"Number 9 Dream" by John Lennon

John Lennon was born on this date in 1940. With that in mind, I thought that for today I would just leave you with one of my favourite songs he did as a solo artist. "Number 9 Dream" was released on December 16, 1974. It was the second single from John's Walls and Bridges album. Fittingly enough, it peaked at no. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Also fittingly enough, "Number 9 Dream" came to John Lennon in a dream. While the chorus, "Ah! böwakawa poussé, poussé" sounds like it is from an actual language, in reality it has no meaning. The song was one of John Lennon's favourites, although he would later dismiss it as a "throwaway." Personally, I think John was being too hard on the song. I think it is an excellent song and reminds me quite a bit of the sort of the work John Lennon had done with The Beatles.

Popi (1969)

Today one does not hear very much about the movie Popi (1969), but upon its release it received mostly positive reviews and it did moderately well at the box office. It was also nominated for various awards, from the Golden Globes to the WGA. It also happens to be significant in the history of Latinos in American film.

Popi (1969) centres on Abraham Rodriguez (Alan Arkin), a Puerto Rican living in Brooklyn, New York. He is the father of two sons, who both refer to him as "Popi." He wants to marry his girlfriend Lupe (Rita Moreno), but hasn't the money to do so. What is worse, his neighbourhood is increasingly being affected by gang violence. Popi then hatches a scheme to get a better life for his sons. 

Popi (1969) was written by Lester and Tina Pine, both of who had earlier written for television. It was directed by Arthur Hiller, who had already directed such films as The Wheeler Dealers (1963), The Americanization of Emily (1964), and Penelope (1966). Alan Arkin had initially rejected the part of Popi, whereupon producer Herbert B. Leonard offered it to Marcello Mastroianni, who turned it down, but he rejected the idea of playing a Puerto Rican. The script was then reworked and once more offer to Alan Arkin, who this time accepted the role of Abraham "Popi" Rodriguez. As to Popi's sons, around 5000 boys auditioned for the roles. Many of the boys who tried out for the role came from both Spanish Harlem (in which Popi was set) and  the 11th & Second Avenue Boys Club in East Harlem.

Filming began on Popi (1969) on April 21, 1968. It was shot on location in New York. Among the locations used in the film were 91 Central Park West, the apartment building where Popi worked as a handyman and the New York Hilton Midtown, where Popi worked as a busboy. Part of the film was also shot in Miami, Florida, where the latter part of the movie takes place.

Popi premiered in New York City on May 27, 1969. Popi (1969) premiered in New York City on May 27, 1969. For the most part it received positive reviews with a few critics who did not care for the film very much. Roger Ebert in The Chicago Sun-Times was among the critics who gave Popi (1969) a good review, although he did have some problems with the movie. He felt with Popi's scheme in the second half of the movie that it was where the film "...bogs down."  He went onto write, "The first half, set in New York, is rich and warm, filled with the flavor of city life. The second half, involving the Florida plan, functions only on the level of TV situation comedy." While Roger Ebert liked Popi (1969), the critic at Variety did not, commenting, "Arkin is given too much free rein for his very personal style, and is sometimes guilty of working a scene, meant to be poignant or even dramatic, for a laugh, which he usually gets. The undecided mood of the film works against it for any lasting impression on the viewer." Vincent Canby in The New York Times outright hated Popi (1968). He referred to it as "insidious" and even claimed it played poverty for laughs. Regardless of what critics thought of Popi (1968), it did fairly well at the box office, where it made $2 million in North America.

Today viewers (including myself0 would object to Alan Arkin being cast as a Puerto Rican. Apparently, neither Herbert B. Leonard nor Arthur Hiller considered any Latinos for the role of Popi. Even in the Sixties it was not unusual for actors of other ethnicities to play Latino characters. Except for Rita Moreno, the Sharks and other Puerto Rican characters were all played by whites in West Side Story (1961). Egyptian Omar Sharif played Che Guevara in the movie Che! released the same year as Popi (1969). Brownface was still very much a fact of life in Hollywood in the late Sixties. It is perhaps fortunate that Rita Moreno, who is Puerto Rican, played Lupe in the film.

While Alan Arkin was miscast as Popi, his performance in the role is a bit more complicated. Alan Arkin's performance as Popi is nuanced and does possess emotional depth. It is not one-dimensional at all. At the same time, there are times where Alan Arkin's accent seems a bit too exaggerated and there is a stark contrast between Mr. Arkin and Rita Moreno and the young actors who played Popi's sons. The emphasis on slapstick, prominent in the latter half of the film, has also been criticised in later years. Regardless, Alan Arkin's portrayal of Popi was much more sensitive and much more humanistic than other Latino characters played by non-Latno actors.

The success of Popi (1969) would lead to a short-lived sitcom of the same name that aired during the 1975-1976. In the TV show Popi, Popi was played by an actual Puerto Rican, Héctor Elizondo. The show received positive reviews from critics, but it failed in the ratings. Scheduled against Laverne & Shirley on ABC and Movin' On on NBC, it was cancelled after 10 episodes.

While most people today would object to Alan Arkin being cast as a Puerto Rican, Popi (1969) is still somewhat historic with regards to Latino characters in American films. In 1969, there were not very many movies centred on Latino characters. When Latino characters did appear in movies of the era, they were often blatant stereotypes. Popi (1969), for what flaws it may have, presented a Puerto Rican father with some sympathy and even some dignity. 

The Legendary Eva Marie Saint

Eva Marie Saint, who starred in such movies as On the Waterfront (1954) and North by Northwest (1959), died yesterday, October 6, 2026, at the age of 102.

Eva Marie Saint was born on July 4, 1924, in Newark, New Jersey. She grew up in Delmar, New York attended Bethlehem Central High School there. In high school she played field hockey and she was a cheerleader. She attended Bowling Green State University in Ohio, where she majored in elementary education. She tried out for the school play Personal Appearance, and was cast as the lead. Afterwards, she changed her major to drama. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree, she moved to New York City to pursue a career as an actress. 

Her first work as a professional actress was for The Borden Show, for which she was paid to applaud off camera. She also appeared as a cheerleader in a commercial for Keds and had bit part consisting of two lines as a telephone operator on the radio soap opera Rosemary. During this period, she studied acting at  Lee Strasberg’s Actors Studio. On television, she appeared on such shows as Kraft Television Theatre; The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre; Lights Out; Suspense; Actors Studio; The Clock; Buck Rogers; The Prudential Family Playhouse, and  One Man's Family. She also appeared on radio.

In 1953, she appeared in the Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse in "The Trip to Bountiful." It would be adapted as a Broadway play, in which she also appeared. This lead Ms.Saint to being cast as Edie Doyle on On the Waterfront (1954). She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. In the Fifties, she also appeared in the movies That Certain Feeling (1956), A Hatful of Rain (1957), Raintree County (1957), and Exodus (1960). She appeared in what could be her most famous role, that of Eve Kendall, in North by Northwest in 1959. On television, she appeared on City Hospital, Man Against Crime, Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse, ABC Album, The Web, Robert Montgomery Presents, Eye Witness, Studio One, The Revlon Mirror Theatre, Bonino, Kraft Television Theatre, Omnibus, General Electric Theatre, and Producer's Showcase. She was a regular on Martin Kane, Private Eye.

In the Sixties, Eva Marie Saint appeared in the movies All Fall Down (1962), 36 Hours (1964), The Sandpiper (1965), The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming (1966), Grand Prix (1966), The Stalking Moon (1968), and Loving (1970). She appeared on television in Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre and the TV movie Carol for Another Christmas.

In the Seventies, she concentrated on television appearances rather than movies. She appeared several TV movies and on the TV series How the West Was Won. She appeared on Broadway in The Lincoln Mask. She appeared in the movie Cancel My Reservation (1982). In the Eighties, Eva Marie Saint appeared as Maddie Hayes's mother on the TV show Moonlighting. She guest starred on the TV show The Love Boat and was a narrator on an episode of American Masters. She appeared in the mini-series Fatal Vision and A Year in the Life, as well as several TV movies. She appeared in the movie Nothing in Common (1986).

In the Nineties, Eva Marie Saint appeared n television in the mini-series Titanic. She appeared in several TV movies, including an adaptation of Willa Cahter's My Antonia. She guest starred on the sitcom Frasier.  She appeared in the movie I Dream of Africa (2000). In 2003, she appeared in the TV movie Open House. She was a voice on the TV series The Legend of Korra from 2012 to 2014. In the Naughts, she appeared in the movies Because of Winn-Dixie (2005), Don't Come Knocking (2005), and Superman Returns (2006). In the Teens, she appeared in the movies Winter's Tale (2014) and Mariette in Ecstasy (2019). 

Eva Marie Saint was a remarkable actress with an incredible range. This can be seen in her two best-known roles. Edie Doyle in On the Waterfront was virginal and yet at the same time bold, indignant, and resilient. Eve Kendall in North by Northwest was nearly her opposite. She ws cool and confident, and could be both seductive and duplicitous. In between those two parts, Eva Marie Saint played a wide variety of roles. She played Elspeth Whittaker, the wife of Walt (Carl Reiner). While Walt was constantly stressed out, Elspeth was calm, composed,  and level-headed. As Maddie's mother Virginia on Moonlighting, she was both intelligent and resourceful, yet the same time vulnerable. Eva Marie Saint gave a number of great performances during her career, and in a variety of roles.

By all accounts, Eva Marie Saint was also a remarkable person. One never heard a bad word about her. She was married to Jeffrey Hayden for 85 years and devoted to her family. She was known for both her kindness and her generosity, Eva Marie Saint was known for her elegance and dignity, and she was the very definition of a lady. 

The Late Great Bob Mackie

Bob Mackie, the costumer and fashion designer known for his work on The Carol Burnett Show and for designing fashions for everyone from Cher to Taylor Swift, died on September 14, 2026, at the age of 87. 

Bob Mackie was born on March 24, 1940 in Monterey Park, California. He attended Rosemead High School in Rosemead, California and then Pasadena City College and the Chouinard Art Institute. He started his career as a sketch artist with Jean Louis. It was during this period that he drew the original sketch of the gown work by Marilyn Monroe at President John F. Kennedy's 1962 birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He also worked as a sketch artist with Frank Thompson at Paramount. He worked under designer Ray Aghayan as a novice designer and assistant. He worked with Edith Head on the movies Donovan's Reef (1967) and A New Kind of Love (1963). 

Bob Mackie did his first work for television on the special Arthur Freed's Hollywood Melody in 1962. In the Sixties, he worked on such shows as The King Family Show; ABC Stage '67; and The Hollywood Palace. He worked on The Carol Burnett Show from the very beginning in 1967 and stayed with the show for all eleven seasons. He also worked on several TV specials and movies during the decade. He designed costumes for the movie Divorce, American Style (1967). In 1966, he was hired by Mitzi Gaynor to design her costumes for her Las Vegas shows. He would go onto work on several of her TV specials. 

In the Seventies, Bob Mackie continued to work on The Carol Burnett Show. He worked on the TV shows Cher; The Sonny & Cher Show;; Carol & Company; and Donny & Marie. He also worked on several TV specials, including the notorious Star Wars Holiday Special. He worked on the movies Lady Sings the Blues (1972) and Funny Lady (1975). On Broadway, he worked on Lorelei; Debbie; and Platinum.

The Eighties saw Bob Mackie work on the TV mini-series Fresno and several TV shows and events, including the 54th Annual Academy Awards. He worked in the movies ...All the Marbles (1981), Pennies from Heaven (1981), and Max Dugan Returns (1983). In the Nineties, he worked on Broadway on The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas Goes Public; Moon Over Buffalo; Putting It Together; and Minnelli on Minnelli. On television he primarily worked on specials and big events, including various Carol Burnett specials and the TV movie Mrs. Santa Claus. On Broadway, he worked on the special benefit Bernadette Peters: A Special Concert for Broadway Barks Because Broadway Cares.

The Naugths into the Teens saw Bob Mackie work in television on the TV movie Putting It Together (based on the Broadway show), specials featuring Cher and Diahann Carroll, and and the game show Wheel of Fortune. In 2018, he worked on Broadway on The Cher Show. 

Bob Mackie was known for his over-the-top fashions. Indeed, he was known as "the King of Sequins." At the same time, his costumes were always appealing to the eye. And Bob Mackie was nothing if not versatile. Others might look to his work with Cher, The Supremes, Mitzi Gaynor and so on, but to me the height of his career was his work on The Carol Burnett Show. On the show, he proved he could design nearly anything. He not only designed evening gowns, but everyday clothing worn by characters in sketches and costumes for the musical guests on the show. He designed the famous curtain rod dress for the "Went with the Wind" Gone with the Wind parody, which could well be his best known work. He also designed the overly tight skirts for Mrs. Wiggins (Carol Burnett), the secretary of Mr. Tudball (Tim Conway) and the dowdy clothes worn by Eunice Higgins in "The Family" sketches. Quite simply, Bob Mackie was not only creative, but he had a sense of humour that came through on The Carol Burnett Show.

Beyond being a great costume and fashion designer, Bob Mackie simply seemed like a various nice man. He  not only appeared at the TCM Classic Movie Festival, but multiple times on the channel itself. He always amiable, down-to-earth, and, despite his accomplishment, entirely humble. He also had a wonderful sense-of-humour and a youthful energy that many half his age would find envious. In the end, Bob Mackie wasn't just a remarkable designer, but an all-around great human being. 

The Original Dick Van Dyke Show Opening

It was 65 years ago today, on October 3, 1961, that The Dick Van Dyke Show debuted on CBS. Among many other things, The Dick Van Dyke Show is well known for its opening, in which Dick Van Dyke trips over an ottoman or some variant thereof. As fans of The Dick Van Dyke Show well know, this was not the original opening of The Dick Van Dyke Show. Instead, the original opening featured photos of the characters and still shots of scenes to a jazzier version of the theme written by Earle Hagen. The opening in which Dick Van Dyke trips over the ottoman was introduced at the start of its second season. 

Beyond the Border: Latino Representation in Hollywood (2026)

If you are a regular viewer of Turner Classic Movies, you may have seen the documentary Beyond the Border: Latino Representation in Hollywood a few weeks ago. For those of you didn't, you really should check Beyond the Border: Latino Representation in Hollywood out. It is a documentary directed by Clara and Julia Kuppererg that examines Latino stereotypes, Latino erasure, and the eventual challenge to Hollywood that came about with the civil rights movement.

What makes Beyond the Border: Latino Representation in Hollywood remarkable is that it features a number of Latino actors and directors discussing Latinos and their relationship with the American film industry. Among those featured are comedian and actor John Leguizamo, director Gregory Nava, actor Esai Morales, author Luis I. Reyes, actor and director Edward James Olmos, and actor Jimmy Smits. While I might be biased, a highlight for me was Daniel Villareal discussing various locations important in Chicano film history (I have been friends with Daniel for some time) and Ingrid Oliu discussing Stand and Deliver (1988). 

Beyond the Border: Latino Representation in Hollywood does a fairly good job of covering the history of Latinos in Hollywood. It covers such important figures as actress Dolores del Rio, Gilbert Roland, Rita Moreno, and Dolores Huerta. It also covers the phenomenon of brownface, in which Caucasians and foreign actors being cast as Latinos, the various Latino stereotypes that existed for much of film history, and the fact that Latinos are still underrepresented in Hollywood.

As might be expected, Beyond the Border: Latino Representation in Hollywood spends a good deal of time on Chicanos and Mexicans. This should come as no surprise as people of Mexican descent comprise the majority of Latinos in the United States, not to mention Mexico neighbours the United States. For that reason, Chicanos and Mexicans have historically been more represented in American films than other Latinos. Beyond the Border: Latino Representation in Hollywood does devote a good deal of time to the boom in Chicano movies that took place in the Eighties and Nineties, and included such movies as Zoot Suit (1981), El Norte (1983), Stand and Deliver (1988), Blood In Blood Out (1993), and others. 

If Beyond the Border: Latino Representation in Hollywood has one flaw, it is that of omission. Despite how important she is in the history of people of Mexican descent in American film, Lupe Vélez is never mentioned by name. Lupe Vélez  was arguably more popular than Dolores del Rio, and while Miss del Rio often played non-Latina roles, the majority of Lupe Vélez's roles were identifiably Mexican. And while her "Mexican Spitfire" movies arguably capitalized on Mexican stereotypes, they also featured a heroine who kept her career and something of her independence after marriage. Indeed, it featured a mixed marriage at a time when mixed marriages were still illegal in much of the US.

Beyond the Border: Latino Representation in Hollywood also fails to mention The Lawless (1950) or The Ring (1952), two films that are seminal in the history of Chicanos in Hollywood. The Lawless (1950) centred on Chicano fruit pickers in California and may be the first American film in which the term "cholo" appears, although it is used in a derogatory fashion. The Ring (1942) centres on a Chicano from a poor Los Angeles neighbourhood who tries to improve himself through boxing. It portrays the segregation that existed in Los Angeles at the time, as well as the racism. For me, failing to mention Lupe Vélez, The Lawless (1950), and The Ring (1952) are serious oversights in any documentary on Latinos in American film.

Despite these oversights, Beyond the Border: Latino Representation in Hollywood does a very good job of covering the representation of Latinos in Hollywood, and there will be much to learn for many people. It is certainly worth watching for anyone who in interested in film history or Latino history. 

The Late Great Peter Max

Psychedelic artist Peter Max died at the age of 88 on September 14, 2026, at the age of 88. In 2021, he had been diagnosed with advanced dementia.

Peter Max was born Peter Max Finkelstein on October 19, 1937, in Berlin. His family fled Nazi Germany for Shanghai when he was still a baby. They lived there for ten years. They spent some time in Tibet before migrating to Haifa, Israel, where they lived for many years. They spent a few months in Paris before settling in New York City. Peter Max was 16 at the time. He attended Lafayette High School in Brooklyn where among his classmates were actor Paul Sorvino and baseball legend Sandy Koufax. He studied art at at the Art Students League, the School of Visual Arts, and Pratt Institute. 

It was in 1962 that Peter Max opened an art studio in New York City called "The Daly & Max Studio" with Tom Daly. It was not long before Peter Max saw a good deal of success. He designed the flyers for the second "Be In," a political gathering in Central Park in New York City held On March 26, 1967. There were mass marketed posters featuring his psychedelic designs. He worked on campaigns for the American Cancer Society, General Electric, and Gibley Gin, as well as a campaign for pre-recorded cassette tapes. He designed the poster for the movie Paint the Wagon (1969) and covers for the Manhattan Yellow Pages.

In the early Seventies, Peter Max closed his studio for a time so he could get back to painting. After his return to public life, He did the art for a United States postal stamp commemorating Expo '74 in Spokane, Washington. He painted a series of portraits of the Statue of Liberty. He also designed bilingual welcome signs to be put up at the borders of the United States. 

Peter Max provided artwork for several events, including Earth Day, the FIFA World Cup, the Grammy Awards, several Super Bowls, the U.S. Open, and the Winter Olympics. He painted portraits of six different presidents. Despite claims that Peter Max's work was not taken seriously, it had been displayed at such museums as the Art Institute of Chicago, the Denver Art Museum, the Modern Art Museum in Munich, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, among others.

Given how ubiquitous his artwork was in my early childhood, Peter Max was probably the first artist outside of comic books of whom I was aware. He was definitely my favourite artist when I was growing up. His artwork was certainly colourful, and I swear there are some of his paintings where he uses every single colour visible to the human eye. His artwork also often utilized various American icons, from the Statue of Liberty to George Washington to various presidents. 

Peter Max is perhaps the artist most associated with the late Sixties and the early Seventies, and it is difficult picturing the era without his artwork. He certainly had a strong influence on the era. The popularity of Peter Max's artwork was such that it saw a rise in popularity of similar artists and psychedelic artwork in general. Peter Max was not responsible for the art of the movie Yellow Submarine (1968). That was Heinz Edelmann, who pioneered psychedelic artwork. That having been said, if not for the popularity of Peter Max's work, it seems likely that Yellow Submarine (1968) may have looked entirely different. Peter Max was also not responsible for 7Up's famous psychedelic 7Up ad campaign. Other artists were responsible for that art in that campaign, including Pat Dypold and psychedelic art pioneers John Alcorn and Milton Glaser. Again, it seems likely that the 7Up Uncola campaign may not have taken shape as it did if not for the popularity of Peter Max's artwork. While several artists worked in psychedelic art, Peter Max was the best known and the most popular.