Off-Broadway, Show
for Days, by Douglas
Carter Beane, at
the Lincoln Center Theater at the Mitzi
Newhouse, has Michael
Urie play
a version of the playwright as he introduces
the play, and then as a 14-year old boy,
finding his goal in life in the theatre, and
discovering that he is gay. He joins a
theatre company in Reading, Pennsylvania in
1973 run by Patti
LuPone, who dominates the play. Theatre
enthusiasts might enjoy the play, and
LuPone's over-the-top performance. Serious
playgoers deserve better.
For its 39th season, Pan Asian Repertory put
on its biggest musical ever, Sayonara,
book by William
Luce, lyrics by Hy
Gilbert, music by George
Fischoff, adapted from the novel by James
A. Michener, based on the film, with a
cast of 19 at the Clurman Theatre on Theater
Row. It takes place in occupied Japan after
World War II, and shows that fraternization
between American soldiers and Japanese women
was not permitted. The cast sang and danced
on the small stage wonderfully. We
celebrated the opening at a party at West
Bank Cafe.
MoMA is presenting Glorious
Technicolor: From George Eastman House and
Beyond June 5-August 5. Mogambo,
by John
Ford, USA, 1953, a safari film, filmed
on location in many parts of Africa, with
natives of the different regions. There are
many shots of animals from gorillas to
giraffes. The film is a magnificent
travelogue. It is also a well acted,
intelligent film, with clever dialogue. The
four main actors are superb. Ava
Gardner and Grace
Kelly, with Clark
Gable and Donald
Sinden, have never been better. It is a
glorious film from beginning to end. They do
not make films like this today. 1953 was a
wonderful year for Hollywood.
Gone with the Wind, by Victor
Fleming, USA, 1939, is one of the
landmark films to be made in Hollywood, and
certainly one of the longest. It tells the
tale of a strong minded young woman,
Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien
Leigh) growing up on a plantation in
Georgia before the American Civil War, and
shows the effect of the war and its
aftermath, the Reconstruction. It is an
absorbing tale, and the lead actress is
brilliant. An all star cast, includes Clark
Gable, Leslie Howard and Olivia
de Havilland. They are all splendid.
Hollywood never made a film to equal this
one. It is a classic.
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Summer Holiday, by Rouben
Mamoulian, USA, 1948, is a musical
version. based on Ah,
Wilderness! the
only comedy written by Eugene
O'Neill, of an idealized family. Mickey
Rooney is
a mildly, rebellious 17-year old, about to
be graduated
from high school in a small town in
Connecticut at the turn of the twentieth
century, who is in love with his neighbor, Gloria
De Haven. It is summer, and various
family problems arise, but with an
understanding father, Walter
Houston, all is resolved happily. It is
a modest, pleasant film.
Blood and Sand, by Rouben
Mamoulian, USA, 1941, tells the
story of the son of a bullfighter, Tyrone
Power, who wants to become the
finest bullfighter in Spain. We watch
his rise and fall in one of the finest
films about the spectacle. It is a well
acted film, with fine performances by
Power, Linda
Darnell as
his wife and Rita
Hayworth, as a socialite who seduces
Power. The story is absorbing, and the
scenes in the bullring captures the
danger of the ritual. The three leads
could not be better.
Drums along the Mohawk, by John
Ford, USA, 1939, is an excellent film
about life in New York State during the
Revolutionary War. It shows the trials and
tribulations of the early American settlers.
Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert are the
young couple struggling to survive the
burning of their home by Indians. They also
have to battle the British soldiers. They
survive for a peaceful future as
independence is achieved. The two stars give
wonderful performances.
Neptune's Daughter, by Edward
Buzzell, USA, 1949, is a thoroughly
entertaining film about mistaken identity. Red
Skelton is
mistaken for a South American polo player,
and gives an hilarious performance, as he is
pursued by a man crazy Betty
Garrett. Esther
Williams is
a bathing suit entrepreneur, and has a happy
ending with Ricardo
Montalban, the real polo player. There
are wonderful scenes of bathing beauties,
and musical selections with Xavier
Cugat and
his orchestra. The song Baby,
It's Cold Outside, by Frank
Loesser, won the Academy Award.
MoMA presented 3-D
Summer to July 4. Kiss
Me Kate, by George
Sidney, USA, 1953, is a revised version
of the Broadway musical film in 3-D. Cole
Porter composed
the delightful score, and although many
words and lyrics were changed by the censors
for being two risque, the basic story of a
musical version of Shakespeare's The
Taming of the Shrew remains
the same. Howard
Keel and Kathryn
Grayson are
the bickering divorced couple, who are
starring in the musical, and Ann
Miller steals
many of the scenes with her marvelous
dancing and comic acting. It is a thoroughly
entertaining film.
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