William Williams in Repeat Performance (1947)

Joan Leslie and Richard Basehart

Repeat Performance (1947) is unusual among film noirs. First, it blends elements of fantasy (namely time travel) with film noir. Second, among its characters is William Williams (played by Richard Basehart in his movie debut), a coded homosexual who is distinct in that he is portrayed somewhat sympathetically at a time when many coded homosexuals were portrayed as villains. 

Repeat Performance (1947) opens with actress Sheila Page (Joan Leslie), standing over the body of her dead husband, Barney (Louis Hayward). She flees to a party where she asks her friend William Williams for help. William suggests that they visit theatrical producer John Friday (Tom Conway) to seek his advice. As Sheila and William are going up to John's apartment, she suddenly finds herself thrown back in time to exactly a year ago, from New Year's Eve 1946 to New Year's Eve 1945. She then finds herself living 1946 again and seeking to change things for the better.

Repeat Performance (1947) was based on the 1942 novel of the same name by William O'Farrell. The novel differs a great deal from the book. In the book it is actor Barney Page who strangles to death his costar Fern Costello and is then forced to live the past year over. In the movie, Barney is a playwright and  he is killed by his wife Sheila Page. As to Sheila, in the book she is an alcoholic who committed suicide. William Williams is also dramatically different in the book. He is a mildly insane cross-dressing poet who goes by the name "William and Mary." For the movie, he remains a poet who apparently has some mental disorder, but he was changed from a crossdresser to a coded homosexual. For those unfamiliar, with queer coding, it is assigning traits stereotypically assumed to be queer to a character without coming out and saying that they character was queer. 

In Repeat Performance (1947), Williams Williams is Sheila's friend and close confidant. When she realizes she has killed Barney, it is to William she goes for help. Along with theatrical producer and friend John Friday, he is one of two people to whom Sheila confides that she believes she has jumped backwards in time. Overall, William is portrayed very sympathetically. He has a good deal of with and seems bemused by most situations. William is sensitive to the needs of others, so it is little wonder that Sheila confides in him. He is fiercely loyal to his friends, and stands by Shelia throughout the movie.  William is also a bit eccentric, and even claims to be "quite mad." In truth, as a poet who lives for his art, it might be more accurate to say that the is just little out of touch with the harsh realities of life. To wit, William has no difficulty accepting that Sheila travelled back in time or that Destiny may just guide people's lives. Despite his empathy for others, William may also be a bad judge of character in some cases.  He makes the mistake of accepting the patronage of Mrs. Eloise Shaw (Natalie Schafer), a rich woman who supports young male artists, presumably in expectation that she will get something in return. 

While William is largely portrayed sympathetically, to some degree William Williams conforms to a trope quite common from the Thirties well into the Seventies, where by homosexuality was related to mental illness. He tells Sheila very early in the film that he is "quite mad." Of course, here it must be kept in mind that homosexuality itself was considered a mental disorder in 1940s. It would even be included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a sociopathic personality disturbance when it was first published in 1952.  By the standards of the 1940s, William would have been considered mad simply because he was gay.

As it is, despite Willliam's claim to be "quite mad," he often seems to be the most reasonable person in Repeat Performance. While he is eventually committed to an insane asylum in the film, the circumstances under which this is done seem suspect to me. First, we are told that "it was Mrs. Shaw's fault" that William was committed. Earlier in the film, when Mrs. Shaw offers a concert tour to a pianist, she comments how some young talents she had "inspired" have been "ungrateful" while looking directly at William. It seems possible that Mrs. Shaw got William committed merely out of spite and that, despite William's claims, he really isn't crazy at all. Quite simply, as a homosexual (and possibly a poet as well), he was a victim of the times. 

While William may or may not be mad, in the end he is portrayed much more sympathetically than other coded homosexuals in movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood, to the point that it can be argued that he was one of the heroes of Repeat Performance (1947). His portrayal is certainly much more positive than that of other coded homosexuals in films from the era, from Joel Cairo in The Maltese Falcon (1941) to Waldo Lydecker in Laura (1944) to Brandon Shaw and Philip Morgan in Rope (1948). Even given the movies plays with the trope of homosexuals and mental illness, the portrayal of William Williams in the film was a small step forward for the portrayal of gay men in American films.

Sixty Years Ago Today "Paint It, Black" by The Rolling Stones Hit No. 1 in the US

It was sixty years ago on this date that "Paint It, Black" by The Rolling Stones hit no. 1 on the BillboardHot 100. It is certainly one of the all-time most popular Rolling Stones songs and it has been my favourite Rolling Stones song since childhood. I already did a somewhat in-depth post on the song years ago, so I won't repeat myself, but I would like to discuss something that wasn't really relevant at the time I made the original post.

Ever since I was a kid, I knew that "Paint It, Black" was about death. To be more precise, it is about someone whose love has died. While I loved the song, for most of my life I really couldn't identify with it. All of that changed on August 30, 2018. Immediately following Vanessa's death, I listened to "Paint It, Black" by The Rolling Stones, as well as "I Don't Believe in Love" by Queensrÿche, "Gone Away" by The Offspring, and "Don't Go" by Matthew Sweet, on repeat. Quite simply, given the song is about loss and grief, I could identify with it in a way I had never been able to before in my life. Beyond the fact that it is an immensely listenable song, I have to think the fact that it is about loss and grief is the reason it has remained so popular. Quite simply, anyone who has gone through extreme grief can identify with the song.

Here's the official lyric video for "Paint It, Black" by The Rolling Stones. I have to point out that they have one error with regards to the lyrics. The line is not "Don't wanna see the sun/Flyin' high in the sky," but rather "I wanna see the sun/Blotted out from the sky," which IMHO has a much darker connotation.

Godspeed James Handy

James Handy, who appeared in such films as Arachnophobia (1990) and The Rocketeer (1991), was murdered by the son of his girlfriend on June 3 at the age of 81.

James Handy was born in New York City on March 19, 1945. He began his acting career in the late 1970s. He made his television debut in two guest appearances on the soap opera Ryan's Hope. He made his movie debut in Taps in 1981. In the Eighties, he guest starred on such shows as Search for Tomorrow; CBS Schoolbreak Special; ABC Afternoon Specials; Spenser: For Hire; Our Family Honor; Cagney & Lacey; Popeye Doyle; Matlock; Stingray; Wiseguy; Hard Time on Planet Earth; Mancuso, FBI; Midnight Caller; and Equal Justice. He appeared in the mini-series Doubletake and A Dangerous Life.He appeared in the movies The Verdict (1982), Brighton Beach Murders (1986), Burglar (1987), Jake's M.O. (1987), Bird (1988), K-9 (1989), and Arachnophobia (1990).

In the Nineties, he appeared on the TV shows Equal Justice; Reasonable Doubts; The Young Riders; Quantum Leap; The Commish; The Fifth Corner; Angel Street; Wings; Civil Wars; Murder, She Wrote; The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles; Silk Stalkings; L.A. Law; Picket Fences; NYPD Blue; Under One Roof; Beverly Hills, 90120; Melrose Place; The X-Files; Walker, Texas Ranger; The Pretender; Promised Land; EZ Street; Law & Order; Early Edition; Dellaventura; Prey; Profiler; To Have and To Hold; ER; L.A. Doctors; Third Watch; and Gideon's Crossing. He appeared in the movies The Rocketeer (1991), Point of No Return (1993), Guarding Tess (1994), Rave Review (1994), Jumanji (1995), Murder in Mind (1997), Gang Related (1997), Every Dog Has His Day (1998), Deterrence (1999), and Unbreakable (2000).

In the Naughts, James Handy guest starred on the shows U.C.: Undercover; The West Wing; Becker; The Practice; Breaking News; Without a Trace; MDs; The Dead Zone; Crossing Jordan; E-Ring; Cold Case; Commander-in-Chief; Alias; The Closer; Smith; Raising the Bar; The Lynch Pin; Criminal Minds; Castle; and The Young and the Restless. He appeared in the movies 15 Minutes (2001), The Donor (2001), The Trip (2002), Ash Wednesday (2002), Rounds (2008), The Waiter (2010), and Lifted (2010).

In the Teens, James Handy appeared on the shows Touch; Vegas; CSI: NY; Rizzoli & Isles; Mulaney; Documentary Now!; and NCIS: Los Angeles. He appeared in the movies Logan (2017), Thru: The Hereafter Remains Unknown (2017), and Suburbicon (2017). In the 2020s, he appeared in the movies Senior Entourage (2021), Street to Table (2022), and Top Gun: Maverick (2022). 

James Handy played a wide variety of roles, some of which were only on screen for mere moments. He played everything from priests to law enforcement officers to politicians. He was an FBI agent in The Rocketeer, the sarcastic county coroner Milt Briggs in Arachnophobia, and CIA director Arthur Devlin on the TV show Alias. Even when he was on screen briefly, James Handy made an impression. He was a fine actor who leaves behind a career filled with solid performances. 

Scroll Break: Instagram's Annoying New Feature

The past few years I have found myself complaining more and more about Instagram. Last night I observed something that gives me even more to complain about the platform. After only scrolling through four to five posts last night, the feed paused and there was this message reading, "Time for a break?  Pause for a moment and considering taking a break. Load more posts." If you click on "load more posts," it does exactly that.

Now I have to say if this message appeared after one had spent a straight half hour on the app, I wouldn't have too much of a problem with it. There are probably people who spend a half hour or more straight on the app and may well feel fatigued after doing so. The problem is that the message is appearing after only scrolling through a few posts and less than five minutes. For people like me who don't spend a whole lot of time scrolling through their feed, it can be annoying. 

To make matters worse, at the same time that I noticed the "Scroll break" message, I also noticed that my feed was slowing down after scrolling for a while and once or twice even froze. I have to think this is related to the "Scroll break" message, which makes things even more frustrating. Indeed, it can test my patience when dealing with Instagram.

I honestly hope this is only a test being rolled out to a few users and not a feature that Instagram has decided to make permanent. If it is test, I hope Instagram realizes it is a bad idea and does away with it. If it is a permanent feature, I hope they give users a way to turn it off. I also hope they fix the feed so it isn't lagging and even freezing up. 

As it is, this is just one more thing that makes me want to spend much less time on Instagram. The only reason I am still there is that I do manage accounts not my own and I have a lot of friends there. As it is, it seems to me that Meta almost has a death wish when it comes to Instagram, given the various things they have done to ruin the experience for many of us: an overemphasis on Reels; no longer saving posts to one's phone's gallery; removing the option to filter searches by "most recent;" altering the algorithm so that one's posts get far, far fewer views than in the past; changing the grid profile previews from squares to oblong rectangles that aggressively crop one's photos; and limiting hashtags on posts to a mere five. Honestly, if I didn't have friends on Instagram and didn't manage other accounts, I would just give up on it entirely.

Instagram used to be one of my favourite social media services. I posted up to two or three photos to it a day and posted to it every day. Now a whole week can go without me making one post. And far too often these days I have to scroll and scroll and scroll just to see posts from my friends, which makes the "Scroll Break" feature even more frustrating. Honestly, Instagram should just ditch every single change they have made to the app since around 2017 and just revert the app back to the way it used to be. Honestly, I would probably start using it more often.