"Summer in the City" by The Lovin' Spoonful

I must admit that I have always been a bit puzzled by the imagery associated with summer. From calendars to songs to commercials summer is portrayed as a time for picnics, frolicking on the beach, playing baseball, swimming, and other fun activities. The overall picture painted of summer is a time when the weather is pleasant and, to quote  a George Gershwin song about the season, "the livin' is easy." At least for me the truth about summer is very different. It is a time of extreme heat and humidity, when it is really too hot to go outside for a picnic, much less frolic on the beach or play baseball. It is a time when it is too hot to do much of anything but stay inside in the air conditioning. I mean, here it was 91 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity was around 60% (which is actually low for what it can be here)--hardly a time for picnics and parties! To say summer is my least favourite time of the year would be an understatement.

It is because I dislike summer so much that my favourite song about the season is "Summer in the City" by The Lovin' Spoonful. The song was written by John Sebastian, Mark Sebastian, and  Steve Boone, and together they capture much of how I feel about summer. It describes people walking around "half dead" and the sidewalk has being "hotter than a match head." Now the song does portray summer nights a bit more positively, but over all I have to say that I think "Summer in the City" is more truthful with regards to summer than many of the songs that treat it as if it was as pleasant as spring....

Anyhow, here is "Summer in the City" by The Lovin' Spoonful

A Tribute to Les Paul on His 100th Birthday

It was 100 years ago today that guitar virtuoso and recording innovator Les Paul was born Lester William Polsfuss in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Beyond his skill with the guitar it is impossible to overestimate the importance of Les Paul to modern music. He developed one of the first solid body, electric guitars (independently Leo Fender was working on his own solid body, electric guitar at the time).  He played a pivotal role in the development of multirack recording, experimenting in multitracking as far back as the Thirties. He was also one of the first artists to utilise delay effects. Between multitracking, overdubbing, and various other recording effects, Les Paul developed much of what is taken for granted in modern day recording. What makes him all the more remarkable is that at the same time he had a highly successful recording career, including a string of hits recorded with his wife Mary Ford.

I already summarised Les Paul's career upon the occasion of his death in 2009 (you can read it here), so I won't repeat myself. Instead I will give you some highlights of his remarkable recording career via YouTube.


Les Paul with Bing Crosby and the Les Paul Trio performing "It's Been a Long, Long Time".    Les Paul and his instrumental "The Kangaroo"
Les Paul with then wife Mary Ford performing "Mockingbird Hill"
Les Paul and Mary Ford performing "Song in Blue"
Les Paul and Chet Atkins performing "Limehouse Blues"
Les Paul with Joss Stone and Sting performing "Love Sneakin' Up on You"

Actor Richard Johnson R.I.P.

English actor Richard Johnson, who appeared in films from Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951) to Radiator (2014), died on June 5 2015 at the age of 87.

Richard Johnson was born on July 30 1927 in  Upminster, Essex. He attended  Felsted School in Essex before training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. His first professional appearance on stage was in 1944 in John Gielgud's production of Hamlet. He served in the Royal Navy from 1945 to 1948. He made his television debut on an edition of BBC Sunday-Night Theatre in 1950. He made his film debut in a small, uncredited role in Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. in 1951.

In the Fifties Mr. Johnson appeared in the films Calling Bulldog Drummond (1951), Scotland Yard Inspector (1952), Saadia (1953), and Never So Few (1959). On television he played Mr.Wickham in a 1952 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. He guest starred on the TV shows How Does It End?, Wednesday Theatre, The Heir of Skipton, ITV Television Playhouse, Lilli Palmer Theatre, Assignment Foreign Legion, The Buccaneers, Armchair Theatre, The Four Just Men, Epilogue to Capricorn, and BBC Sunday-Night Play. On stage he appeared in  Pericles, Prince of Tyre; Cymbeline; and Twelfth Night. He was one of the very first actors to be part of the Royal Shakespeare Company and remained an Associate Artist of the RSC until his death.

In the Sixties Richard Johnson appeared in such films as 80,000 Suspects (1963), The Haunting (1963), The Pumpkin Eater (1964), The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965), Operation Crossbow (1965), Khartoum (1966), Deadlier Than the Male (1967), Oedipus the King (1968), Some Girls Do (1969), and Julius Caesar (1970). He guest starred on such shows as BBC Sunday-Night Play, ITV Play of the Week, Armchair Mystery Theatre, The Human Jungle, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

In the Seventies he appeared in such films as The Beloved (1971), Chi sei? (1974), Hennessy (1975), Aces High (1976), The Comeback (1978), and Zombie (1979). He appeared on such TV shows as ITV Saturday Night Theatre, Thriller, Great Mysteries, Churchill's People, Quiller, Space: 1999, Hart to Hart, and Spy!.

In the Eighties he appeared in such films as The Monster Club (1981), Turtle Diary (1985), What Waits Below (1985), Lady Jane (1986), and Diving In (1990). He appeared on the TV shows The Member for Chelsea; The Kenny Everett Television Show; Tales of the Unexpected; Magnum, P.I.; Dempsey and Makepeace; and Murder, She Wrote.

In the Nineties Richard Johnson starred in the TV shows The Camomile Lawn and Anglo Saxon Attitudes. He guest starred on such shows as Kavanagh QC, Murder Most Horrid, Tales from the Crypt, Ruth Rendell Mysteries, Supply & Demand, and The Echo. He appeared in the film Milk (1999).

From the Naughts into the Teens he appeared in such films as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), The Birthday (2002), Scoop (2006), Two Families (2007), Jump! (2008), The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008), The Man on the Moor (2013), and Radiator (2014). He was a regular on the TV show The Robinsons. He guest starred on such shows as Rebus, Doc Martin, Midsomer Murders, Waking the Dead, Spooks, and Inspector Lewis.

Richard Johnson had an extraordinarily long career. It spanned over 60 years. He was also incredibly prolific, appearing in several television shows and films over the years, all the while occasionally returning to the stage. If Mr. Johnson was in such demand, it was perhaps because he was very versatile. He played such diverse characters as Bulldog Drummond (the character using his given name of Hugh Drummond in Deadlier Than the Male and Some Girls Do), Mr. Wickham from Pride and Prejudice, Marc Antony (in a TV production of Anthony and Cleopatra), and Lord Mountbatten  (in the TV movie Whatever Love Means).  Among his most famous film roles were paranormal investigator Dr. John Markway in The Haunting, Mr. Quincy in Scoop, and the grandfather in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Throughout his career he played a diverse number of roles and gave a good performance nearly every time. If Mr. Johnson had such a long career, it is perhaps he was just that talented.

Patricia Roc's 100th Birthday

While most Americans and probably many Brits would not recognise her name today, Patricia Roc was one of the most popular British film stars of the Forties. She appeared in many Gainsborough melodramas, including Love Story (1944),  Madonna of the Seven Moons (1945), and The Wicked Lady (1945).  She regularly ranked in the Daily Mail's annual polls of the most popular British movie stars for several years in the Forties. In 1946 she was the third most popular actress in the Daily Mail poll, surpassed only by Margaret Lockwood and Phyllis Calvert. She dropped to sixth place in the 1947 poll, but returned to third place in 1948. Despite such success Miss Roc would largely be forgotten in the following decades, which is particularly sad. Not only was she a strikingly beautiful actress (Arthur Rank himself called her "the "the archetypal British beauty"), but she was extraordinarily talented as well.

Patricia Roc was born Felicia Miriam Ursula Herold in Hampstead 100 years ago today. Her father was Felix Herold, a paper merchant, and her mother was Muriel Angell, who came from St Helier, Jersey. They were not married. She was adopted by wealthy Dutch-Belgian stockbroker André Riese and his wife while she was still an infant. In fact, she would not learn she was adopted until 1949.  She studied at private schools in both London and Paris. In 1937 she enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Patricia Roc made her London stage debut in 1937 in a production of  Nuts in May. Her screen debut would occur the following year, in an uncredited bit part in the film The Divorce of Lady X. She appeared the same year as a Polish princess in the film The Rebel Son. By 1940 Miss Roc had graduated to much more substantial roles in such films as Pack Up Your Troubles and Dr. O'Dowd. Her breakthrough role would come with the film Millions Like Us in 1943.  Cast as Celia, a girl working in an aircraft factory, Patricia Roc made such an impression that she was signed to a seven year contract with Gainsborough Pictures.

Patricia Roc's years with Gainsborough would mark the height of her career. She appeared in Two Thousand Women (1944) with Phyllis Calvert, Love Story (1944) with Margaret Lockwood, and Madonna of the Seven Moons (1945) with Phyllis Calvert again. Her most popular film would once more be opposite Margaret Lockwood. The Wicked Lady (1945) would not only be one of the top British films of the Forties, but to this day remains one of the highest grosseing British films in the United Kingdom. American movie producer Walter Wanger was so impressed with Patricia Roc's performance in Millions Like Us that he persuaded J. Arthur Rank to loan her to him for the Canyon Passage (1946). Sadly, Canyon Passage would be a failure at the box office, losing $63,784. It was the only film she ever made in Hollywood

While Patricia Roc did not find success in Hollywood, she returned to Britain to find continued success there. She was the female lead in The Brothers (1947) and that same year appeared with Margaret Lockwood in Jassy. She played the lead role in such films as When the Bough Breaks (1947), One Night with You (1948), and The Perfect Woman (1949). Unfortunately Patricia Roc's career would begin a decline in the late Forties that would continue into the early Fifties. While she was very prolific in the Forties, Patricia Roc would only make eight films in the Fifties, her last film being Bluebeards Ten Honeymoons in 1960.

Patricia Roc did make a few appearances on television. Her television debut was in an episode of The Errol Flynn Theatre in 1956. She guest starred on such TV shows as No Hiding Place, Skyport, and Dixon of Dock Green. Her final appearance on screen was in the debut episode of The Saint, "The Talented Husband". She retired and moved to Locarno, Switzerland in 1962. It was at Locarno, Switzerland that she died at age 88 of kidney failure.

In her heyday Patricia Roc was not only a popular actress, but one who was respected as well. J. Arthur Rank referred to her as  "the Goddess of Odeons". Noel Coward referred to her as both "a phenomenon" and "an unspoiled film star who can act." While Margaret Lockwood and Patricia Roc played bitter rivals in some of their most popular films, it is notable that the two great actresses always remained the best of friends. It should be little wonder that Patricia Roc should be so well respected. While she may be best known for her "good girl" roles in the Gainsborough melodramas, she had quite a bit of range. In When the Bough Breaks Miss Roc played an English girl who gives up her baby for adoption only to fight the adopted parents for custody of the child.   In one of her last films, The Widow (1955), she played the rather self-centred Countess Diana Gaston, a far cry from the good girls of her Gainsborough days. Patricia Roc was much more than the archetypal English rose or the good girls she so often played. She was an actress with a good deal of talent and a quite a bit of range.

Announcing the 2nd Annual British Invaders Blogathon

Last year A Shroud of Thoughts hosted the British Invaders Blogathon, a celebration of the best in British classic films. The British Invaders Blogathon was such a success that I decided to make it an annual event. While many people think of Hollywood when they think of classic movie, the fact is that the United Kingdom made many significant contributions to film over the years. From the Gainsborough melodramas to Hammer Films to the British New Wave, cinema would be much poorer without the British.  I've scheduled this year's British Invaders Blogathon  for July 31, August 1, and August 2.

Here are the ground rules for this year's blogathon:

1. Posts can be about any British film or any topic related to British films. For the sake of simplicity, I am using "British" here to refer to any film made by a company based in the United Kingdom or British Crown dependencies. If you want to write about a film made in Northern Ireland or the Isle of Man, then, you can do so. Also for the sake of simplicity, people can write about co-productions made with companies from outside the United Kingdom. For example, since 2001: A Space Odyssey is a British-American co-production, someone could write about it if they chose.

2. There is no limit on subject matter. You can write about any film in any genre you want. Posts can be on everything from the British New Wave to the Gainsborough bodice rippers to the Hammer Horrors. I am also making no limit on the format posts can make. You could review a classic British film, make an in-depth analysis of a series of British films, or even simply do a pictorial tribute to a film. That having been said, since this is a classic film blogathon,  I only ask that you write about films made before 1990. I generally don't think of a film as a classic until it has been around for thirty years, but to give bloggers more options I am setting the cut off point at twenty five years ago.

3. I am asking that there please be no duplicates. That having been said, if someone has already chosen to cover From Russia with Love (1963), someone else could write about the James Bond series as a whole.

4. I am not going to schedule days for individual posts. All I ask is that the posts be made on or between July 31, August 1, or August 2.

If you want to participate in the British Invaders Blogathon, you can get a hold of me either on Twitter at mercurie80 or at my email:  mercurie80 at gmail.com, or you can simply comment below.

Below is a roster of participants and the topics they are covering. Come July 31 I will make a post that will include all of the posts in the blogathon.

The Hitless Wonder Blog: Where Eagles Dare

Defiant Success: Four Queer Films--Victim; Sunday, Bloody Sunday; My Beautiful Laundrette; and Maurice

Moon in Gemini: A Fish Called Wanda
 
The Wonderful World of Cinema: The Importance of Being Earnest (1952)

Crítica Retrô: Zulu

CineMaven's: ESSAYS from the COUCH: Night and the City

Outspoken & Freckled: Room With a View

Ramblings of a Cinephile: Room at The Top
 
Cinephilia: I Know Where I'm Going!

MovieMovieBlogBlog: A Hard Day's Night and Help!

In The Good Old Days Of Classic Hollywood: Goodbye Mr. Chips (1939) and Go On Singing

Girls Do Film: Blue Scar
  
Speakeasy: The Damned (1963)

Bubblegum Aesthetics: Quadrophenia

The Stop Button: Hope and Glory 

Love Letters to Old Hollywood: The Tales of Hoffmann 

Noirish: Whistle Down the Wind 

Back to Golden Days: The End of the Affair 

litlover12: The Scapegoat

The Joy and Agony of Movies:  Get Carter (1971), The Long Good Friday, The Hit, and Mona Lisa

portraitsbyjenni: The Wicked Lady 

Once Upon a Screen: The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

Sacred Celluloid: Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

Pop Culture Reverie: The Lion in Winter

Movies Silently: The Lad From Old Ireland (1910)

Sister Celluloid: The Holly and the Ivy

A Shroud of Thoughts: The Ladykillers (1955) 

Bnoirdetour: It Always Rains on Sunday
 
 Voyages Extraordinaires: "The Edwardian Scientific Romances of Amicus Productions"

Almost Ginger: Hell is a City (1960) and A Taste of Honey (1961)

Below are several banners for participants in the blogathon to use (or you can always make your own):

A Shroud of Thoughts 11th Anniversary

It was eleven years ago today that I launched this blog, A Shroud of Thoughts, with the "Famous First Post". At the time I had no idea that I would still be writing the blog eleven years later. The simple fact is that I have been writing A Shroud of Thoughts longer than I was most of the jobs I have had and romantic relationships in my life! It is hard to believe that 2599 posts after that first post A Shroud of Thoughts is still going.

Here, as I usually do on this blog's anniversaries, I have to explain the origins of its name. In 2004 it was the fashion of the time to name blogs with some variation of the word "thought" in them. For that reason I took the title for this blog from a phrase in Lord Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage canto iii stanza 113:

I have not loved the world, nor the world me;
I have not flattered its rank breath, nor bow'd
To its idolatries a patient knee,
Nor coin'd my cheek to smiles, nor cried aloud
In worship of an echo; in the crowd
They could not deem me one of such; I stood
Among them, but not of them; in a shroud
Of thoughts which were not their thoughts, and still could,
Had I not filed my mind, which thus itself subdued.

A Shroud of Thoughts was dedicated to pop culture from the very beginning, although I would also write things of a more personal nature in the early days. Finally deciding that people would probably be more interested in pop culture than they would be my own rather dull personal life, those personal posts fell by the wayside. It did eventually occur to me that I should perhaps change the title of the blog to something more fitting a pop culture blog, but by that time it already had a regular readership. It has then remained A Shroud of Thoughts  ever since.

Every year I post links to what I feel were the best posts of A Shroud of Thoughts in the past year. For last year's 10th anniversary I posted what I thought were the best posts of the past decade  as well. Anyhow, without further ado, here are what I feel to be my best posts of 2014-2015.

"1954: Film's Other Great Year" (June 16 2014) 

"Torchy Turns 110: The 110th Birthday of Glenda Farrell" (June 30 2014)

"The Tingler: So Bad It's Good or So Good It's Bad?" (July 14 2014)

"Billy Liar: Kitchen Sink Surrealism" (August 2 2015)

"Shared Universes Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe" (August 22 2014)

"WWI in Classic Film: Sergeant York" (September 7 2014)

"The 50th Anniversary of Bewitched" (September 17 2014)

September 21 2014-September 27 2014 (The Week of the 50th Anniversaries of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Gilligan's Island, and My Living Doll)

"Rock & Rule: Canada's Animated Masterpiece (October 4 2014)

"From Stage to Screen: Arsenic and Old Lace" (October 18 2014)

"Terror on the Newsstands Part One: The Horror Pulps" (October 26 2014)

"Terror on the Newstands Part Two The Shudder Pulps" (October 27 2014)

"The Flash Turns 75" (November 10 2014)

"Tony Randall, What a Character!" (November 16 2014)

Santa Claus on Film (December 22 2014)

"British Shows on American Network Broadcast Television in the Fifties and Sixties Part One" (January 23 2015)

"British Shows on American Network Broadcast Television in the Fifties and Sixties Part Two" (January 24 2015)

British Shows on American Network Broadcast Television in the Fifties and Sixties Part Three" (January 25 2015)

"British Shows on American Network Broadcast Television in the Fifties and Sixties Part Four" (January 26 2015)

"The Wicked Lady: The British Film Censored by Americans and How It Changed the English Language" (February 10 2015)

"The Avengers: 'A Touch of Brimstone'" March 28 2015

You Only Live Many Times: James Bond's Archenemy--Ernst Stavro Blofeld (April 17 2015)

Laurel & Hardy in "The Music Box" (May 2 2015)

"Farewell to Mad Men" "May 18 2015" 

"Green Lantern's 75th Anniversary" (May 21 2015)

A Pictorial Tribute to Paulette Goddard

Today is Paulette Goddard's birthday. As to what year that blessed event occurred, that is anyone's guess. Some sources say 1910, others day 1911, and yet others claim 1914. Ronco sopra Ascona, Ticino, Switzerland, where she died, claimed 1905, although that seems entirely too early. She would have been 31 years old when she made Modern Times (1936)!  Regardless, I have always had a bit of a crush on Paulette Goddard ever since I first saw her in The Ghost Breakers (1940) with Bob Hope. She was both beautiful and talented. Indeed, many people don't realise that she was almost cast as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind. As much as I love Vivien Leigh, I think Paulette Goddard would have delivered a very good performance as Scarlett. Of course, film history would have unfolded very differently if she had!

In tribute to Paulette Goddard on what is her birthday, here are a few photos of one of my all time favourite actresses.