Alexa Foreman (of TCM) for their assistance with this production.
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<div dir="auto" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;"><a href="https://tribecafilm.com/films/rock-hudson-all-that-heaven-allowed-2023" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://tribecafilm.com/films/rock-hudson-all-that-heaven-allowed-2023</a> </div>
Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-69235693363740649622022-03-21T06:12:00.003-07:002023-06-02T11:25:11.492-07:00Judy 100<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi120gWEQaJniUMTRikGsbKD9pMkCysKaN97mlNd64XXqnBE6Ybk5H91bq7Lv1hxG-TrB-rBlqZvE3vuZXbjTqqKtHHQImLRoI9A43TElswPFTU87uU0YssHYiH6e3cXsHtWP5peMEUz_uKKp8RyBcdrEfP7B454Im-7yfJPVhvWkw9P-FEwdG5RNWw/s1170/meetmeinstlouis-posterart~2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1170" data-original-width="780" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi120gWEQaJniUMTRikGsbKD9pMkCysKaN97mlNd64XXqnBE6Ybk5H91bq7Lv1hxG-TrB-rBlqZvE3vuZXbjTqqKtHHQImLRoI9A43TElswPFTU87uU0YssHYiH6e3cXsHtWP5peMEUz_uKKp8RyBcdrEfP7B454Im-7yfJPVhvWkw9P-FEwdG5RNWw/s320/meetmeinstlouis-posterart~2.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;"><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;"><br /></span></div>The 2022 Bates Film Festival will pay tribute to screen icon Judy Garland with a centennial celebration in Freeport, Maine on April 2nd. At 10am, Nordica Theatre screens Garland's 1944 classic "Meet Me In St. Louis," directed by Vincente Minnelli. This acclaimed MGM musical will be introduced by Minnelli biographer Mark Griffin. </span><p></p><div dir="auto" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;">At 1:30, Griffin hosts "Judy 100: A Centennial Celebration" at Meetinghouse Arts (40 Main Street, Freeport). Attendees will learn about Garland's life and multifaceted career, participate in a trivia contest and view memorabilia from Griffin's personal collection. Both events are free and open to the public. For more information, please visit...</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;"><a href="http://www.bates.edu/bff" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">www.bates.edu/bff</a> </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;"><a href="https://course-wp.bates.edu/rhet391/mark-griffin/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://course-wp.bates.edu/rhet391/mark-griffin/</a></div>Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-52764117336929980742020-02-25T10:14:00.001-08:002022-03-26T11:48:55.257-07:00Maine in The MoviesJoin us as we celebrate Maine's 200th birthday with the 17-city bicentennial event "Maine In The Movies," which showcases 35 films with connections to The Pine Tree State.<br />
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On Wednesday, March 11th at 7pm, Mark Griffin introduces a special screening of the 1946 classic <i>A Stolen Life</i> at the Nordica Theater in Freeport. Oscar-winner and longtime Maine resident Bette Davis not only starred in the film but produced it as well.
Learn more and view the official festival trailer at <a href="https://mainefilmcenter.org/mainemovies200">MaineMovies200.com</a>.<br />
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Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-51999456841589164912018-09-18T18:06:00.000-07:002018-09-19T13:01:18.526-07:00Rock of Ages<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Mark Griffin's new book, <i>All That Heaven Allows: A Biography of Rock Hudson</i>, will be published by <span class="" id=":s7.6" tabindex="-1">HarperCollins</span> on December 4, 2018. Drawing on more than a hundred interviews with Hudson's co-stars, family
members and former companions, <i>All That Heaven Allows</i> pays homage to the screen legend whose life and death had a lasting impact on American culture.</div>
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Click the link below to <span class="" id=":s7.7" tabindex="-1">pre</span>-order the book that <span class="" id=":s7.8" tabindex="-1">Kirkus</span> Reviews calls "an engrossing and carefully documented account of a beloved film icon's life."</div>
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<br />Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-19284501780769793712016-07-09T03:31:00.000-07:002018-09-19T10:07:35.307-07:00Hooked on "Dolls"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 14px;">In celebration of the 50</span><sup style="font-family: Helvetica;">th</sup><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 14px;">anniversary of the publication of Jacqueline Susann’s immortal bestseller,</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 14px;"> </span><i style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;">Valley of the Dolls</i><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 14px;">, Mark Griffin will introduce a special screening of the 1967 film adaptation starring Barbara Parkins, Sharon Tate and the incomparable Patty Duke (as tormented superstar Neely O’Hara). </span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 14.979999542236328px;">Released by 20<sup>th</sup> Century-Fox a year after Susann’s novel became a publishing industry phenomenon, the movie version of <i>Valley of the Dolls</i> is widely considered ‘The Queen Mother of Cult Classics’ and the ultimate guilty pleasure. In addition to the three leads, the film also features Oscar winners Susan Hayward and Lee Grant and in a contractually arranged cameo appearance, Jacqueline Susann herself. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 14.979999542236328px;">This invitation only event takes place on Saturday, July 16<sup>th</sup>, 2016 at the Eveningstar Cinema in Brunswick, Maine. In addition to Griffin’s introductory remarks, this <i>Valley </i>extravaganza includes surprise guests, a trivia contest and a thematically appropriate luncheon served at Henry and Marty restaurant (as Lee Grant says in the movie, “I’ll start heating up the lasagna…”). </span></div>
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<br />Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-61980631517562048312015-10-08T11:26:00.001-07:002015-10-08T11:26:08.786-07:00The Best of Bond: All About 007<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;">On newsstands now...i-5 Publishing explores the enduring influence of the James Bond film franchise in its new special edition magazine ("James Bond: The World's Most Famous Spy"). Mark Griffin celebrates "The Sound of Bond" by interviewing Dame Shirley Bassey, Carly Simon, Sheena Easton and Bond theme composer Monty Norman. Get the inside story on the most stylish secret agent in cinema history by picking up your copy today.</span>Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-57293413086870638812015-08-05T06:34:00.000-07:002015-08-05T06:34:43.557-07:00For The Love of Lucy<div dir="ltr" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;">
On newsstands now...Celebrate the enduring popularity of America's best-loved sitcom with i-5 Publishing's special edition tribute to "I Love Lucy."</div>
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This collector's magazine examines the unprecedented success of the series while providing readers with a glimpse behind the scenes of many of the best remembered episodes.</div>
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Mark Griffin's profiles of Vivian Vance and William Frawley reveal how these two seasoned veterans came to be cast as Fred and Ethel Mertz and why they were far from fond of one another. Pick up your copy of the magazine today. <br />Up Next: 007.</div>
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Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-19950617285724701512015-01-15T07:37:00.000-08:002015-01-15T07:37:16.545-08:00The Hills Are Alive (and Thoroughly Fabulous) at 50<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;">
Now available on newsstands nationwide…Mark Griffin interviews the cast of the Oscar-winning blockbuster <i>The Sound of Music</i> for i-5 Publishing’s special edition magazine celebrating the 50<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the classic film. </div>
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Starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer and directed by Robert Wise, <i>The Sound of Music</i> has been described as “the most mainstream cult film ever made.” Released in 1965, this widescreen adaptation of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s hit Broadway musical won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. </div>
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In addition to exploring the production history of <i>The Sound of Music</i>, this collector’s edition magazine pays tribute to the glory days of the Hollywood musical and also features Griffin’s articles on the making of three other 60’s spectaculars: <i>Mary Poppins</i> (1964), <i>Star!</i> (1968) and <i>Hello, Dolly!</i>(1969). </div>
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Julie Andrews won an Oscar for her film debut as the “practically perfect” nanny in <i>Mary Poppins</i> (1964). While Andrews and co-star Dick Van Dyke were roundly applauded for their performances, neither actor was Walt Disney’s first choice in terms of casting. The magazine reveals who Disney initially had in mind to play Mary Poppins and her friend Bert, the amiable chimney sweep and street performer. </div>
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After their shared <i>Sound of Music</i> triumph, Julie Andrews and director Robert Wise reunited for an ambitious musical biography of the “thoroughly fabulous” theatrical legend Gertrude Lawrence. Entitled <i>Star!</i>, the movie boasted elaborate production numbers built around songs written by Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin and Lawrence’s quick witted confidante, Noel Coward. In the magazine, Griffin recounts how <i>Star!</i> was subjected to some studio tampering and reckless editing after its initial release in 1968.</div>
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<i>Hello, Dolly!</i> (1969) seemed to have it all...An impressive Broadway track record to build from, an infectious title tune and the most exciting musical star of the era. With Barbra Streisand headlining and Gene Kelly directing, how could a movie version miss? 20<sup>th</sup> Century-Fox pulled all the stops out and <i>Dolly - which was </i>nominated for seven Academy Awards - still stands as one of the costliest musical extravaganzas ever produced. And by all accounts, it was one tough shoot.</div>
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To learn more, look for i-5 Publishing’s 50<sup>th</sup> Anniversary tribute to <i>The Sound of Music</i> and the last of the great Hollywood musicals.</div>
Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-79009656299029679252014-07-01T04:19:00.002-07:002014-07-01T04:25:27.146-07:00Faithful Companion <div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
by Mark Griffin</div>
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[Please note that this review originally appeared in the Spring 2014 issue of <i>The Baum Bugle</i>]</div>
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<b><span style="color: yellow;">The Wizard of Oz: The Official 75<sup>th</sup> Anniversary Companion</span></b></div>
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By Jay Scarfone and William Stillman</div>
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Harper Design/HarperCollins Publishers, 2013. </div>
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I’ve long harbored this fantasy that in the summer of 1939, some subversive MGM janitor – fed up with sweeping the cutting room floor – decided to “preserve” some of the scraps of celluloid that he found after the editors on <i>The Wizard of Oz</i> had knocked off for the night. </div>
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Allowing my fantasy to take full flight, I imagine that this crafty custodian managed to rescue the choicest cuts. What if he had salvaged scenes deleted from <i>Oz</i> that have obsessed movie buffs for decades? We’re talking about the mother lode here: The "Jitterbug" number, “The Triumphal Return” to the Emerald City (following the Wicked Witch’s unforgettable liquidation) and a poignant reprise of “Over The Rainbow.” As my wishful thinking would have it, my insubordinate janitor not only saved the most significant excisions but he stashed these treasures in his worn-out steamer trunk. Said cache is now sitting in a downtown Burbank consignment shop, just waiting for someone to peer inside that battered trunk and make the cinematic discovery of a lifetime.</div>
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The point of all of this is to express a fervent hope that there is still something new that remains to be seen in reference to everybody’s favorite movie. That kind of hopefulness envelops <i>The Wizard of Oz: The Official 75<sup>th</sup> Anniversary Companion</i> by Jay Scarfone and William Stillman. This is the same duo responsible for the 1989 bestseller, <i>The Wizard of Oz: The Official 50</i><sup style="font-style: italic;">th</sup><i> Anniversary Pictorial History </i>(co-written with John Fricke) as well as its lavishly illustrated follow-up, <i>The Wizardry of Oz</i>, which followed a decade later. You’d think that by now the cupboard would be bare in terms of excavating any unseen <i>Oz</i> ephemera. </div>
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Apparently not. In their latest effort, Scarfone and Stillman promise the reader material “rarely seen or previously unknown since 1939” as well as “new, uncovered quotes and fresh facts.” Do they deliver? Pretty much. Or as well as can be expected considering that <i>The Wizard of Oz</i> has been exhaustively analyzed, annotated and footnoted like no other film in history. </div>
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So what new information have the authors uncovered? The most exciting discoveries in this anniversary companion are the visual elements. On page 38, we’re treated to a fascinating glimpse of the <i>Oz</i> that almost was: An image of an uber glam Judy Garland, decked out in a blonde wig and looking far more Lana Turner of Beverly Hills than Dorothy Gale of Kansas. The authors inform us that this is “the only color photograph known to have survived from Richard Thorpe’s tenure as [the film’s original] director.” As none of Thorpe’s footage has surfaced, this kind of intriguing artifact becomes all the more important. The photo also bears evidence of producer Mervyn LeRoy’s original vision – his <i>Oz</i> was initially conceived as a highly stylized production, like an animated cartoon come to life. In this way, the movie would serve as Metro’s answer to Disney’s groundbreaking blockbuster <i>Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs</i>.</div>
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Another rare visual is an arresting sepia-toned image of the Gale farmyard, looking every inch like a Walker Evans photograph of the Dust Bowl in the midst of the Great Depression. This still image allows one to fully absorb just how meticulously detailed this production was. To the best of my knowledge, this shot hasn’t turned up in any of the previous books on the film’s production history. Same would be true for a series of captivating thumbnail photos that reveal how the Great and Powerful Oz’s disembodied head appeared to float over the throne room long before the advent of digital technology.</div>
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The book has been beautifully designed by Paul Kepple and Ralph Geroni of the Philadelphia-based Headcase Design. The elegant, Art Deco style on display is reminiscent of MGM in its voguish hey day. The visual style of the <i>Companion</i> reminds us that <i>Oz</i> emerged from the same sleek universe where Joan Crawford was gowned by Adrian and William Powell and Myrna Loy solved murders between sips of champagne.</div>
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Text-wise, the style is straightforward and restrained, though the narrative is upstaged by the outstanding artwork throughout. Purists will undoubtedly take exception to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s “Mighty Miracle Show” being repeatedly referred to as “Turner Entertainment Co.’s <i>The Wizard of Oz</i>,” which sounds an awful lot like a corporate takeover talking.</div>
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The glut of commercial tie-ins whipped up to cash in on the 75<sup>th</sup> anniversary of <i>Oz</i> ranged from the embarrassing (Julep’s Oz-inspired nail polish…”Give Tin Man a try…It’s a silver, holographic shade that reminds us of the man without a heart”) to the lackluster (the recent Warner Home Video re-packaging of the film). Compared to these letdowns, the Scarfone-Stillman collaboration achieves the appropriate balance. Their <i>Anniversary Companion</i> is reverent yet fun and the determination to scrounge up some new material for die-hard <i>Oz</i> fans is admirable. So skip the holographic manicure and celebrate in style. </div>
Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-29114425707404527632014-04-08T13:23:00.001-07:002014-04-09T03:12:52.445-07:00The Good Life: An Interview with Tony Bennett<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;">"I could have retired fifteen years ago but here I am still going at it," says Tony Bennett. At 87, the legendary vocalist has certainly earned the right to stay home and spend time with his seventeen Grammy Awards and a roomful of hit records that come in shades of triple platinum and certified gold. Nevertheless Bennett prefers to keep looking forward. "I'm 87 and believe me, I feel like I'm just starting out and learning so many new things," says Bennett, who has now been performing for seven decades. He's worked with all of the greats - from Sinatra to Streisand, Garland to Gaga. He's hit the top of the charts dozens of times and did so while fully clothed and without ever once using a wrecking ball as a means of transportation.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFvX-3_VoGh0P-s43Bx1yIoI6GT-OzYiEkO7R2pJRzYDoGJHrgbYJ4HI6O1ADhSiwrxr5QOYt2wZKc6TbbsVnUSsYEDzK1O77WCaf-o13DhCRm9nTC23P42nfWKUrfDJUAkJCO468CzL4/s1600/tony_viva_shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFvX-3_VoGh0P-s43Bx1yIoI6GT-OzYiEkO7R2pJRzYDoGJHrgbYJ4HI6O1ADhSiwrxr5QOYt2wZKc6TbbsVnUSsYEDzK1O77WCaf-o13DhCRm9nTC23P42nfWKUrfDJUAkJCO468CzL4/s1600/tony_viva_shot.jpg" height="320" width="303" /></a>After racking up honors from the Kennedy Center, the United Nations and Billboard, most performers would be content to spend their days hitting the links at Pebble Beach but not Bennett, who is currently in rehearsals for his Waterfront Concerts appearance at Merrill Auditorium in Portland on April 19th. Bennett says that the program will include many of his favorite standards. And is it any wonder that one of our country's most gifted singers would find inspiration in the Great American Songbook?</div>
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"In America, we're very privileged to have produced this extraordinary group of composers - George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin and of course, Cole Porter, who was better than all of them," Bennett says. "All of these artists were part of a great renaissance period in music...You just swoon when you hear songs like "Embraceable You" or "Night and Day." These songs don't sound old to me in any way. In fact, after years of performing these songs, I'm completely convinced that in about fifty years, they'll be called 'America's Classical Music' and not just referred to as 'light entertainment.'"</div>
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Several of the songs Bennett performs in concert are featured on his new Sony Legacy compilation, "The Classics." This career-spanning anthology allows the listener to hear Bennett transition from a youthful, full-bodied belter to a more mature and nuanced interpreter. The collection kicks off with his 1951 breakout hit, "Because of You," and concludes with "Steppin' Out With My Baby," his 2012 duet with Christina Aguilera. Listening to the various tracks, its easy to see why record executives determined early on that Bennett had "undeniable crossover appeal." After all, it's a rare performer who can claim both AARP members and Phi Kappa Sigma members as part of their fan base.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8YWEOufw-s2DI1zfALUqWzqqnBU6FJBbqUX2PKRXp6XTFXLaGvBauZQEUuAJaqzSV4_UjRXBchcI3FpIEmzbCGsvszpML4f85T8OHjRu7XM0pzSWqpjb1bNqve1qc7FyQT-SuKpVvyyg/s1600/seliger+art+studio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8YWEOufw-s2DI1zfALUqWzqqnBU6FJBbqUX2PKRXp6XTFXLaGvBauZQEUuAJaqzSV4_UjRXBchcI3FpIEmzbCGsvszpML4f85T8OHjRu7XM0pzSWqpjb1bNqve1qc7FyQT-SuKpVvyyg/s1600/seliger+art+studio.jpg" height="200" width="168" /></a>Bennett believes that his widespread and enduring popularity is at least partially attributable to some advice he received at the beginning of his career. "When I was at the American Theatre Wing, I had this wonderful vocal coach, Mimi Speer, and she gave me some terrific advice," recalls Bennett. She said, 'Don't imitate other singers because you'll just end up in the chorus if you do that...You always have to remember to be yourself.'"</div>
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After signing with Columbia Records in 1950, Bennett says that he never picked songs based on their Top 40 prospects. "I never tried to get a hit song. I just tried to find intelligent songs that were built right musically and that have beautiful lyrics," says Bennett. "I was taught at the American Theatre Wing to never compromise and to sing quality all of the time. If you find a song that's well written, then you try to record the definitive version of that song. You know, it's a lot like fishing. Some days you can catch a whole barrel of good fish and other days, you can't get any of them. But you go for it anyway and you give it your best shot."</div>
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When it was released as a single in 1962, "Once Upon a Time" was expected to be Bennett's next chart topper but disc jockeys preferred the song that had been relegated to the "B' side. Bennett's wistful longing "to be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars" turned "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" into a career milestone. "I had a musical director, Ralph Sharon and he found that song for me," Bennett remembers. "He had some friends that wrote that song and one day when we were trying different tunes out, he just said to me, 'How about this one?' We had no idea that it was going to go through the roof...I can't think of a better signature song to be associated with because the city is a very romantic city and it's really beautiful. It's not that Maine isn't beautiful because that's an incredible place also but there is a spirit about San Francisco that is very unique."</div>
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The 60's proved to be a particularly fertile decade for Bennett. "I Wanna Be Around," "The Good Life" and "This Is All I Ask" all soared to the top of the charts and several of the albums he recorded during this period (<i>When Lights Are Low</i>, <i>Alone Together</i>) are considered among his finest. As Bennett recalls, "I had a wonderful arranger, Marty Manning, who never blew horns about his career and never wanted his name mentioned or anything like that but I remember when I was a young singer he said to me, 'Just know that whenever I do an arrangement for you, it's going to be just right for you...' Lo and behold, every time we had a hit record and I had quite a few of them, it was Marty Manning who had done the orchestrations. He'd never take the credit but Marty Manning was the one who wrote the music so that it would be an absolute perfect fit to whatever I was singing." </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwTm9uscCguOn3wDVvZtC1qENjXfexkWO2iGrpYT9abr5TALxg3H7zH2CBOIb2908KhzaISTOQS6GuUHjewSzY1Oqmu9RDJTt2VIq8uKlPA6B2-UPW1mXbG0AvBrHY_tWnd_M42B0kEu0/s1600/TonyBennett_05_wo_credit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwTm9uscCguOn3wDVvZtC1qENjXfexkWO2iGrpYT9abr5TALxg3H7zH2CBOIb2908KhzaISTOQS6GuUHjewSzY1Oqmu9RDJTt2VIq8uKlPA6B2-UPW1mXbG0AvBrHY_tWnd_M42B0kEu0/s1600/TonyBennett_05_wo_credit.jpg" height="400" width="377" /></a>As for today's music, Bennett believes that art has taken a backseat to the bottom line and that the tide began to turn with the man behind the candelabra. "Liberace was the first one. He was playing the Waldorf but at the same time he was saying,'I'd like to play Madison Square Garden,'" Bennett recalls. "He was the first one to fill 35,000 seats. Every producer in town said, 'This kind of thing can make us a ton of money...' and suddenly you had performers doing their acts in these enormous stadiums. I resented it because I sing intimately and acoustically. I'm not in any race to try and be bigger than another act or something like that...It means more to me to have a composer come up and say, 'Nobody performed my song better than that.' That's the game I play, you know?"</div>
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Bennett's eldest son, Danny, has been responsible for many of his father's most successful recording ventures including <i>Tony Bennett Duets: An American Classic</i>. "He was the one who came up with that idea of having all of the young artists record an album with me," Bennett says. In terms of future projects, there's a highly anticipated collaboration with Lady Gaga being released later this year. "I think people are going to be shocked because we did all of these great American standards and Gaga has a wonderful Ella Fitzgerald quality on this album," says Bennett. "I think people are going to be surprised and very impressed."</div>
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After his appearance in Portland, Bennett is back on the road with performances scheduled everywhere from Pittsburgh to Kansas. Between engagements, he keeps up with his other passion - painting. "It's not that I want to do it," Bennett says. "I have to sing. I have to paint. I never want to stop learning until the day I die, you know? I just want to keep trying to explore and improve. I'm just going to keep going for it, you know?"<br />
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[Mark Griffin is a writer for the Boston-based organization Laughter With a Lesson]</div>
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What: Tony Bennett in Concert (One Night Only)</div>
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Where: Merrill Auditorium, 20 Myrtle Street, Portland</div>
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When: Saturday, April 19. 7:30pm</div>
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Tickets: $140.75, $110.75, $80.75 at <a href="http://tickets.porttix.com/" target="_blank">tickets.porttix.com</a> or <a href="tel:207-842-0800" target="_blank" value="+12078420800">207-842-0800</a>.</div>
Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-67919021876642222662013-11-09T11:26:00.000-08:002013-11-09T11:43:38.718-08:00Funny Business: Mark Griffin Interviews Joan Rivers<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;">photo credit: Charles William Bush</span></td></tr>
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She is New York City in a dress. She's fast talking, all revved up and unapologetically in your face. Joan Rivers is an inexhaustible powerhouse who has built her long and multi-faceted career on telling it like it is and letting it all hang out.</div>
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"For me, the fun of being on stage is that I can say <i>everything</i> that everyone else is thinking but wouldn't ever dream of saying aloud," says Rivers. "Being on stage gives me the opportunity and the privilege of saying, 'Are you crazy? Come on, this one is a bitch and this one is a tramp and exactly who are we kidding here?"</div>
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Outrageous and unsparing, Rivers is packing up her trademark pink boa and heading for the last place you'd expect to find a Phi Beta Kappa turned Vegas headliner turned QVC queen: Southern Maine. When Rivers lands at Merrill Auditorium on November 22, her appearance will be the highlight of a diverse season of Portland Ovations presentations. But how will audiences accustomed to the likes of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain respond to the uncensored Rivers at full throttle?</div>
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"Sweet, darling, tranquil Maine has cable and everyone there is part of the audience that's watching me on <i>Fashion Police</i> or tuning in to <i>Breaking Bad</i>," Rivers says. "So I'm not worried for a second about how I'll be received. Maine has gone universal and everything has become so global now. In fact, I'm sure there's a great bagel shop somewhere in Portland, Maine. And I'll bet there's someone eating sushi in Maine right now as we're talking. Everything is so one world now that it's frightening. I find it hilarious that when I'm in some remote place like Peru, someone will rush up to me and say, 'Oh, we love you, Joan!' and I'm thinking...<i>Peru</i>? The whole world has now become like one small village."</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;">photo credit: Charles William Bush</span></td></tr>
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Rivers, who turned 80 earlier this year, is a self-described "small industry." She regularly rakes celebrities over the coals on the E! Channel hit <i>Fashion Police</i>. "God bless the Kardashian girls. God bless Rihanna. God bless Miley Cyrus," Rivers says of the tabloid fixtures that have inspired some of her most memorable zingers. Never one to sit still, Rivers teams with her daughter, Melissa for the WE-tv reality show, <i>Joan and Melissa: Joan Knows Best?</i>, which was recently renewed for a fourth season. And Rivers's no holes barred web chat show, <i>In Bed With Joan</i>, has her hitting the hay (so to speak) with everyone from RuPaul to Carmen Electra. If all that weren't enough, next year the comedian embarks on her highly anticipated "Before They Close The Lid" tour. So what makes Rivers run?</div>
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"I'm in a business where there is no guarantee on anything," says Rivers. "A friend of mine literally didn't know that his television series had been cancelled until his agent called him up and said, 'I'm sorry but it's already in the papers...' There is no security in our business, unless you're very lucky like a Jerry Seinfeld and you own a piece of a humongous hit...But I've been lucky, too. I'm one of those few people that found what they love to do and I've been doing it all my life and I never stop enjoying it."</div>
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For Rivers, the road to multi-media domination has been long and winding. After graduating from Barnard College, the demure English lit major from Larchmont who dreamed of being an actress realized that she had a gift for making people laugh. Rivers began refining her stand-up technique in seedy nightclubs ("We'd pass the hat and sometimes the hat wouldn't come back") and strip joints, where she was billed as "Pepper January - Comedy with Spice." </div>
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In 1959, Rivers appeared in an off-off Broadway play entitled <i>Driftwood</i>. Also featured in the show was an aspiring young actress from Brooklyn's Erasmus Hall High School named Barbara Streisand. "It wasn't so much off Broadway. It was actually <i>above</i> Broadway, as in six flights up," Rivers remembers. "My poor parents had to climb six flights to see this terrible play. The playwright had turned his living room into a theatre on East Forty-ninth Street. And I was there with my little friend, 'Babsie' Streisand. She was still Barbara Streisand then, with all three a's in her first name and I was still Joan Molinsky. It was such a bad play. They had originally offered it to Geraldine Page, who was then married to an actor named Ralph Meeker. Both of them could read, so they turned it down. Then the director started to look for smaller names - a lot smaller - and they ended up with Barbra, who was still a senior in high school and they couldn't get anyone to play the male lead. I read the script and I said, 'Can't we make this about two women? Turn them into lesbians!' And this was very edgy for the time. So I became Barbra Streisand's lover in <i>Driftwood</i>." </div>
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Rivers next became a "girl writer" for <i>The Ed Sullivan Show </i>and <i>Candid Camera</i>. In 1965, after what Rivers describes as "seven years of rejection and humiliation," she made an appearance on <i>The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson</i> and the host predicted on air: "You're going to be a star." </div>
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Eventually Rivers would become the first and only permanent guest host of <i>The Tonight Show</i> and she says Carson taught her an important lesson about holding back until show time. "He believed you should always 'save it for the screen.' He'd walk right past you in the make-up room and barely say hello to you before the show,' Rivers recalls. "He wanted all of that energy out there on the set. Because if you've already blown all of the good stuff like 'How's your wife?' or "I heard your dog isn't well...' then what are you going to talk about on camera?"</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;">photo credit: Charles William Bush</span></td></tr>
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Rivers says Carson never spoke to her again after she left <i>The Tonight Show </i>to launch her own ill-fated late night venture on the Fox Network in 1986. Only months after Rivers was ousted from her own show, her 62-year-old husband-manager Edgar Rosenberg, committed suicide in a Philadelphia hotel room. Though devastated by the tragedy, Rivers soldiered on. "I had bills. I had professional commitments. Though what truly pulled me through was my obligation to my daughter, Melissa," Rivers says. "I had to be there for her. What a legacy that would have been otherwise. 'Surprise, surprise. Your daddy killed himself and look, now mommy killed herself, too...Now go out and have a good world.' I just had to keep going for her."</div>
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The day after her Portland Ovations appearance, Rivers will headline back to back shows at Boston's Wilbur Theatre. Carol Ann Small, a motivational humorist based in Melrose, Mass., bought her tickets minutes after they went on sale. Small, the founder of Laughter With A Lesson, is hoping to meet her idol backstage between engagements. "As a funny lady and a fellow blonde - notice that I didn't say 'natural blonde' - Joan Rivers has always been an inspiration to me," says Small. "To this day, Joan continues to pave the way for women in comedy and I'm thrilled that she's finally being recognized as a pioneer."</div>
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So does Rivers see herself as a trailblazer? "I see myself as a desperate woman trying to slap Kathy Griffin and Whitney Cummings out of the way so that I can get back on the stage," Rivers admits. "I feel so competitive. Whenever another comedian says to me, 'You're an icon' or 'You're a legend,' I want to say, 'And darling, I can still take you with one hand tied behind my back.'"</div>
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Rivers says that's she counting on two things when she arrives in Vacationland: "I'm delighted to come to Maine and I bet it's going to be filled with snow, which I'm very excited about. Also, they tell me that I'm going to have the equivalent of the gay men's choir up there, which I hope is true." Rivers readily acknowledges that the gay community has always been a key component of her fan base. "I think they like me because I'm outspoken and then on a serious level, I was the first performer to come out fighting against AIDS when it was still being called 'Gay Pneumonia.' I did the first benefit and we got such hate mail that we had to have armed guards on stage. We even got death threats. I think somehow the community remembers that I lived through that with them. And beyond all of that, I just think that I am a gay man living in a fat Jewish woman's body."<br />
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Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-39043708501471770282013-08-24T16:56:00.001-07:002013-08-24T17:04:27.228-07:00"The Band Wagon" Is Back...and Better Than Ever!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cyd Charisse and Fred Astaire in<br />"The Girl Hunt Ballet"<br />from Vincente Minnelli's musical </span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Band Wagon</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">It's been called "the greatest of movie musicals" and now </span><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">The Band Wagon</i><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> is returning to the big screen. Join Vincente Minnelli biographer Mark Griffin as he introduces a special 60th anniversary screening of Minnelli's acclaimed masterpiece at the Museum of Modern Art Film Center (11 W. 53 St., between Fifth and Sixth Avenues) on September 5th at 8pm. Originally released in the summer of 1953,</span><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">The Band Wagon</i><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> stars Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse and Nanette Fabray. The film features such timeless tunes as "That's Entertainment," "By Myself" and "Dancing in the Dark" and boasts an Oscar-nominated screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Widely considered one of MGM's finest achievements, </span><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">The Band Wagon </i><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">is capped with the sly and stylish private eye spoof, "The Girl Hunt Ballet." In later years, director Minnelli would single out </span><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">The Band Wagon</i><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> as a personal favorite, telling an interviewer, "We all pitched in and it all came together wonderfully." The critics concurred. In reviewing a reissue of the film, Pauline Kael conceded, "There have been few screen musicals as good as this one." For further information on this event, please visit </span><a href="http://www.moma.org/" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" target="_blank">www.moma.org</a><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNwmRqgz6mALf8JySwy4IK9ZRKe8YahKM0IEUhoU4AZE8xfghYsI6wX7gBWq_i99dUrZSi5783hAlTWhZqNp2hu8fV5HmjfMjsDYDiz4VmPjkh5d9DPBjUE-FyrXfu_qCIakGga3ETdZw/s1600/2013_08_22_MGriffin_Blog_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Fred Astaire, Nanette Fabray and Jack Buchanan performing "Triplets" in The Band Wagon (1953) directed by Vincente Minnelli" border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNwmRqgz6mALf8JySwy4IK9ZRKe8YahKM0IEUhoU4AZE8xfghYsI6wX7gBWq_i99dUrZSi5783hAlTWhZqNp2hu8fV5HmjfMjsDYDiz4VmPjkh5d9DPBjUE-FyrXfu_qCIakGga3ETdZw/s400/2013_08_22_MGriffin_Blog_4.jpg" title="" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fred Astaire, Nanette Fabray and Jack Buchanan performing<br />"Triplets" in <i>The Band Wagon</i><br />(1953) directed by Vincente Minnelli</span></td></tr>
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Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-73138204522258310292013-08-24T16:47:00.000-07:002013-08-24T17:02:37.464-07:00Coming Attractions...The Best of Bergman<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Quinn in <i><b>The Visit</b></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Coming in 2014...Mark Griffin will introduce three films featuring the incandescent Ingrid Bergman, including her rarely screened 1964 drama </span><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">The Visit</i><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">, co-starring Anthony Quinn (who also co-produced the film). Winner of three Academy Awards, Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982) captivated audiences with her unforgettable performances in </span><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Intermezzo</i><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Casablanca</i><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Gaslight </i><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">and </span><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Notorious</i><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">. During her long and celebrated career, the actress worked with many great directors including Michael Curtiz, Alfred Hitchcock, George Cukor and Vincente Minnelli. In </span><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">The Visit</i><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">, Bergman plays an extraordinarily wealthy woman who returns to her poverty-stricken hometown hellbent on revenge. Directed by Bernhard Wicki, </span><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">The Visit </i><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">was out of circulation for many years but it</span><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> </i><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">has now become the "in" film among Bergman buffs. The forthcoming screenings will include special guests and take place at your favorite Boston-based revival house. Stay tuned for further details on this exciting three part tribute. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ingrid Bergman and her pet panther in <i><b>The Visit</b></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-62823558643659216712013-02-12T09:48:00.001-08:002013-02-12T09:49:30.048-08:00Gigi for Valentine's DayWhat better way to welcome Valentine's Day and Oscar season than with one of the most romantic Oscar-winning movies ever made?
"Gigi"
Introduced by Vincente Minnelli biographer, Mark Griffin
2/14/13
7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Emerson College
<a href="http://www.emerson.edu/about-emerson/campuses-facilities/boston/paramount-center">Paramount Center</a>
Bright Family Screening Room
"Gigi" (MGM, 1958), winner of nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, this sumptuous musical stars Leslie Caron as a precocious Parisian girl groomed to be a kept woman, who comes to realize she'd rather marry for love instead. Laced with some of Lerner-and-Loewe's finest songs ("Thank Heaven for Little Girls," "The Night They Invented Champagne") and considered to be the last great MGM musical, this luxurious production crowned the career of acclaimed director Vincente Minnelli.
"Gigi" will be introduced by Emerson graduate Mark Griffin, author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hundred-More-Hidden-Things-Vincente/dp/0786720999/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360690970&sr=8-1&keywords=mark+griffin+vincent+minnelli">"A Hundred or More Hidden Things: The Life and Films of Vincente Minnelli"</a> (Da Capo Press). Before the main feature, Griffin will screen a compilation of clips from some of Minnelli's other movies including "Meet Me In St. Louis," "An American in Paris" and "The Band Wagon."
Read more in Arts Boston <a href="http://www.artsboston.org/event/detail/441657026/Bright_Lights_Gigi_with_Vincente_Minnelli_biographer_Mark_Griffin">HERE</a>.
Sponsored by Department of Visual and Media Arts.
For more information please contact:
<a href="Anna_Feder@emerson.edu">Anna Feder </a>Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-52253081373203949742012-05-21T17:39:00.002-07:002012-05-21T17:39:55.855-07:00Mark Griffin Reviews John Fricke's new book, "Judy: A Legendary Film Career."<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1WRQ3iPavuHOy7mTKOUrGKJDJhhV8MPdiWbxwAjeEkQzmK6xawZwif5I7sZNIsmWNr7eHK4_-Tl4YYrlk5-TGMYXpmMF6LTj11RDGz6UeqNE0DVH82uG9fhZByeFNcy8NhGdnOOtXqfs/s1600/9780762437719.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1WRQ3iPavuHOy7mTKOUrGKJDJhhV8MPdiWbxwAjeEkQzmK6xawZwif5I7sZNIsmWNr7eHK4_-Tl4YYrlk5-TGMYXpmMF6LTj11RDGz6UeqNE0DVH82uG9fhZByeFNcy8NhGdnOOtXqfs/s320/9780762437719.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>[Please Note: This review originally appeared in the Spring 2012 edition of The Baum Bugle] </i>
Judy: A Legendary Film Career
by John Fricke
Just as there have been great stars, there have been great fans. There was the mysterious, veiled "Lady in Black," who made an annual pilgrimage to the grave site of silent screen legend Rudolph Valentino. As the story goes, this shrouded figure would appear at Valentino's mausoleum and leave behind a single red rose in a poignant tribute to 'The Great Lover.' Then there was the farmer in the Midwest who reportedly bequeathed his entire fortune to the divine Greta Garbo...despite the fact that his closest encounter with 'The Swedish Sphinx' more than likely occurred while he was occupying a seat in the third row of his neighborhood movie house.
All well and good. But if Judy Garland was the greatest star of them all (as anyone who can quote directly from Andy Hardy Meets Debutante will readily attest) then doesn't she deserve the most reverent disciple of them all? Well, naturally. And Garland's most proactive supporter is unquestionably John Fricke, who has now earned the title as The Most Faithful Fan in The History of The Entire Universe. Bar none.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Xj9zVz5amoOoX0INVunReAWOZEwvkaTqjm1VTjHXmYGLKnWDo-tEu3rOrjii-SRDn50lmMUi_dM8JNpSnatoFAoQQ_ETt2x3JBq-2B6ncfHTLq6LRGTjeig-erNRnl-ioVgb2ZP5KEA/s1600/page+165-BOB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="253" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Xj9zVz5amoOoX0INVunReAWOZEwvkaTqjm1VTjHXmYGLKnWDo-tEu3rOrjii-SRDn50lmMUi_dM8JNpSnatoFAoQQ_ETt2x3JBq-2B6ncfHTLq6LRGTjeig-erNRnl-ioVgb2ZP5KEA/s320/page+165-BOB.jpg" /></a></div> With an unwavering commitment bordering on religious zeal, Fricke has devoted his entire career to paying tribute to 'Miss Show Business' and along the way, he has elevated Judy-worship into an art form while creating something of a cottage industry. Fricke has now paid homage to Garland in the form of several Emmy Award-winning documentaries (By Myself; Judy: Beyond The Rainbow), acclaimed audio compilations (Judy Garland: 25th Anniversary Retrospective), live tributes (including a pair of high profile Carnegie Hall concerts in 1998), a number of bestselling books (Judy Garland/World's Greatest Entertainer, The Wizard of Oz: The Official 50th Anniversary Pictorial History) and liner notes for every occasion. In other words, this is I Can't Give You Anything But Love...and then some. With each of these meticulously researched projects, Fricke seems intent on deflecting attention from some of the tabloid aspects of Garland's chaotic personal life and re-directing the focus on her extraordinary artistry.
Judy: A Legendary Film Career (Running Press, $30) is Fricke's latest act of canonization and it's a sumptuously produced, visually rich reminder of Garland's impressive cinematic legacy. Where Garland's film work is concerned, Fricke has an embarrassment of riches to work with. Just consider the fact that Judy not only starred as the most beloved heroine in the history of cinema ("I'm Dorothy Gale, from Kansas...") in The Wizard of Oz but she played everything from Broadway headliner Marilyn Miller in the 1947 musical biopic Till The Clouds Roll By to a tortured German hausfrau in Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg (1961).
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Fom9kXkeIZTwlHK-xfu-ylL_hJ0mfieuHTwJJq5O88MNlJBrfenJ4qNQSwFkgM2q6mul3BEI7et19Tg1UzKqqy3X-W9z5B4wVFDyOulSPgvxcS0JgCpAsCUbuY6Vkt6XMSLK97t8dTo/s1600/page+69.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Fom9kXkeIZTwlHK-xfu-ylL_hJ0mfieuHTwJJq5O88MNlJBrfenJ4qNQSwFkgM2q6mul3BEI7et19Tg1UzKqqy3X-W9z5B4wVFDyOulSPgvxcS0JgCpAsCUbuY6Vkt6XMSLK97t8dTo/s320/page+69.jpg" /></a></div> While most movie stars who died more than forty years ago are barely remembered today, Garland's stature and legend have only grown since her death in 1969. In 1999, the American Film Institute placed Garland at #8 on their list of all-time greatest movie legends, ranking her above such heavyweights as Orson Welles, Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. With this kind of high-level endorsement, it would appear that the rest of world has finally figured out what Judy's legions of followers have always known - that she is thoroughly unique even among the upper echelon of superstars.
Whether she was portraying a Ziegfeld Girl or a Harvey Girl, Garland "radiated the soul of show business," as film historian Leslie Halliwell once put it. Judy's electrifying performance style and uncanny ability to connect with her audiences were evident from her earliest film appearances. She's the best thing about her first feature, the otherwise forgettable Pigskin Parade (1936). And by the time she sang "You Made Me Love You" to a scrapbook full of Clark Gable in Broadway Melody of 1938, the fifteen year-old Garland was already performing like a seasoned veteran. In 1939, immortality would arrive in the form of MGM's heavenly adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. Judy's Oscar-winning Oz lyricist, E.Y. "Yip" Harburg would later marvel at Garland's ability "to sing into your soul...she was the most unusual voice in the first half of this century." What Cole Porter described as Garland's "prodigal voice" would continue to wow moviegoers until Judy's final film appearance in I Could Go On Singing in 1963.
But that magnificent voice was only one of Garland's gifts. There was her complete sincerity and utter believability: "Never have I caught her in a lie. And never have I caught her 'acting,'" says Broadway legend Elaine Stritch. There was also a seemingly inexhaustible supply of inspiration: "I never underestimated the range of her talent [and] she was an extraordinary talent. Very unique in pictures," said Garland's second husband Vincente Minnelli, who directed her in five films. Perhaps the most important quality that distinguished Garland from some of her equally talented colleagues was the fact that she needed to perform. "I somehow feel most alive when I'm singing," Garland's Esther Blodgett confesses to James Mason's Norman Maine in A Star Is Born (1954). So it was with Judy Garland. She always gave her all - not only because audiences wanted her to but because she felt compelled to. As Fricke insightfully points out, it was "as if singing and dancing were the natural extension of her persona."
It's been awhile since Garland's fans have been treated to a comprehensive exploration of her filmography. For many years, Joe Morella and Edward Z. Epstein's The Complete Films and Career of Judy Garland, was the go-to text for those who needed to know what Time magazine thought of Meet Me In St. Louis ("A musical even the deaf should enjoy...") or which of Garland's co-stars in Everybody Sing launched his career by doing imitations of wallpaper (Reginald Gardiner). Published the same year that Garland died, the Morella-Epstein tribute was both heartfelt and straightforward but it wasn't the pull-all-the-stops-out extravaganza that MGM's greatest asset truly deserved.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizysXCBmXskmr8iXBth6b2fS0_wd83Mreabvda2AyCtpmTBUHNVhkuczCyPYb5svYehhtPNNa297zFGgYYtsXWcrPaTCEyTgFExpAk12hUz4aiGiYNEdBG_OW5RZGpSkdBvooh6ae_MOw/s1600/page+65-PP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="242" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizysXCBmXskmr8iXBth6b2fS0_wd83Mreabvda2AyCtpmTBUHNVhkuczCyPYb5svYehhtPNNa297zFGgYYtsXWcrPaTCEyTgFExpAk12hUz4aiGiYNEdBG_OW5RZGpSkdBvooh6ae_MOw/s320/page+65-PP.jpg" /></a></div> Two decades later, Emily R. Coleman's The Complete Judy Garland: The Ultimate Guide to Her Career in Films, Records, Concerts, Radio and Television, 1935-1969, arrived in bookstores (remember those?). Despite the ambitious title, Coleman's collection is more of a cataloguing of film credits, personal appearances and recording dates. So leave it to John Fricke to come through with the most scrupulous, spectacular and engaging exploration of Judy Garland's film career to date.
Without question, this is the volume that Garland's fans have long been clamoring for. Like some of Fricke's previous efforts, Judy: A Legendary Film Career, re-defines the term "lavishly illustrated," with rare and beautifully reproduced photos and artwork appearing on virtually every page. In addition to revisiting Judy's blockbusters (St. Louis, Easter Parade), Fricke also reviews the umpteen screen projects that Judy was scheduled for but did not appear in - the most notable being Annie Get Your Gun (1950) and the most notorious being the camp masterpiece Valley of the Dolls (1967). And just imagine Judy starring in a big budget movie version of Jerry Herman's smash Broadway musical Mame. In so many ways, Judy was Auntie Mame, the flamboyant free-spirit with the tinselly laugh that novelist Patrick Dennis brought to life in 1955. Garland would have worked wonders with Herman's score, which includes the poignant "If He Walked Into My Life" and that exuberant anthem to living life to the fullest, "It's Today."
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Ps1O4fb8MsW7wHk4SCLKdQE6PoUNtKbyikPLAvoYMzkMmdXXVB9qrZ0hGLFqoK7jH6nfoCf9l-tPKvlFn_5qTvlXVCw5_XU4S83ZtG6E_Hpdz3SACTqPlyVNk7Cg4-ctFyxJgb8hKAE/s1600/Oz006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Ps1O4fb8MsW7wHk4SCLKdQE6PoUNtKbyikPLAvoYMzkMmdXXVB9qrZ0hGLFqoK7jH6nfoCf9l-tPKvlFn_5qTvlXVCw5_XU4S83ZtG6E_Hpdz3SACTqPlyVNk7Cg4-ctFyxJgb8hKAE/s320/Oz006.jpg" /></a></div> Although Judy as Mame never came together, the kind of roll-the-rug-up celebration that the queen of No. 3 Beekman Place preferred can be found within the pages of John Fricke's splendid tribute. This book is a big, loud party in honor of a national treasure and that's what best fans are for.
- Mark GriffinMark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-72275321508453013042012-05-21T17:26:00.002-07:002012-05-21T17:32:30.591-07:00"Paris" at The Paramount<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Paramount Center marquee in scenic downtown Boston (Photo: Keary Nichols). "Paris" at The Paramount...More than 60 years after it was first released, Vincente Minnelli's "An American in Paris" completely captivated audiences when it recently screened at Boston's Paramount Center. As part of the Paramount's film series, "Gotta Dance: The American Film Musical (1929-1953)," Minnelli biographer Mark Griffin introduced a restored print of the Oscar-winning musical starring Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron and Nina Foch (coincidentally, the evening of the screening - April 20th - would have been the late, great Nina Foch's birthday).
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs2vE14zijHGBtpzOlq8SbSSpkdOd7El6wu2iblhVPTzWQPqKIX617T26L10E4FszpFLo8bU2xaVN3jiKhBzlMVXtYDELMCZdrA1e3ysFlHcsuxA3lhg4JeUUwn79X1OGdukIbsAdh1tQ/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs2vE14zijHGBtpzOlq8SbSSpkdOd7El6wu2iblhVPTzWQPqKIX617T26L10E4FszpFLo8bU2xaVN3jiKhBzlMVXtYDELMCZdrA1e3ysFlHcsuxA3lhg4JeUUwn79X1OGdukIbsAdh1tQ/s320/1.jpg" /></a></div>
Among those attending a post-screening book signing event (left to right): Rebecca Meyers (Director of Film Programming, Paramount Center), Carol Ann Small (Founder of Laughter With a Lesson), Mark Griffin (author of A Hundred or More Hidden Things: The Life and Films of Vincente Minnelli), Neil Davin (Technology Support Services Manager at Emerson College), Mary Ann Cicala (Interim Director, Alumni Relations, Emerson College). The week prior to the Paramount Center event, Mark Griffin was the guest on two Boston-based radio programs. On April 14th, Griffin discussed Vincente Minnelli's life and career with "Standing Room Only" host Johnny Q on WERS (88.9 FM). The following day, Griffin was the featured guest on "The Jordan Rich Show" (WBZ-AM 1030). This special tribute to Minnelli also included beautiful musical accompaniment by pianist Jeffrey Moore (jeffreymoorepiano.com), who played selections from "Gigi," "Kismet" and "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever."Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-59809601052251402852012-03-22T07:36:00.005-07:002012-03-23T08:15:34.804-07:00Griffin Honors Minnelli at Paramount Center<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1yCkeRdbngHTqngYoRaBlo_LvzCZqE-zQV5_GX_efiH_gzzj2MtgZD61TCxT1t9aakPDKWcjsknbiw5hrMF6K3CBekzrOsYbaObt_w6ysnKPSzbUo5FrxA9AcQerBuPn4nFq0WWnQZDc/s1600/Arts+Emerson.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1yCkeRdbngHTqngYoRaBlo_LvzCZqE-zQV5_GX_efiH_gzzj2MtgZD61TCxT1t9aakPDKWcjsknbiw5hrMF6K3CBekzrOsYbaObt_w6ysnKPSzbUo5FrxA9AcQerBuPn4nFq0WWnQZDc/s320/Arts+Emerson.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722733751670420866" /></a> Please join us on <a href="http://www.artsboston.org/event/detail/441561991/An_American_In_Paris">Friday, April 20th at 6:30pm at Boston's beautifully restored Paramount Center</a> for a very special event. Mark Griffin, the author of <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hundred-More-Hidden-Things-Vincente/dp/0786720999/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332427463&sr=1-1">A Hundred or More Hidden Things: The Life and Films of Vincente Minnelli</a></span>, will introduce a screening of Minnelli's beloved 1951 musical <span style="font-style:italic;">An American in Paris</span>. Winner of six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, the film stars Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron and boasts a superlative score by George and Ira Gershwin. "<span style="font-style:italic;">An American in Paris</span> is one of the most imaginative musical confections turned out by Hollywood" (-<span style="font-style:italic;">Variety</span>). This landmark musical has never looked better, thanks to a meticulous restoration by Turner Entertainment and a pristine print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive. A book signing will follow the movie. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPJwAW288d1ysD0uhkuwbURV4xtxzSgWaM6fhPeohYjjyDo5cpfzo8S0W9RyjX-LFMtOtQZdjkrhkYlbvt_qlrQ4liPTIeHfSWsepHiOB50FHfRGG4IVzp3nOtKUyet9ZMy5D1XgEKyiU/s1600/American_Paris_1951_3.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 157px; height: 216px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPJwAW288d1ysD0uhkuwbURV4xtxzSgWaM6fhPeohYjjyDo5cpfzo8S0W9RyjX-LFMtOtQZdjkrhkYlbvt_qlrQ4liPTIeHfSWsepHiOB50FHfRGG4IVzp3nOtKUyet9ZMy5D1XgEKyiU/s320/American_Paris_1951_3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723111403313028962" /></a> This special screening of <span style="font-style:italic;">An American in Paris</span> is part of Paramount's film series <span style="font-style:italic;">Gotta Dance: The American Movie Musical 1929-1953</span>, which will also include a screening of Vincente Minnelli's <span style="font-style:italic;">The Band Wagon</span> (1953) on April 28th. The Paramount Center is located at 559 Washington Street in Boston, Massachusetts. Tickets are $10, $7.50 for Members and Seniors. Contact the Box Office at 617-824-8400. More information at <a href="http://www.emerson.edu/news-events/artsemerson">this link</a>.Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-55303596711958385992011-12-05T14:08:00.000-08:002011-12-05T14:20:13.066-08:00Mark Griffin interviews John Waters on How to Get Through Christmas<a href="http://www.sunjournal.com/news/encore/2011/11/30/pope-trash-comes-clean-director-john-waters-portland-pink-flamingos-and-how-g">'The Pope of Trash' Comes Clean: Director John Waters on Portland, Pink Flamingos and How To Get Through Christmas</a><br />by Mark Griffin<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwoOjzaSJ4FfHfS0uA-z1jRa3GLke7Qw6DIVpEtPYKbkCwFNQ9DpH6rMOaUcTc3gfOWMcKBq_G0o5BOFSERLZCEMn5SlVvD24aczpjqHsDSHt-PCFodOWoWxkNGTcZ8ib-9xWvHSzMk9w/s1600/Waters%252C+John+%2528c%2529+Greg+Gorman.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwoOjzaSJ4FfHfS0uA-z1jRa3GLke7Qw6DIVpEtPYKbkCwFNQ9DpH6rMOaUcTc3gfOWMcKBq_G0o5BOFSERLZCEMn5SlVvD24aczpjqHsDSHt-PCFodOWoWxkNGTcZ8ib-9xWvHSzMk9w/s320/Waters%252C+John+%2528c%2529+Greg+Gorman.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682770369455895522" /></a> First comes the good news: John Waters, who is without a doubt one of the most intriguing individuals in our solar system, agrees to an interview. I am beyond elated. The world is suddenly full of wonderful things like bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens. Then comes the bad news: due to an overloaded work schedule, 'The Bard of Bad Taste' has only ten minutes to spare.<br /> <br />Ten minutes? Can one truly interview "The Pope of Trash" in less time than it takes for the average ATM transaction? After all, this is the director of some of the most noteworthy and notorious cult classics of all time including the landmark <span style="font-style:italic;">Pink Flamingos</span> ("one of the most vile, stupid and repulsive films ever made," raved Variety), <span style="font-style:italic;">Hairspray</span> (which spawned a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical in 2002) and <span style="font-style:italic;">Serial Mom</span> (in which homicidal homemaker Kathleen Turner does an especially obnoxious neighbor in with a leg of lamb).<br /> <br />Ten minutes seems scarcely enough time to discuss Waters's unique contributions to cinema, let alone his holiday-themed stage show, <span style="font-style:italic;">A John Waters Christmas</span>, which will be the hottest ticket in town when it hits Portland's State Theatre on December 11th. And ten teeny minutes leaves us next to no time to cover Waters's superlative collection <span style="font-style:italic;">Role Models</span> (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), a highly addictive page turner in which 'The Sultan of Sleaze' pays tribute to his idols - everyone from Tennessee Williams to Little Richard to Margaret Hamilton's Wicked Witch of the West. I appeal to Ian Brennan, Waters's promoter, for additional interview time. Alright, truth be told, I subjected Ian to a supreme diva tirade and demanded at least an hour. The unflappable Ian has apparently dealt with relentless, conniving journalists before: "John speaks very rapidly...You'll get everything that you need," he assures me. Ten minutes it is.<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcZwB5cZ4rMXc_ePgDoQ7ZNeaUA74R5KLnYeuMOGceXzYAXXfVGDRwsdfXo2KCBqSLMGcOypf16-Y1bdMY2wtE6h6DrJFKwa4HEthxw1CMcSvXbqtVGzgOWmxD0Rtw8i1B8HM9jUJ6_8E/s1600/rolemodels_pbk.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcZwB5cZ4rMXc_ePgDoQ7ZNeaUA74R5KLnYeuMOGceXzYAXXfVGDRwsdfXo2KCBqSLMGcOypf16-Y1bdMY2wtE6h6DrJFKwa4HEthxw1CMcSvXbqtVGzgOWmxD0Rtw8i1B8HM9jUJ6_8E/s320/rolemodels_pbk.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682771444692019634" /></a> With one eye on the clock, I ask the first question. In a culture dominated by the likes of Casey Anthony and <span style="font-style:italic;">The Real Housewives of New Jersey</span>, does the John Waters vision still have the capacity to shock? "My audience gets younger as I get older and <span style="font-style:italic;">Pink Flamingos</span> still works. I promise you. It didn't get nicer," says Waters. "I go to colleges all the time and <span style="font-style:italic;">Pink Flamingos</span> still gets eighteen year-old kids who think they've seen everything. It still makes their jaws drop and I'm very proud of that."<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUaRPrQuony_jXmV0hLSYXvvyNkG9_0x4ezI8vWapKk6jdXUT_-YaCeHlbZnZlqsKm8Y40iPsT73VMSdmJ5EH8T-jR1eMAK2MLR83BcxhbDw2OTSkVOh46s8yLQ8A9HeA7FxXBVr4LvF4/s1600/artist+credit+Richard+Louderback.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 230px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUaRPrQuony_jXmV0hLSYXvvyNkG9_0x4ezI8vWapKk6jdXUT_-YaCeHlbZnZlqsKm8Y40iPsT73VMSdmJ5EH8T-jR1eMAK2MLR83BcxhbDw2OTSkVOh46s8yLQ8A9HeA7FxXBVr4LvF4/s320/artist+credit+Richard+Louderback.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682771799478858210" /></a> With nary a nanosecond to spare, we dash off to the next question. If Waters is capable of putting Johnny Depp, Iggy Pop, Traci Lords and Troy Donahue all into the same movie (as he did with 1990's <span style="font-style:italic;">Cry-Baby</span>), what on earth will he do to our most sacred holiday in <span style="font-style:italic;">A John Waters Christmas</span>? "I actually love Christmas in a non-ironic way," says Waters. "But I understand that there are people in Portland, Maine - as in everywhere - that hate Christmas. I'm sure there are people in Portland, Maine who do not agree with it religiously. They go their families' houses and they are tortured. And they hate the enormous financial burden of Christmas. So, with this show, I try to speak to everybody. It's a self-help group. How To Get Through for Christmas. No matter if you're a convict, a thief or a fashion casualty, this show has something for you. It's all about mental health at Christmas."<br /> <br />We're seven minutes in and I've only asked two questions. With no time to lose, we rip into the next topic. Which of the thoroughly original role models profiled in <span style="font-style:italic;">Role Models</span> had the greatest impact on Waters's own life? Was it Baltimore's infamous "angry stripper" Lady Zorro? Or maybe it was velvety-voiced pop legend Johnny Mathis? Never one to play it safe, Waters opts for the most controversial candidate in the book. "I would say Leslie Van Houten, because the one thing I would like to do is help her get out of prison before I die," Waters says. <br /> <br />In 1969, Van Houten was a 19 year-old follower of the infamous ex-con Charles Manson. Along with other Manson 'Family' members, Van Houten participated in the gruesome murders of a Los Angeles couple, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. Waters believes that Van Houten, now 62, is a completely rehabilitated woman - one light years removed from the cult-indoctrinated 'trippie' who killed while under the influence of LSD and Manson's brainwashing. "Her case is probably the only thing I've ever written about that was serious,' Waters says. "There are no jokes in there. I also know that there is no fair answer to the question that her chapter in the book asks...What happens when you've done something so terrible when you're young? How can you ever begin to make up for something like that? So, that is a subject that will continue to interest me forever."<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrJ9GheIFXV9NFtM-GYuZyPMpBfEDv_Jo5EVO-4wKhgHuwrsB1-urQFPTjbRC7qyQqrNiCNg7Nq6lhc1N9QeFqN6N5Pps3Uf3tE6m9UZEqSCOX-0J5P34NX6flo27ja7VmsyvnRuiMyO0/s1600/JWstairwellcolor0001.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrJ9GheIFXV9NFtM-GYuZyPMpBfEDv_Jo5EVO-4wKhgHuwrsB1-urQFPTjbRC7qyQqrNiCNg7Nq6lhc1N9QeFqN6N5Pps3Uf3tE6m9UZEqSCOX-0J5P34NX6flo27ja7VmsyvnRuiMyO0/s320/JWstairwellcolor0001.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682772558589120546" /></a> Twenty minutes have flown by but who's counting? While no one's looking, I sneak in another question. When can we expect the next John Waters extravaganza at the neighborhood cineplex? "You know, I started out making underground movies and then midnight movies and then I guess what was called independent movies...and now I can't get a movie made," says Waters. "In the forty years that I've been involved with it, I would say that independent film is having the toughest time right now. They want you to make a movie for $500,000 or $100 million now. Years ago, there used to be ten distribution companies that I could pitch to and there's only about two now. But I've got a development deal for this children's Christmas movie that I'm trying to make called <span style="font-style:italic;">Fruitcake</span>. So, I'm still trying but in the meantime, I write books. I'm on stage. I tell stories. Luckily for me, there are many different ways to tell stories."<br /> <br />In recent months, Waters has been touring the world with his acclaimed one man show. "I actually just came back from doing seven or eight cities in New Zealand and Australia," Waters says. They couldn't get enough of him in Perth and Waters's demented brand of humor went over remarkably well 'down under.' So what accounts for his success in even the remotest parts of the globe? The answer, like the rest of our interview, comes quickly: "Bad taste - I promise you - is international."<br /> <br />[Mark Griffin is the author of <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hundred-More-Hidden-Things-Vincente/dp/0786720999">A Hundred or More Hidden Things: The Life and Films of Vincente Minnelli</a></span>]Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-35539247867184555012011-08-01T12:49:00.000-07:002011-08-01T12:57:29.396-07:00Minnelli at MoMA<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFRDwuqk_Cl1XUyLbfzF-gQNuUKowyfwrwt89kBd_QVjrtLOVKCzJVm5iL7HvMMP0LR4azd8yt-eYxin7czzyXhFsL3emOzV5Gd9OHqXZk2nHEeVSIUeUSgpcsC75gN2qzTHuWWlMhsPA/s1600/MOMA+Banner.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 20px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFRDwuqk_Cl1XUyLbfzF-gQNuUKowyfwrwt89kBd_QVjrtLOVKCzJVm5iL7HvMMP0LR4azd8yt-eYxin7czzyXhFsL3emOzV5Gd9OHqXZk2nHEeVSIUeUSgpcsC75gN2qzTHuWWlMhsPA/s320/MOMA+Banner.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635977197728730162" /></a> <span style="font-style:italic;"><br /><br />Meet Me in St. Louis</span> just screened at MoMA this weekend. The MoMA blog has a lot of notes and insight about the film including this mention from Mark Griffin's recently published biography, <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hundred-More-Hidden-Things-Vincente/dp/0786720999/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312228603&sr=8-1">A Hundred or More Hidden Things: The Life and Films of Vincente Minnelli</a></span>.<br /><br /><blockquote>We featured Mark Griffin’s <span style="font-style:italic;">A Hundred or More Hidden Things: The Life of Vincent Minnelli</span> in an Auteurist History of Film special event last year. Mark’s book is scrupulously scholarly, but he confesses his devotion to Minnelli on the first page, based on his first viewing of <span style="font-style:italic;">On a Clear Day You Can See Forever</span> at the impressionable age of 16. Regarding <span style="font-style:italic;">Meet Me in St. Louis</span>, Mark presents a reasonable appraisal of Garland: “Freed from Andy Hardy, Busby Berkeley, and her outmoded ugly duckling image, a new Judy Garland emerges…and she’s a beauty.” Mark also quotes Minnelli’s own assessment of the film: “It’s magical.” So, I’ll buy into that and hold my ambiguity and qualms in check at least for <span style="font-style:italic;">Meet Me in St. Louis</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">The Pirate</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">An American in Paris</span>, and <span style="font-style:italic;">The Band Wagon</span>. Musicals are supposed to be magical.</blockquote>Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-67888057412163671912011-04-11T05:42:00.000-07:002011-04-11T06:05:37.052-07:00Mark Griffin interviews Jacques d'Amboise<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi874wxLdTzI01iAv7_aUrRp-0q9QtznNO2F0GeFCI6V3giKMee2R7dPcXPHuUaAPfWpTJJN0_98jaYukNxe26YeV4vQF0yAyNBSAYuoVpKPhGI9jGtExvAME13-T1W2cJ2vgdQNk5-2fY/s1600/I+Was+a+Dancer.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 220px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi874wxLdTzI01iAv7_aUrRp-0q9QtznNO2F0GeFCI6V3giKMee2R7dPcXPHuUaAPfWpTJJN0_98jaYukNxe26YeV4vQF0yAyNBSAYuoVpKPhGI9jGtExvAME13-T1W2cJ2vgdQNk5-2fY/s320/I+Was+a+Dancer.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594308509869607730" /></a> If your exposure to the world of dance has been limited to Ralph Macchio's killer foxtrot on <span style="font-style: italic;">Dancing With the Stars</span>, it's time to get acquainted with the illustrious Jacques d'Amboise. Widely considered one of America's preeminent classical dancers, d'Amboise was a principal with the New York City Ballet for over thirty years. While under contract, he became a protege and confidante of the legendary choreographer George Balanchine.<br /><br />After captivating audiences around the world with his performances in Balanchine's ballets, <span style="font-style: italic;">Apollo</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux</span>, Hollywood beckoned and d'Amboise starred in such celebrated screen musicals as <span style="font-style: italic;">Seven Brides for Seven Brothers</span> (1954) and <span style="font-style: italic;">Carousel</span> (1956). In 1983, d'Amboise became the subject of the acclaimed Oscar-winning documentary, <span style="font-style: italic;">He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin'</span>, which focused on his work teaching dance to schoolchildren through his non-profit organization, the National Dance Institute. <br /><br />In his revealing new memoir, <span style="font-style: italic;">I Was a Dancer</span> (Knopf, $35), d'Amboise looks back at a life spent as "a would-be explorer - of ideas, cultures and people." Mark Griffin, the author of <span style="font-style: italic;">A Hundred or More Hidden Things: The Life and Films of Vincente Minnelli</span>, recently spoke with d'Amboise regarding his longtime association with Balanchine, his appearances in several four star films and how he manages to get things done -- his way. <br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">NOTE: An excerpted version of this interview ran in the</span> <a href="http://www.sunjournal.com/bplus/story/1004872"><span style="font-style: italic;">Lewiston Sun Journal</span></a>. <br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153); font-weight: bold;">Mark Griffin:</span> You are a certified living legend. Was it your family ties to scenic and fashionable Lewiston, Maine that launched you on the road to success? <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">Jacques d'Amboise:</span> Of course. Lewiston is where it all began for us. That's where my [mother's] family settled when they first came here. In those days, there was this whole slew of French-Canadians emigrating from Canada. That's why you have all of these neighbors with beautiful sounding last names like Goudreau, Levasseur, Larochelle and d'Amboise. Our family moved to Lewiston because there was this special feeling of community there. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MG:</span> Your mother was a real pistol, whom your father nicknamed "The Boss." If it hadn't been for her all-consuming interest in the arts, would you have had this extraordinary career?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">Jd:</span> My mother was determined that all four of her children were going to be well educated. That was her dream -- that we should be able to recite poetry, play an instrument or dance She was unstoppable. In fact, except for my brother John, who ended up in Okinawa during World War II, the rest of us - my other brother Pat, my sister and I - we all ended up in the precursor of the New York City Ballet. "The Boss" saw to it that we all went in that direction. As I say in the book, my mother could have taken the whole family into the Canadian woods naked in midwinter and seen to it that we all came out by the end of the season fatter and dressed in stylish furs.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTfhydRpZ-JaoS43XtMnfpQhyTZG9g9Kx_1OHlbwCLA3OiIjBF87hGwTrWeeNMc58riQaH8sW2-XW0HegZWqVORHD3Z1FVoiEzeOPEKGHUblljKrp-RP0_8L5cNxqWlu4u3dKI7G9Wp8k/s1600/Fig+103+Untamed+Yout%252328693E.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 234px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTfhydRpZ-JaoS43XtMnfpQhyTZG9g9Kx_1OHlbwCLA3OiIjBF87hGwTrWeeNMc58riQaH8sW2-XW0HegZWqVORHD3Z1FVoiEzeOPEKGHUblljKrp-RP0_8L5cNxqWlu4u3dKI7G9Wp8k/s320/Fig+103+Untamed+Yout%252328693E.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594308866228918082" /></a> <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MG:</span> How did it feel to be the great Balanchine's muse?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">Jd:</span> I knew that when I was dancing on the stage, I was representing him. When I lifted a ballerina and held her in my arms, I was standing in for Balanchine in a way. He used me vicariously to make love to the ballerinas. Sometimes, he'd come back after a performance and say, 'You two were so beautiful together...' I'd be standing there - exhausted, dripping sweat and he still wouldn't let me go. He was on a high and he couldn't calm down because he had sat in the audience and inhabited - in his mind - my arms and legs and body...If you listed all of the great Nobel Prize-winners in the arts - throughout the entire 20th century - Balanchine would be right there leading the list. I have a friend named Francis Sackett, who wrote me a very sweet, wonderful note and at the very end of it, he said, 'How lucky we were to be able to grasp hold of the tail of the comet that was Balanchine...' And I called him up and I said, 'Francis, can I use that quote in my book?...' No one, I think, started on that tail earlier and stayed longer and was closer to the heart of the comet than I was.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MG:</span> As one of Balanchine's charmed proteges, what was the most important thing that you learned from him?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">Jd:</span> I would say good manners. He would never say, 'I want you to do this...' He would always say, 'Do you think maybe that you'd like to dance this role for me?' Meanwhile, he knew very well that no one was going to say 'no' to George Balanchine. He had this beautiful courtesy. It was an old world courtesy based on chivalry and romantic ideas that I guess influenced him. His manner was very old world and kind of formal. And that always impressed me. Another thing...oh, my god - when he came in first thing in the morning to teach company class -- he'd walk in and go directly to the piano and greet the pianist and if there was a cup of coffee on the piano or an ashtray, he wouldn't say anything. He'd simply pick it up and he'd walk to the back of the room where there was a wastepaper basket and empty everything into it. All of this without saying a word. And then he'd turn around and snap his fingers and say, "Let's begin!" He would never say, 'Don't put your coffee cups on the piano...' or anything like that. It was always teaching by example. I remember asking him about this once when we were dining together -- he liked to eat Greek olives and feta cheese and drink Beck's beer - and he said, 'Look at the piano. It is beautiful. It is a sculpture. It is an instrument of percussion but it's also a string instrument. It crosses two places of music and it comes to life...this beautiful, wooden sounding board. It's an intricate mechanism -- so that a person with their brain and craft and skill can take their fingers and transport you out of this world...How can you put a cup of coffee on such a work of art?' So, now every time I see a piano and there's something on it like a ballet bag or a newspaper or a cup of coffee or something that someone left behind, I clean the piano. I don't say, 'Who's bag is that on the piano? Get it off!' No, I just take it and quietly put it to the side. That's what I learned from Balanchine...good manners. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MG:</span> During your time in Hollywood, you were cruised by Rock Hudson and nearly killed by Julie Newmar. So when did you find time to appear in one of the greatest musicals ever made?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">Jd:</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"> Seven Brides for Seven Brothers</span> was one hell of a movie and a great learning experience...except, if you look closely, I'm not actually in the last few scenes. The shooting schedule ran over and I didn't want to miss the premiere of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Nutcracker</span> back in New York...So, they slapped a red wig on the assistant choreographer, gave him a duplicate of my costume and he filled in for me in a couple of scenes. Nowadays, they'd just take my photo and digitally morph me into the movie.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MG:</span> What was it like being at MGM - the Rolls Royce of the Hollywood studios - when it was still going strong in the early 50's?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">Jd:</span> I never thought that with MGM or 20th Century-Fox or Universal that there was this kind of hierarchy. In those days, I thought of it all as just a bunch of sets out in Culver City that I had to report to. I was lucky, though, that on my first film I got to work with [choreographer] Michael Kidd and [director] Stanley Donen. I turned eighteen on the set of <span style="font-style: italic;">Seven Brides for Seven Brothers</span> but I was emotionally fourteen. Coming from New York and the ballet, I thought that some of the movie people didn't have the same kind of discipline that we had. When they said, 'Alright, at eight o'clock, be ready to go...' I would be there at six-thirty or seven to warm up so that at eight o'clock, I'd already be dripping sweat as though the curtain's going up and you have to get ready to appear on stage. It was very different with movies. I couldn't even get on to the sound stage at seven because it was all locked up and I remember thinking, 'I must be in the wrong place...' I'd wander around for a while and then someone would say, 'What time is your call?' and I'd say, 'Eight o'clock...' And they'd say, 'Oh, well, they probably won't open everything up until about ten minutes before eight.' It was just a very different world from the one I knew.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MG:</span> While you were working on <span style="font-style: italic;">Seven Brides</span>..., did you have the feeling that you were working on a project that was shaping up as something extra special?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">Jd:</span> There were interesting things going on in every studio but the buzz was out about <span style="font-style: italic;">Seven Brides</span>...but I have to say that there was even more of a buzz when I did <span style="font-style: italic;">Carousel</span> (1956) and that was for 20th Century-Fox. I'd be in rehearsal and you'd see Dan Dailey or some of the other stars -- when they had a break on their own set, they'd come over to our set to see what was happening. They were all very curious. Same thing with <span style="font-style: italic;">The Best Things In Life Are Free</span> (1956). We always had various stars popping in to watch what we were doing. That was going on all the time. But I was out of it. I was just a kid. I didn't understand all of that.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim3v2nMEJoK_dtLUZICtvWxSP8N-6MtZUSRgQnzU4cIRmbxVP2qPi-PNQspZb7eYXZpI5Gdh2LSq020UkXGvEGh7ZT659vLfmUq1b4rjuZaYe0hxN04yvTK2G5KCQ9dFQR4JQKSyDYmec/s1600/Jacques+d%2527Amboise.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 234px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim3v2nMEJoK_dtLUZICtvWxSP8N-6MtZUSRgQnzU4cIRmbxVP2qPi-PNQspZb7eYXZpI5Gdh2LSq020UkXGvEGh7ZT659vLfmUq1b4rjuZaYe0hxN04yvTK2G5KCQ9dFQR4JQKSyDYmec/s320/Jacques+d%2527Amboise.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594308683733278562" /></a> <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MG:</span> In reference to <span style="font-style: italic;">Seven Brides</span>..., can you talk a little bit about how the division of duties worked between Stanley Donen and Michael Kidd? Who was in charge of what on that picture?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">Jd:</span> I've never doubted that the two of them came together like Siamese twins on that movie but the direct influence on me was Michael Kidd. He was the choreographer, so that was "The Boss" for me. I do think they collaborated terrifically and fabulously. When Michael died several years ago, I called Stanley and asked if he would come in and talk to all of the children that I teach -- there was a group of maybe two hundred of them. So, on a Saturday afternoon, Stanley Donen came over and we projected scenes of Michael Kidd and Dan Dailey and Gene Kelly dancing together in <span style="font-style: italic;">It's Always Fair Weather</span> (1955), which Stanley directed and choreographed [with Kelly]. We showed them that amazing sequence where they dance with garbage can covers attached to their feet. I mean, they were simply fabulous -- all three of them. But in some crazy way, Michael Kidd stole it for me. He really had it, you know? He was a New York street guy. A tough little bantam rooster...After we showed the film, I asked Stanley to talk about Michael a bit and about his own work as a director and choreographer but Stanley was very modest and mostly talked about Michael.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MG:</span> Did Balanchine object whenever you pulled out of the ballet to appear in a Hollywood production?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">Jd:</span> I always did exactly what I wanted to do. After Balanchine died, I remember [New York City Ballet's general manager] Betty Cage said to me, 'I once asked George why he let you do anything you wanted and he said, 'Well, when I was seventeen, no one could tell me what to do...So, I'm not going to tell Jacques what to do either.' And Balanchine had been dead several years before I heard that. I was just spoiled rotten. For example, Balanchine would carefully prepare a ballet for me and it would be scheduled to premiere at the beginning of the season. Meanwhile, my agent would have gotten me a television show or an appearance in Miami. So, I'd go to George and say, 'Hey, Mr. B., I can't do the opening of the ballet. I'm going to be away shooting a movie for a few months...Is there any way that we can solve that?' And he actually let me do this kind of thing. And I was on a full, year-round salary with New York City Ballet and I'd say things like, 'Hey, I'm doing a movie, I'll be gone six weeks...' And then I would even take some of the ballerinas with me when I was doing shows all over the country. I'd be doing Balanchine's ballets - his own choreography - and I never even asked his permission. I just did it. And when I'd come back, I'd say, 'Hey, Mr. B., when we were in St. Louis, we danced this ballet of yours and the audience really loved it...' And I was talking about Balanchine's ballets! He just let me do anything I wanted. My wife used to say, 'You are so spoiled...you have no idea.' And I was spoiled. Very spoiled. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MG:</span> The National Dance Institute is, of course, one of Jacques d'Amboise's greatest accomplishments. As the creative nucleus of something as vital and meaningful as NDI, it must be disheartening to you that so many federally funded arts programs are being slashed?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">Jd:</span> They are now trying to cut the funding for the National Endowment for the Arts again. When they threaten to do things like that, I always think of Germany after the war. The first thing they did amid the rubble is build their opera house back up again. The first thing. It was the center of the expression of their culture. The emotional center of their community was their opera house. I'm afraid we don't view things in quite the same way in this country. First of all, we don't have a culture that is mono-cultured. Our culture includes a little bit of everything. It's French. It's Italian. It's Chinese. We're this hodge-podge of a global nation in our own laboratory testing out the possibilities of a future...Also, the live performing arts are being - little by little - eradicated by television and technology. Why should someone go to a concert now? They can put a plug in their ear and listen to some gadget twenty-four hours a day and ruin their eardrums...So, the arts - at least in terms of public performance - are changing. But there is still nothing like attending a live performance. I have a friend - a dentist - and she's mad about the opera and she always gets the best seats right in the front row. And she invites me. I like opera but over the years, I rarely went because it does cost a lot of money and I was usually performing at night myself. When I did go, it was just amazing. When you see opera like that, you realize that kind of grandness cannot be realized in a tiny little place. It really needs the opulence of an opera house In other words, you could be this very elegant person but unless you know how to dress elegantly, the public doesn't realize your inner worth. When you sit there with Wagner and Verdi and Donizetti and Puccini and these incredible productions with these fabulous singers, you are instantly transported. It's live performance at its best. <br /> <br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MG:</span> As a frequent visitor to Vacationland, what does Maine offer you that you can't find in midtown Manhattan?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">Jd:</span> Everybody needs a foot in the marketplace and a foot in the wilderness...One thing that's been lost today is this idea of embracing silence and making time for contemplation and reflection, which is something you can still achieve in Maine...I was on a plane recently and I was talking to [Eliot Cutler] who had run for governor of Maine and he'd lost by less than 10,000 votes. We were talking about how extraordinary Maine is. We also got on the subject of China, because he had been in Beijing for a few years and I was impressed with the fact that he had a global outlook and I thought, wow...if he runs again, I'm going to tell all of my relatives in Maine to vote for him. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MG:</span> Were there skills that you acquired as a dancer that proved to be helpful to you in terms of getting through everyday life?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">Jd:</span> I wish that I could say that the discipline of the dancer and the hours they put in translates to the way I live my life now but it's not so. I'm disordered. I'm mercurial. And I depend on other people...I once had a dalliance with a young woman and I asked her, 'Why are you so interested in me?' because there was almost a twenty year difference in our ages. And she said, 'Oh, aside from the physical stuff, I don't know anybody better at getting people to do what you want...and I want to learn how you manage it so that I can do it, too.' And I realized that I'm spoiled. I've always had assistants helping me. I do what I want -- but I get everybody to help me do it.Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-39053332277225698792011-03-02T14:32:00.000-08:002011-03-03T05:01:43.173-08:00DVD Classics Corner On the Air features Vincente Minnelli<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDYVuyfXeJbqRSkQLLvrCzq88jAKuOM9Ii9apPCxWbuC8qEj6NvI4TpR71wMV4v69gXAvKjf9hgVMBqxB-hYxzoP-litfNsUqI75V6x12XiHuT22t1OW2GHABywrdBribcvLjeccQ0c90/s1600/DinmanCaricature200_230.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 230px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDYVuyfXeJbqRSkQLLvrCzq88jAKuOM9Ii9apPCxWbuC8qEj6NvI4TpR71wMV4v69gXAvKjf9hgVMBqxB-hYxzoP-litfNsUqI75V6x12XiHuT22t1OW2GHABywrdBribcvLjeccQ0c90/s320/DinmanCaricature200_230.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579619959346905842" /></a> Dick Dinman, host of <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://wmpg.org/archivefiles/dvdclassics.htm">DVD CLASSICS CORNER ON THE AIR</a></span>, interviews biographer Mark Griffin as part of his four part audio feature on Vincente Minnelli. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><span style="font-style:italic;">DVD CLASSICS CORNER ON THE AIR</span></span> is a weekly show devoted to Golden Age Movie Classics as they become available on DVD. Host Dick Dinman includes a generous selection of classic scenes, classic film music, and one-on-one interviews with stars, producers, and directors.<br /><br />Follow the links below to listen to his four-part series, <span style="font-style:italic;">Versatile Vincente</span>. The last two weeks in April you will also find these shows on <a href="http://www.tcm.com">TCM.COM</a>. <br /><br />If you live in Maine, you can hear this weekly program Fridays from 1:00-1:30pm on FM radio station <a href="http://www.wmpg.org/shows/friampublic.htm">WMPG</a>. <br /><br /><a href="http://media.usm.maine.edu/~wmpg/archivefiles/Dinman/DVDCC_110415.mp3">VERSATILE VINCENTE (Part One)</a><br />Although principally remembered and revered for his astonishing contribution to musical cinema the Warner Archives' recent release of four beautifully remastered widescreen and color Vincente Minnelli non-musicals (THE COBWEB, TEA AND SYMPATHY, THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE and TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN) graphically demonstrate his inventive mastery of both stark drama and lighthearted comedy and who better to join producer/host Dick Dinman in turning the spotlight on the length and breadth of Minnelli's amazing versatility than Mark Griffin, author of the acclaimed biography <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hundred-More-Hidden-Things-Vincente/dp/0786720999/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299106612&sr=8-1">A HUNDRED OR MORE HIDDEN THINGS: THE LIFE AND FILMS OF VINCENTE MINNELLI</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://media.usm.maine.edu/~wmpg/archivefiles/Dinman/DVDCC_110422.mp3">VERSATILE VINCENTE (Part Two)</a><br /><a href="http://media.usm.maine.edu/~wmpg/archivefiles/Dinman/DVDCC_110429.mp3">VERSATILE VINCENTE (Part Three)</a><br /><a href="http://media.usm.maine.edu/~wmpg/archivefiles/Dinman/DVDCC_110506.mp3">VERSATILE VINCENTE (Part Four)</a>Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-86480764891170731642011-01-16T03:43:00.000-08:002011-01-16T03:48:06.463-08:00ALA Honors new Vincente Minnelli BiographyThe American Library Association has honored Mark Griffin's new book <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.amazon.com/Hundred-More-Hidden-Things-Vincente/dp/0786720999/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295178415&sr=8-1">A Hundred or More Hidden Things: The Life and Films of Vincente Minnelli</a> as part of its 2011 Over the Rainbow Book List as an outstanding biography. <br /><br />Check out the list at <a href="http://www.glbtrt.ala.org/overtherainbow/">this link</a>. <br /><br />Griffin, Mark. <em>A Hundred or More Hidden Things: The Life and Films of Vincente Minnelli. </em>2010. 346p. Da Capo Press, $15.95. (978-0-7867-2099-6).Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-69725740261276414892010-12-06T06:23:00.000-08:002010-12-06T14:01:17.746-08:00Citizen Scholar: Michael E. Grost on the Minnelli Factor<span>December 5, 2010</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Citizen Scholar: Michael E. Grost on the Minnelli Factor</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">by Mark Griffin</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXn8C5R4vtzuoPJqrLjqB25oDbFL56EKmq7F7dWcWBsrKUClA8Uslo5UDkycHJXLySwZ4tcbuqabRCR8naqV2go_muGSABcFcYnUEHBIP4SplNacxPEBqokGxqqY70q51AdIpTIeH7uQ4/s1600/PB250115.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXn8C5R4vtzuoPJqrLjqB25oDbFL56EKmq7F7dWcWBsrKUClA8Uslo5UDkycHJXLySwZ4tcbuqabRCR8naqV2go_muGSABcFcYnUEHBIP4SplNacxPEBqokGxqqY70q51AdIpTIeH7uQ4/s320/PB250115.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547580348543731202" border="0" /></a> "I just spent the morning writing an article on a film from 1912 called <span style="font-style: italic;">From The Submerged</span>," reports Michael E. Grost, a film historian and self-described "citizen scholar," who is the creator of a one-of-a-kind website (<a href="http://mikegrost.com/film.htm">mikegrost.com</a>) that exhaustively explores the visual and thematic links in the films of such master directors as Fritz Lang and Raoul Walsh. Grost also regularly champions the achievements of lesser known filmmakers that he feels are deserving of greater recognition like Gun Crazy director Joseph H. Lewis ("I'm up to ninety-six of his one hundred and six known films...")<br /><br />Grost's greatest challenge (so far) involves examining the multi-layered levels of meaning in the work of the incomparable Vincente Minnelli. According to Grost, the arched alcoves, hexagonal wallpaper patterns and elliptical mirrors that turn up in Minnelli's movies are as meaningful as the vanishing heroes and gender outlaws that populate such classics as <span style="font-style: italic;">Cabin In The Sky</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Meet Me In St. Louis</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Tea and Sympathy</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Designing Woman</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Gigi</span>.<br /><br />Mark Griffin, the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hundred-More-Hidden-Things-Vincente/dp/0786720999/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291645493&sr=8-1">A Hundred or More Hidden Things: The Life and Films of Vincente Minnelli</a>, recently caught up with Grost, who took a break from his ongoing investigation to discuss what he describes as "the seemingly endless use of creativity in Minnelli's moves."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MG:</span></span> Why don't we start with the most challenging question first...What is your favorite Vincente Minnelli production and why?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MEG:</span> </span> It's easy to pick a favorite. It's <span style="font-style: italic;">Some Came Running</span> (1958). I'm not sure that I can say why other than it's just so extremely well made at all levels. It works wonderfully as a story and then you have Minnelli's incredible visual style -- it has that great finale with the camera moving through the centennial celebration in Parkman [the fictional Midwestern town where the story takes place]. It's one of Minnelli's films about writers and as a writer myself, I tend to identify with such characters, so maybe it speaks to me personally a little bit. It's just one of his films that's so richly done at a dramatic level...It also seems to be a climax of his melodramas. It's the best of the melodramas and the richest and of course, it's got a very creative use of color throughout.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MG:<span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span> On your website, you explore how Minnelli uses red and blue as a recurring motif in <span style="font-style: italic;">Some Came Running</span>.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MEG:</span></span> Yes. The early Minnelli films are rather wild in terms of color design. It's very hard to summarize color in <span style="font-style: italic;">Yolanda and the Thief</span> (1945) or <span style="font-style: italic;">Meet Me In St. Louis</span> (1944). You'll have scenes that are multi-colored and certainly very beautiful but they don't seem to be designed according to any standard logic but the later Minnelli films tend to use complimentary colors -- It'll be the red-orange and blue that you see in a lot of his films...<span style="font-style: italic;">Home from the Hill</span> (1960) has fifteen scenes in it which are based on red-green color contrasts. <span style="font-style: italic;">Some Came Running</span> is more of the red-orange versus blue design typically. Especially with the finale at the centennial, there's this kind of conscious color design throughout...the lights of the carousel, for example, are all red-orange contrasted with blue. Minnelli certainly exhibited an extraordinary use of color throughout his work and a seemingly endless use of creativity in terms of the visuals of his films. The results are always very interesting to watch.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MG:</span> </span> In reference to <span style="font-style: italic;">Meet Me In St. Louis</span>, you've suggested that beneath the surface of this glossy MGM musical, there are some heavier themes being explored -- like sexism and social anxiety. How conscious do you think Minnelli was of layering this seemingly lighthearted movie with loads of subtext?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MEG:<span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span> Minnelli's films show a very consistent interest in sexism and feminism. In this country, we tend to think of sexism as something that emerged in the 1970's with the women's liberation movement and that's very true. But look at something like <span style="font-style: italic;">The Sandpiper</span>, which came out in 1965 - it's very consciously about feminism. In fact, it seems to be the main subject of the movie. It's a women's lib drama from the period before women's lib really erupted...My impression is that Minnelli was conscious of feminism and you can certainly look at <span style="font-style: italic;">Meet Me In St. Louis</span> as a feminist film. There's an awful lot of material in <span style="font-style: italic;">Meet Me In St. Louis</span> about the societal restrictions on women's lives. These young women in the family -- they're not even allowed to make a phone call unless the father grants his permission. They can't control who they meet. They're not allowed to talk to men until another man intervenes and introduces them. I mean, Judy Garland can't even go over and say "Hello..." to the boy-next-door in this society. She's like in purdah or something. From the way all of this is presented, it's hard to imagine that this wasn't some sort of conscious decision and concern on Minnelli's part...I think, too, feminism is often invisible to people. Take the plays by Aeschylus -- like the <span style="font-style: italic;">Oresteia</span> -- this seems to me to be a very feminist work. Though I never see any discussions of this among critics. It's like people can look right at something and not see the feminism in things. I, for one, don't understand why <span style="font-style: italic;">The Sandpiper</span> is so ridiculed among Minnelli's films -- people seem to constantly put it down and make jokes about it. They just don't like it but I always thought it was a very good movie. I loved it when I first saw it decades ago and I saw it several times when I was writing about Minnelli for my website. But I've found that there's something about any sort of explicit feminist film that bothers people. When the feminist message is buried just a bit below the surface -- as it is in <span style="font-style: italic;">Meet Me In St. Louis</span> -- it can suddenly become invisible.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkMFgDUbB7Sm_QyfQH4Fznh2I-8_X20mZ0Gs1kQ2cH5Jam3vbFNSHqZXw1kGLeE_FYP5xliIYcod9UYriVuZWP7mh9jNzePvOiGWlV7O3H7-nXnEabBK-Hm_o7E-VR1VsfqTdlf6GICn4/s1600/VincenteMinnelli_early_port.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkMFgDUbB7Sm_QyfQH4Fznh2I-8_X20mZ0Gs1kQ2cH5Jam3vbFNSHqZXw1kGLeE_FYP5xliIYcod9UYriVuZWP7mh9jNzePvOiGWlV7O3H7-nXnEabBK-Hm_o7E-VR1VsfqTdlf6GICn4/s320/VincenteMinnelli_early_port.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547582013445198434" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MG:</span></span> In writing about <span style="font-style: italic;">Cabin In The Sky</span> (1943), you touch upon how Minnelli presented African-Americans in that film. You disagree with some of the audio commentary by academic Todd Boyd on the DVD version of <span style="font-style: italic;">Cabin</span>. Some observers have made the case that a few of the characterizations in <span style="font-style: italic;">Cabin</span> are racially insensitive stereotypes while others argue that Minnelli was something of a pioneer in terms of how he presented black people in his films. What do you think?<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MEG:</span></span> I think <span style="font-style: italic;">Cabin in the Sky</span> is overwhelmingly positive and innovative in its positive portrayals of African-Americans. There are a few places where one could be legitimately concerned, though. The brief cameo by Willie Best as one of the demons in the film is stereotyped. There's no other way to put it. It's not good but it's mercifully very brief. Also, the pre-reformed hero of the film being portrayed as lazy and shiftless -- that's perhaps a bit uncomfortably close to some of the ugly stereotypes of lazy black people. But in the second half of the film, the hero very much reforms and becomes a hard worker and later on, you see him all done up in white tie and tails and he's a big success in life and so on. Mainly it's an extremely positive portrayal. There are some extraordinary portraits on display...the minister...Ethel Waters as the heroine and the incredible jazz musicians in the nightclub sequence...The film is like an inventory of many of the great black musical entertainers of all time. It's mainly just a remarkable, highly positive film despite some occasional problems that we have to acknowledge but at the same time we need to try to balance them with what is good about the film as a whole.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MG:</span></span> I'm curious to hear your thoughts on Lena Horne's character in <span style="font-style: italic;">Cabin</span>. In Georgia Brown, we're being presented with a seductive, sexually available African-American woman in an all-black musical released in 1943. All things considered, was this kind of character a step forward or another strike against Hollywood?<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MEG:</span></span> I think in general, in the late 20's and 30's, most depictions of black people in Hollywood movies were really horrible. This was the Stepin Fetchit era. An important exception was John M. Stahl's original version of <span style="font-style: italic;">Imitation of Life</span> (1934) which was considered a landmark film in the black press. It was always hailed as a model film in that era. You can see a few others -- like the black news-boy who gets killed in <span style="font-style: italic;">Mr. Smith Goes to Washington</span> (1939) as another positive portrayal. And the extraordinary finale of Preston Sturges's <span style="font-style: italic;">Sullivan's Travels</span> (1941), where the white protagonists go to the black church. Every now and then there was a pro-civil rights message slipped in about the equality of the races. So there were a few positive examples but otherwise, most of the portrayals were stereotyped and embarrassing and a disgrace. Then, in the early 1940's, black civil rights leaders pushed for a change. I think they actually went to Washington and asked the federal government to try and motivate Hollywood to include more positive black portrayals in films because blacks were contributing so much to the war effort - both as soldiers and as war workers and they felt that this ought to be recognized. In the early 40's, you had <span style="font-style: italic;">Stormy Weather</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Dive Bomber</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Cabin in the Sky</span> -- suddenly Hollywood was making this series of films that were attempting to portray black people more positively. My impression was that this was a communal effort sponsored by civil rights leaders and the federal government. There were white liberals like [crime writer] Rex Stout, who lead a committee of white authors to try and promote more positive portrayals of black people in entertainment by white people.<br /><br />I don't have any inner knowledge of the production history of <span style="font-style: italic;">Cabin in the Sky</span> but I really don't think that the people who made it just woke up one morning and said, 'Okay, let's make a pro-black musical today...' I think this reflected a conscious effort by lots of different political, creative and film industry groups to improve the image of black people in 1940's Hollywood...For some reason, Minnelli was very much associated with black entertainers in his early films. Not just <span style="font-style: italic;">Cabin in the Sky</span> but you also have these really interesting scenes with Lena Horne and the Berry Brothers in <span style="font-style: italic;">Panama Hattie</span> (1942). You have the Hazel Scott numbers in I Dood It (1943), which are really the best part of what is otherwise probably Minnelli's worst movie. I understand that he directed a lot of black performers on Broadway, too...There are other ways in which he was sort of a pioneer -- in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Clock</span> (1945), you'll see these very dignified, non-stereotyped servicemen in that wartime film who are black. In the scenes in Grand Central Station, not only are there very dignified and patriotic portraits of white servicemen but you see black servicemen, too. In <span style="font-style: italic;">The Sandpiper</span>, there's a black artist who is on equal terms with the white artists in the film. There are all sorts of very dignified, pioneering looks at black people in Minnelli's films. It's a whole dimension that's important in his work that we shouldn't forget. Along with the feminist dimension and the pro-gay dimension, there also is the pro-black dimension. Minnelli was an aesthete but he was also clearly interested in liberal social values. I mean, <span style="font-style: italic;">Lust for Life</span> (1956) has one of the few looks at child labor since the 1910's, when you had films like <span style="font-style: italic;">The Cry of the Children</span> (1912), which deals very profoundly with the tragedy of child labor. And then it just goes away as a subject - even though it hadn't disappeared in real life - until Minnelli shows it in the tragedy in <span style="font-style: italic;">Lust for Life</span>. The same thing is true about all of the science in Minnelli. As a director, he's consistently interested in technology -- especially sound communication. There are all of these recording devices in his films. Things like the radio remote control at the end of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse</span> (1962). There's just a surprising amount of material about technology in Minnelli's films. After all, he was a leading figure in one of the world's most high tech industries. This sort of stuff tends to be invisible to today's commentators on Minnelli and I'm not sure why. It needs to be brought out and people need to start seeing more.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6OTE0YJmrdiIeWNZ6Dz1wYozCV4BeArlQX1eYKNQBOL9wbMutvF49RnklbUWEXLJVvYYjS2yS2sKxtjKguT14e6H5dXv5MnUgRfV9VLGEZI98FLWWWJPKhzUNlIuQjoVuWlIVifeml5w/s1600/VincenteMinnelli_4Horse_1961.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6OTE0YJmrdiIeWNZ6Dz1wYozCV4BeArlQX1eYKNQBOL9wbMutvF49RnklbUWEXLJVvYYjS2yS2sKxtjKguT14e6H5dXv5MnUgRfV9VLGEZI98FLWWWJPKhzUNlIuQjoVuWlIVifeml5w/s320/VincenteMinnelli_4Horse_1961.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547582225948402978" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MG:</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);"> </span> In writing about Minnelli's directorial approach, you frequently make reference to this concept of "kinetic art." In relation to Vincente's films, how would you best describe what that is?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MEG:<span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span> Kinetic Art is an art world term for art objects that you might well see somewhere like the Museum of Modern Art or the Tate Gallery in London or the Guggenheim Museum -- anyplace that concentrates on modern art. Kinetic art basically refers to machines that are created by artists in a lab that have moving parts that are designed to be looked at for their visual beauty and delightfulness. One machine might feature whistles and moving wheels or revolving pin wheels and spirals...or gears that interlock...pistons that move up and down...things like that. They were especially big in the 1960's in art museums and there were a number of artists who specialized in them. They were considered rather avant-garde. My impression is that such things actually date back to the 1920's.<br /><br />The kinetic art movement never became the center of the art world but it did become quite a craze and if you look at the finale of <span style="font-style: italic;">Mickey One</span>, which is a film by Arthur Penn made in '65 - there's a whole fifteen minute sequence in that film which visits a large scale kinetic art installation -- you know, a large machine created by an artist full of fireworks and revolving wheels and stuff that is as big as a house. I don't know if Minnelli specifically had an interest in kinetic art but his films are just filled to the peak with machines that move around and that are certainly like kinetic art. For example, in <span style="font-style: italic;">Lovely To Look At</span> (1952), in the fashion show sequence, there are all of these pyramids that are filled with light inside and that glow with light and they're being moved all around the stage. In <span style="font-style: italic;">Meet Me In St. Louis</span> (1944), Judy Garland and Tom Drake put out the lights with this complicated gadget that's on a long pole and it involves having to reach up and pull gears and levers and it helps them put out the gas lights in the chandeliers...At the start of <span style="font-style: italic;">An American in Paris</span> (1951), Gene Kelly has all sorts of ingenious objects in his room like beds that fold up and tables that emerge from the ceiling and things that come out of his closet. All sorts of things like this appear all through Minnelli's films. Oftentimes these moving objects have light inside, too. There's a similar thing in the art world called art light, which involves moving light and Minnelli often combines the two. Like in <span style="font-style: italic;">An American in Paris</span> - during the "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise" number, when [Georges Guetary] is moving up and down the stairs, every time he lands on another step, a light flashes on and he makes elaborate moving patterns with the lights. There are hundreds of examples. We could spend our entire conversation going through all of the many examples you can find throughout Minnelli's films.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MG:</span></span> When you were first describing the concept of kinetic art, it struck me that one of the most obvious examples is when Fred Astaire is in the arcade at the beginning of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Band Wagon</span> (1953) and he sets off that wild contraption that has all of the bells and whistles -- not to mention American flags that shoot out on cue.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);"><br />MEG:<span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span> Yes. Definitely. That's sort of like the pop culture equivalent of it. Machines like that probably helped inspire kinetic art installations in art museums...In Minnelli's autobiography [<span style="font-style: italic;">I Remember It Well</span>], he talks about sending the first version of that machine back to the designers because it wasn't over-the-top enough for him. He wanted it to go absolutely berserk and do everything possible, including waving flags, turning lights on and off and moving around...and it's a totally spectacular example.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MG:<span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span> On your website, you've created this extraordinary inventory - or cataloguing - of recurring imagery and symbolism in Minnelli's work. When you start sifting through the red gladiolas and the portable phonographs or the kind of nested rectangles that appear on Nanette Fabray's skirt in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Band Wagon</span>, what - if anything - do you think Minnelli is actually "saying" with all of this? Since Vincente Minnelli worked at a factory like MGM, is it possible that some of these recurring images are just intriguing coincidences?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTLrKBaQhqqBts8_RQ9L-kFYW3eMAmi-txoDRWFWm-74kZd7mBYQY9xUjFU_IDHGR7GEIAgWZa6k4vwxdB7-_LiKyx97vaWP5YbuRuGTeNP2D_AWk2VGk4sPvgf_sErtH2g6IrTwEZn04/s1600/The_Bad_and_Beautiful.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 260px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTLrKBaQhqqBts8_RQ9L-kFYW3eMAmi-txoDRWFWm-74kZd7mBYQY9xUjFU_IDHGR7GEIAgWZa6k4vwxdB7-_LiKyx97vaWP5YbuRuGTeNP2D_AWk2VGk4sPvgf_sErtH2g6IrTwEZn04/s320/The_Bad_and_Beautiful.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547581288636071842" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MEG:</span></span> I don't think these things are accidental because you begin to see patterns through film after film -- like those nested rectangles - these things keep showing up throughout Minnelli's career. You see them on Nanette Fabray's skirt but you also see them in the benches in Kirk Douglas's office in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Bad and the Beautiful</span> (1952)...You see them in the main title sequence of <span style="font-style: italic;">On a Clear Day You Can See Forever</span> (1970) -- where all of the multi-colored rectangles nest down to infinity. They're all over. A lot of these films are also filled with geometric patterns and you find this not only in Minnelli but in movies directed by Fritz Lang and Raoul Walsh and many others. People today talk about visual style and everyone says that Minnelli is a great visual stylist. But then they don't try to specify what is actually appearing on the screen that makes up this very distinctive visual style and there are many, many things. My website does not touch bottom in terms of trying to analyze what we mean when we say that Minnelli is this great visual stylist. At least it is picking up on some dimensions and one of these is the use of all of these unusual geometric patterns. Minnelli's films are just full of geometric patterns and they repeat and modify themselves in film after film...For some reason, female controlled spaces in Minnelli often have checkerboard floors in them and men often trip and fall down in these spaces. An archetypal example is the checkerboard floor inside the trailer in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Long, Long Trailer</span> (1954) that is owned by Lucille Ball. Her husband, Desi Arnaz, falls flat on his face when he first sees it.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MG:</span></span> Another great example is in <span style="font-style: italic;">Father of the Bride</span> (1950), during Spencer Tracy's nightmare - the church floor suddenly turns to quicksand.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MEG:</span></span> Yes! In the church - he starts sinking into the floor. It's the most extraordinary surreal imagery. Again that's a female-controlled space -- all of these women are running the wedding and he's just caught up in all of it. I have no idea why there's such a consistent pattern for some of these things in Minnelli. If you ask me, 'Is there something inherently female about checkerboard floors?' --I would have to say that I have no idea but they turn up over and over in Minnelli in the same way that the male-controlled spaces in Minnelli often have diamond lozenge patterns on the walls. Like Richard Widmark's curtains in his psychiatric office in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Cobweb</span> (1955) or Kirk Douglas's space in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Bad and the Beautiful</span>. There are many other examples. These patterns recur in Minnelli in film after film. And these things are always richly varied. It isn't like Minnelli said, 'Okay, bring out the diamond lozenge curtains, boys...' It's never just the same thing over and over again. It's always accomplished with very interesting variations and it's always very creative. But these patterns do constantly run through Minnelli. People need to start being more conscious of these things if they're going to be genuinely interested in visual style and not just paying lip service by saying something like, 'Oh, his visual style is very interesting...' Well, what makes it so interesting? Once you start talking about it in concrete terms, you start recognizing all of the geometry that plays an important role in terms of what's happening on screen.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MG:<span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span> On your website, you make mention of Pedro Almodovar, Danny Boyle and Gus Van Sant. Do you think Minnelli has had an influence on any contemporary filmmakers?<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MEG:</span></span> I mentioned all of those directors because they often build their films around blue and red-orange color contrasts as Minnelli does. If you look at something like the Van Sant remake of <span style="font-style: italic;">Psycho</span> (1998), you'll find that it's just endlessly fascinating on several levels but I guess I'm one of the five people who actually liked his remake of <span style="font-style: italic;">Psycho</span>...In general, I don't think contemporary filmmakers are as visually skillful as some of the classic era directors. In terms of visual style, I'm very impressed with the Vietnamese filmmaker Hung Tran Anh. A film like <span style="font-style: italic;">The Scent of Green Papaya</span> (1993) seems vaguely Minnellian in some ways. With Almodovar, I love the rich use of color in his 80's films like <span style="font-style: italic;">Law of Desire</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Matador</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Dark Habits</span>. I think that may have been the peak of Almodovar's stylistic period. Though <span style="font-style: italic;">The Flower of My Secret</span> (1995), which came later, has very vivid colors in it, too. You'll see many of these same color schemes in Minnelli -- it's a striking contrast of blue and orange-red with touches of green here and there.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MG:</span></span> Could you please suggest an under appreciated Minnelli movie that you think people should seek out?<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">MEG:</span></span> I know that everyone ritually dislikes <span style="font-style: italic;">Undercurrent</span> (1946) - the way that they don't like <span style="font-style: italic;">The Sandpiper</span> - but I've always thought that it was a fascinating film. I wish Minnelli had done more mysteries. There's the mystery of identity involving the resistance leader in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse</span> and there are a number of little mini-mysteries in some of the other films. For example, Dean Martin has to figure out what's going on with this mystery woman throughout <span style="font-style: italic;">Bells Are Ringing </span>(1960)...Most Minnelli films are so richly brocaded. Every time I see one from beginning to end, the next thing I know -- I'm spending the next 48 hours writing about all of the new things I learned about these films for my website. And you always see so many new things when you watch a Minnelli movie.Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-39253150796401676362010-10-16T08:53:00.000-07:002010-10-16T09:02:27.666-07:00Peter Filichia's Diary: The Movie That Should Have Been Made<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhChbsTQTKgG-lx_xNw9QhPK2RIZZjuBpfdOvAHNZLOJtRal4hyphenhyphenplUySsLtZbvHqbJboZRjfmlFLcQUbRXUF2AcarzFOU5Qx7BedeN6aSx8fZt_gLPWR3H2XMdlzGUOZeNuz71-ZWiuHXM/s1600/theatermania_logo.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 303px; height: 47px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhChbsTQTKgG-lx_xNw9QhPK2RIZZjuBpfdOvAHNZLOJtRal4hyphenhyphenplUySsLtZbvHqbJboZRjfmlFLcQUbRXUF2AcarzFOU5Qx7BedeN6aSx8fZt_gLPWR3H2XMdlzGUOZeNuz71-ZWiuHXM/s320/theatermania_logo.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528673297419453378" /></a> Theatremania's Peter Filichia recently read Mark Griffin's new biography on Vincente Minnelli and wonders about the movie that should have been made...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixwRFpiecqBXO3B3LThWwCAUonWv7NPaQ61ilUgSf5Wl4-WwFwo_ducCL8AlJqV_wPr5I4Yu_r5oT1okd-V9zZLIaokVbg0K6adDXk49IKrAjs4G_y9GRb8gXdYXG_ed3Fk5h_Ww7T5Vo/s1600/PFilichiaDiaryHeader.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 32px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixwRFpiecqBXO3B3LThWwCAUonWv7NPaQ61ilUgSf5Wl4-WwFwo_ducCL8AlJqV_wPr5I4Yu_r5oT1okd-V9zZLIaokVbg0K6adDXk49IKrAjs4G_y9GRb8gXdYXG_ed3Fk5h_Ww7T5Vo/s320/PFilichiaDiaryHeader.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528674232216206274" /></a> Had a good time reading Mark Griffin’s very well-written and researched <span style="font-style:italic;">A Hundred or More Hidden Things: The Life and Films of Vincente Minnelli</span>. How nice to know more about such films as <span style="font-style:italic;">Cabin in the Sky, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Clock, Ziegfeld Follies, An American in Paris, The Band Wagon, Brigadoon, Kismet, Tea and Sympathy, Gigi, The Reluctant Debutante, Bells Are Ringing</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">On a Clear Day You Can See Forever</span>. None of us, I suspect, can resist any book that includes the line “I witnessed a nasty scene that Dolores Gray made.”<br /><br />But the most intriguing paragraph for me was the one that started Chapter Five. “In January, 1937,” it began, “Minnelli drove through the Paramount gates for the first time. Never one to start small, he proposed that his first production should be an innovative musical mystery entitled Times Square. Minnelli envisioned the film as an all-star extravaganza that would incorporate scenes from actual Broadway shows currently on the boards.”<br /><br />Read the full article at <a href="http://www.theatermania.com/peterfilichia/index.cfm?mode=viewentry&id=7FBC7DD4-2219-54E7-B91F8B740A261495">this link</a>.Mark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786880452433279630.post-7830351292475666252010-09-30T09:09:00.000-07:002010-10-16T07:43:03.831-07:00Magill Book Reviews: Mark Griffin's Vincente Minnelli biograpyMagill Book Reviews: <br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A Hundred or More Hidden Things: The Life and Films of Vincente Minnelli</span>, by Mark Griffin<br /><br />"[Griffin] excels at showing how the director reveals his sensibility in his films…Anecdotes make the biography consistently fascinating.” ~ Magill Book ReviewsMark Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02720189270843560842noreply@blogger.com