Down With Love

I have always loved the sex comedies of the late Fifties and early Sixties. In fact, I have probably seen every comedy that Doris Day and Rock Hudson ever made together several times over. It was for that reason I have been looking forward to seeing Down With Love, a movie which seeks to emulate those classic comedies.

Down With Love has been compared to those old Rock Hudson/Doris Day movies with good reason. It does draw heavily upon them. In the plot of the movie, both Barbara Novak (played by Renee Zellweger) and Catcher Block (played by Ewan McGregor) assume different roles in a game of love between the two. The relationship between the two characters unfolds in much the same way that it did for Doris Day and Rock Hudson's characters in their classic films together. That having been said, Down With Love is not simply a clone of the various Doris Day and Rock Hudson vehicles. Indeed, the comedy seems to me to be a bit more broad. In many ways it reminds me more of other sex comedies from the era, namely two Jack Lemmon movies (Under the Yum Yum Tree and How to Murder Your Wife and the James Garner film Boys Night Out. I have to wonder if this was not intentional on the part of the filmmakers, who perhaps intended to make a movie which drew upon all of the Sixties sex comedies and not just those featuring Doris Day and Rock Hudson.

Regardless, Down With Love succeeds in evoking the sex comedies of the Sixties so perfectly that at times one could swear he or she is watching a movie from that era. It utilises nearly all of the film techniques of those films, from split screen to stock footage to montages. The production design even evokes the Sixties sex comedies, the sets and costumes duplicating the bright, kitschy New York City of those films.

Of course, Down With Love would not have succeeded had it not been for its actors' brilliant performances. Renee Zellweger duplitates the wholesome sexuality of Doris Day quite well--a woman who is independent and self reliant,, yet at the same time vulnerable. In Catcher Block, Ewan McGregor creates a character who is very much in the mold of Cary Grant or even James Bond. Like Barbara Novak, Catcher Block is independent and self reliant. He is also dashing, sophisticated, and ultimately selfish, yet, like Barbara Novak, he is also capable of being vulnerable at the same time. The supporting cast, with David Hyde-Pierce and Sarah Paulson playing Block and Novak's best friends respectively, are excellent as well. Between the two of them they play the sort of roles Tony Randall or Audrey Meadows once would have. And speaking of the late, great Tony Randall, he is hilarious as the head of Banner House Publishing. I thought it was a nice touch for him to appear in the movie, given that he did appear in all of the movies Doris Day and Rock Hudson made together.

At any rate, I should point out that it is ultimately the screenplay for Down With Love that lies at the heart of its success. It does draw heavily from the sex comedies of the Sixties, so much so that often one forgets that he or she is watching a movie released in 2003. At the same time, however, the plot unfolds a bit differently from the Doris Day/Rock Hudson movies. Indeed, its ending is wholly unexpected and original. To its credit, Down With Love shares one of the virtues of the Sixties sex comedies--it never descends into cloying sentimentality or overwrought melodramatics.

If Down With Love has one flaw it is that at times it does seem a bit anachronistic. A few of the innuendos in the film, while funny, seem a bit too pointed for 1962, fitting in with the Seventies sensibilities of Are You Being Served or Three's Company than the Sixties sex comedies. And a reference to Tang with regards to the space programme is totally out of place--while Tang had been around since the Fifties, it would not be used in space missions until a few years later! In the movie's defence, it must be pointed out that these are very minor flaws and are very easily overlooked. The virtues of Down with Love far outweigh any of its shortcomings.

Ultimately, Down with Love is a fun romp which evokes the sex comdies of the late Fifties and early Sixties nearly perfectly. I would definitely recommend it to any fan of those movies, as well as anyone who simply enjoys a well done comedy.

American Gothic

Most of you probably recognise the painting above, even if you might not know its name. It is American Gothic by Grant Wood. This year it celebrates its 75th anniversary. The inspiration for the painting came from a house in Eldon, Iowa, built in a Gothic Revival style. The house had been built in 1881 and is still standing today.

As to the people in the painting, they are supposed to be a farmer and his daughter, not a farmer and his wife as so commonly thought. Just as the house is a real house, so too were the farmer and the dauthter of the painting real people. The man was Wood's dentist, Byron H. McKeeby, who took a bit of persuading before he would pose for the painting. The woman is Wood's own sister, Nan Wood Graham.

Grant Wood entered American Gothic in a competition held by the Art Institute of Chicago in 1930. Curiously, the competition's judges initially rejected what would become the most famous American painting of all time. It was only when one of the museum's trustees saw the painting and intervened that it was finally allowed in the competition and exhibited at the Art Institute. In October 1930 Grant Wood was awarded third place in the competition, winning $300. The painting then appeared in newspapers across the United States, which carried stories on the competition. While American Gothic only took third place in the competition, it was the painting that caught the public's fancy.

That is not to say that everyone initially adored the painting. At first Wood's Iowa neighbours thought that he was poking fun at them with the painting. It was only after he explained that the models for the painting were his dentist and his own sister that they realised he had not intended to parody Iowa natives. Of course, the misguided assumptions of Wood's Iowa neighbours have been shared by art critics as well, some of who have thought that American Gothic was satirsing the puritanical values of the Midwest. Wood always denied this, and it seems more likely that instead his intention was the exact opposite--Wood meant to glorify the sort of moral fortitude found in the Midwest.

Regardless, American Gothic would go on to become possibly the most famous painting ever created by an American. It has been parodied endless times, with Wood's dentist and sister being replaced by Jed and Granny of The Beverly Hillbillies, Kermit and Miss Piggy of the Muppets, the Frankenstein Monster and his Bride, so on and so forth. With the possible exception of the Mona Lisa, it is probably the painting used more in advertisements and commercials than any other. American Gothic became a part of American pop culture almost immediately upon its unveiling. I suspect it will remain part of American pop culture as long as there is an America.

The Fleischer Superman Cartoons

Last night I watched ten of the classic Superman cartoon produced by Fleischer Studios in the early Forties. For those of you who have never seen these cartoons, they are among the greatest animated shorts ever produced. They are also an interesting look at the Man of Steel during the Golden Age of comics.

Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1, June 1938. The character was an immediate success. In fact, by 1939 Superman had become an outright fad, the equivalent of what The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers or Pokemon were a few years ago (except that the Man of Steel proved to have a bit more staying power...). It should then come as no surprise, then, that Superman would move from comic books into other media. By February 12, 1940, the Man of Steel already had his own radio show--The Adventures of Superman. And, quite naturally, Hollywood took an interest in Superman as well. Paramount Studios decided that a series of cartoons featuring the Man of Steel could be quite profitable. They then approached Max and Dave Fleischer, whose cartoons they distributed, about a series of Superman cartoons. Neither of the Fleischer brothers was thrilled with the idea of producing Superman cartoons, so they told Paramount that the series would be too costly. They projected a budget of $100,000 for the series. They were shocked when Paramount agreed to the rather high price.

The first Superman cartoon, titled "Superman (although also known as "The Mad Scientist")" cost an astounding $50,000 (four times the amount of the average animated short of the time). It debuted on Septemeber 26, 1941 to both critical acclaim and popular success. Indeed, "Superman" or "The Mad Scientist" would be nominated for the Academy award for Best Animated Short. No expense was spared on further cartoons in the series, each being budgeted at $35,000 (far above the cost of most animated cartoons at the time).

Despite the success of the series, Superman would not be enough to save Fleischer Studios. Fleischer Studios had always received a good deal of critical acclaim. They had also received Oscar nominations for several of their animated shorts. Unfortunately, they never made a good deal of money. In 1937 Paramount Studio loaned Max and Dave Fleischer the money to build a bigger studio, the goal being to produce animated features with which to compete with Disney. Neither Gulliver's Travels (1939) nor Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1941) proved to be overwhelming successes at the box office. Short of money, the Fleischers continually looked to Paramount for more loans. Finally, on May 24, 1941, Paramount took over Fleischer Studios, renaming the company Famous Studios. The Fleischers themselves remained in control of production until the end of 1941.

In total, the Fleischers produced 9 Superman cartoons. Their last cartoon in the series, "Terror on the Midway," was released on August 28, 1942. Famous Studios would released 8 more Superman cartoons, the last being "Secret Agent," released on July 30, 1943. Although very popular and still quite successful, the Superman series of animated shorts proved a bit too costly for Paramount Studios. They cancelled the series, replacing with the much more cost effective Little Lulu series.

The plots of many of the Fleischer/Famous Superman animated shorts are somewhat formulaic. In the typical Fleischer/Famous Superman cartoon, Lois Lane gets herself in trouble while covering a story and Superman must rescue her and stop the bad guys. Of course, it must be pointed out that to a degree a formula for the shorts was somewhat necessary; one cannot do too much with only about 8 minutes to tell a story! Besides which, the Fleischer/Famous Superman cartoons more than made up for their formula of many of their plots with some of the most imaginative villains and plot devices in animation at the time. "The Bulleteers" featured the novel idea of a criminal gang which used a flying "bullet car" with which to rob banks. "Arctic Giant" featured a dinosaur on the loose in Metropolis--about eleven years before The Beast From 20000 Fathoms and twelve years before Godzilla. "Mechanical Monsters" could well have been one of the sources of inspiration for Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow--a villain uses remote controlled flying robots to rob banks and jewellery displays!

Not only do the Fleischer/Famous Superman cartoons feature interesting plots, but they also have some of the most impressive animation ever seen in cartoons. In fact, they resemble feature films of the time more than they do the average animated short. The cartoons reproduced realistic looking illumination, with a great use of light sources and shadows. A variety of camera angles and shots are used, including tracking shots, close ups, and so on. The editing is superb. Indeed, I doubt even Disney's feature films of the time quite match the quality of animation in the Fleischer/Famous Superman cartoons.

Of course, in watching the Fleischer/Famous Superman animated shorts, it must be kept in mind that they are products of their time. Produced during World War II, people watching both "Japoteurs" and "Jungle Drums" will find both to be very racially offensive. "Japoteurs" centres on a plot by the Japanese to steal the largest bomber ever made. Its villain is an extreme stereotype of Japanese people, both bucktoothed and near sighted. "Jungle Drums" centres on a Nazi plot in the African jungle and features stereotypes of African natives, complete with bones through their noses. While both cartoons feature the top notch animation typical of the Fleischer/Famous Superman shorts, their treatment of race makes them very difficult to watch.

Anyone today watching the Fleischer/Famous Superman shorts will notice that the Man of Steel was very different in the early Forties from what he is today. Originally, Superman could not fly--he could simply jump 1/8 of a mile. It is for that reason in the majority of the cartoons Superman is shown leaping to travel from place to place instead of simply taking flight. Similarly, Superman was not invulnerable in the early Forties either. As originally conceived, an artillery shell could pierce Superman's skin. In the cartoons, he is sometimes knocked out (although not for long) by debris from fallling buildings, explosions, and so on. Personally, I find the Superman of the Fleischer/Famous cartoons, who could be knocked out by falling rubble, a bit more interesting than the Superman of later years, who could withstand a nuclear blast!

The Fleischer/Famous Superman cartoons are a landmark in animation history. They are perhaps the finest series of animated shorts ever made, fairly consistent in quality and very well executed. They certainly earned their place in history. With the warning that some of the cartoons do contain material we would consider objectionable today, I would recommend them to anyone interested in animation or the character of Superman.

Space Exploration

Yesterday the space shuttle Discovery had a successful launch. It's the first shuttle mission since the Columbia Disaster happened in 2003. I'm hoping that Discovery can make it home safely and that its astronauts return unharmed. I have always been a big supporter of the space programme, but then given that I was born in the Sixties, it would perhaps be surprising if I wasn't.

By the time I was born, the "Space Race" was well underway. The United States' space programme was largely born out of the Cold War. On October 4, 1957, the U.S.S.R. launched Sputnik I, the first man made satellite to orbit planet Earth. Fearing that the Soviets could well develop technological superiority to the U. S., the government created NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and hence the American space programme. The Space Race had begun. Indeed, it would be on May 5, 1961 that the first American would be sent into space. On that date Alan Shepherd Jr. rode Mercury Freedom 7 on a suborbital flight into space. It was not long after that historic flight that President John F. Kennedy would make the space programme a national priority for the United States. In a speech he made on May 25, 1961, Kennedy pledged that we should put a man on the Moon by the end of the decade.

One of the first steps towards that goal was launching the first American into orbit around the Earth. On February 20, 1962, Mercury Friendship 7 was launched, carrying John Glenn. Glenn would orbit the earth three times. It would not be long before the United States would be swept up by an absolute craze for outer space. This craze can easily be seen in the television shows of the era. Space travel, either to or from this world, played a central role in a few TV shows in the Sixties. Both My Favorite Martian and The Invaders featured aliens coming to Earth. Both Star Trek and Lost in Space dealt with space travel itself. The topic of space even appeared on many sitcoms of the era. Gilligan's Island, The Monkees, Bewitched, and many other shows had at least one episode with a space age theme. I Dream of Jeannie topped them all. Jeannie's master, Tony Nelson, was an astronaut!

Even TV commercials during the Sixties touched upon space travel in some way, shape or form. The perfect example of this was Tang, which was first used on the Gemini flights in 1965. For literally years Tang capitalised on the space programme in its advertising campaigns. Naturally, there were food products which capitilised on the space craze. Pillsbury developed "Space Food Sticks" for NASA. And as might be expected, Pillsbury made Space Food Sticks available to the general public as well. In 1965 Quaker Oats even introduced a cereal with a space age theme. The spokesman for Quisp was was an alien with a propeller atop his head, named, appropriately, Quisp.

Not surprisingly, toys with a space theme were extremely popular in the Sixties. Boys during that decade could choose from a wide array of toy ray guns, robots, spaceships, and so on. Mattel created a line of "Major Matt Mason" action figures which capitalised on the space programme. Major Matt Mason was not the only action figure with a space theme, by any means. Marx came out with its own "Johnny Apollo" line of action figures which did the same. In 1965 Gilbert came out with Moon McDare. Eldon came out with Billy Blastoff. Even a G. I. Joe action figure was issued with a space suit and space capsule!

Of course, action figures weren't the only space oriented toys around in the Sixties. Both Ideal and Remco came out with their own "space bases." Remco produced a Voice Controlled Astronaut Base, complete with rocket, astronaut vans, and so on. Ideal's Astro Base came with a scout car, astronaut figure, and so on. Ideal seems to have favoured space oriented toys. They came out with a Space Belt and Helmet set, so that kids could pretend to be astronauts. In 1968 they introduced a line of four battery powered robots called Zeroids, whose mission was the exploration of space.

Towards the end of the decade, the American space programme saw its crowning achievement. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 reached the Moon. Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on it. Unfortunately, as the Apollo missions progressed, the American public lost interest in the space programme, although it maintains many supporters to this day. Of course, even after that first lunar landing, there would still be in milestones in the American space programme. In 1973 and 1974, the Skylab missions took place. Skylab was the United States' first space station. The Skylab missions marked the most extensive amount of time American astronauts spent in space (84 days on the last mission). On April 12, 1981, Columbia became the first space shuttle launched into orbit around the earth.

While NASA has seen many successes, it has also seen its share of disasters. On January 27, 1967, a fire on the launch pad would destroy Apollo 1, killing all three astronauts on board. Apollo 13 nearly ended in disaster. Launched on Apr. 11, 1970, an oxygen tank exploded before the astronauts could even reach the moon. For a time it looked as if the astronauts might be stranded in space, but fortunately both Mission Control and the astronauts figured out a means to bring Apollo 13 home. The space shuttle has also seen its share of disasters, as is well known. On January 31, 1986, Challenger exploded on lift off, killing everyone on board. Only a little over two years ago, on February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia broke up over Texas.

I remember both disasters quite well, particularly that of Columbia. My brother, who lives in Texas, had the misfortune to see the shuttle on its reentry. He told me that when he saw it, he knew something was wrong. Both the Challenger disaster and the Columbia disaster had a huge impact on me. Growing up, among my heroes numbered the astronauts of the American space programme, so I naturally mourned the passing of the astroanauts of both Challenger and Columbia.

The American space programme has been in existence now for nearly 50 years. In that time NASA has made some great achievements. We placed a man on the moon and developed a reusable spacecraft (the space shuttle). NASA has also had its share of disasters (Apollo 1, Challenger, Columbia). It is hard to say what the future holds in store for the American space programme. I have heard that NASA is developing a new reusable spacecraft, one that will be capable of reaching both the Moon and Mars. The international space station will serve not simply the United States and Russia, but many other nations as well. It seems to me that we could be approaching a time when space travel will be routine. I can only hope that I live to see that time.

News Bulletin...This Just In....

The heat wave just broke here in Randolph County. It's now a nice 67 degrees (very cool for a mid-Missouri July evening). The drought may break as well. We've had a fairly steady, but gentle rain since about 4:30 this afternoon. I hope the heat wave breaks for everyone else it has affected!

Heat Wave

The past week the big news stories have centred on Karl Rove, Harry Potter, John Roberts, and Lance Armstrong, but it seems to me that this weekend the biggest news story here may have been the heat wave that is just now hitting the eastern part of the United States. In much of the West, including my home state of Missouri, it has already been with us for a week (farther west it has been around a lot longer). Now it always gets fairly hot in Missouri during July. Temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2 degrees Celsius) are not unusual here this time of year. But the past week we have seen temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 degrees Celsius).

Of course, anyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows that I do not like hot weather, and summer is my least favourite time of year. And in this case I definitely believe that I have a right to complain. At 100 degrees Fahrenheit, with the usual high humidity of Missouri summers, the heat becomes more than uncomfortable, it becomes deadly. I have already heard about two deaths in Missouri from the extreme heat--one being a 77 year old Bonner Springs woman, the other an 83 year old St. Louis woman. I am surprised that I have not read of more deaths. In the heat wave of 1980, in Kansas City alone, 108 people died.

As intense as heat waves can be, it surprises me that they do not play a larger role in pop culture, especially where North America is concerned. It seems to me that when heat does play a role in a novel or movie, it is usually set in the South. I guess it is not surprising, then, that heat figures prominently in the plays of Tennessee Williams, as the vast majority of them are set in the South (A Streetcar Named Desire in New Orleans, Summer and Smoke and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in Mississipi, and so on). Heat also figures prominently in William Faulkner's works, much of which are also set in the Deep South. Indeed, when The Hamlet was adapted as a motion picture, it was retitled The Long, Hot Summer.

Perhaps the worst period of extreme heat in North America began in 1933, when seven years of drought struck the states of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. These were the years of the Dust Bowl, a term referring not only to those parts of the U. S. where soil erosion and drought reduced them to aridity, but to the time for which it lasted as well. In fact, record high temperatures from 1934 still stand. The Dust Bowl does figure in several books and movies, the most significant perhaps being John Steinbeck's novel the Grapes of Wrath and John ford's classic movie adaptation of the novel. Several other movies have been set in the Dust Bowl, among them Bound for Glory (based on folk singer Woody Guthrie's biograhy) and The Stars Fell on Henrietta.

I can't think of too many novels or motion pictures which portray heat waves set in the North, perhaps because they don't take place there as often. The first novel in Ed McBain's 87th Precinct, Cop Hater, is set during a heat wave, as is the 1958 movie based on the novel. One movie set in the North during a heat wave which does come to my mind is Do the Right Thing. It is set in Brooklyn and accurately shows the discomfort and even the irritability (to put it mildly) which can arise from extreme temperatures.

As to songs, I can only think of two which invovle the phrase "heat wave" off the top of my head. One is Irving Berlin's "Heat Wave." The other is "(Love is Like a) Heat Wave" by The Supremes. Both are happy songs, even though heat waves are anything but happy. The song "Summer in the City" by the Lovin' Spoonfull does not mention the phrase "heat wave," although it does describe summer heat perfectly. In that song the sidewalk is "hotter than a match head."

Anyhow, perhaps the reason that there aren't that many movies or books set in heat waves is that they are just too unpleasant for people to think about. It is one thing for it simply to be hot and uncomfortable. It is another thing for it to be hot, oppressing, and downright deadly. Fortunately, the heat wave is supposed to break here in Missouri tomorrow. It will drop down to 91 degrees Fahrenheit. The next few days after that will be absolutely cold--the highs are only going to be in the Eighties! Quite frankly, it can happen soon enough as far as I am concerned.

Scotty Journeys to His Final Frontier

James Doohan, best known for playing Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott on Star Trek, died yesterday of pneumonia at the age of 85. Doohan had suffered from Parkinson's disease for many years and had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease last August.

James Doohan was born in Vancouver, British Columbia on March 3, 1920. At age 19 he enlisted in the Canadian military, eventually rising to the rank of Captain in the Royal Canadian Artillery. During World War II he led forces at D-Day, where he was wounded in the leg and finger. Following World War II, Doohan attended the veteran's school in London, Ontario. He won a scholarship to the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. Among his classmates were Richard Boone (later famous for Have Gun--Will Travel), Tony Randall (best known for the TV series The Odd Couple), and fellow Canadian Leslie Nielsen.

Doohan's gift for dialects and voices made him very much in demand as an actor. He appeared in films, radio, and television in both Canada and the United States. Perhaps fittingly, his first significant television appearance was on a science fiction series, appearing in an episode of Tales of Tomorrow in 1952. Also perhaps fittingly, his first regular role was on a science fiction series; he played Phil Mitchell on Space Command. Doohan's first film role was in the 1957 Canadian film Strike in Town.

James Doohan made many guest appearances in television before receiving the role of Scotty on Star Trek. Among the shows he appeared on were Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, The Viriginian, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and Bewitched. He appeared in the films The Wheeler Dealers, Jigsaw, and Pretty Maids All in a Row.

In 1966 James Doohan auditioned for Gene Roddenberry for the role of the engineer on Star Trek. Doohan did several different dialects for Roddenberry, including a Scottish brogue. Roddenberry asked Doohan which dialect he preferred and Doohan said that he always thought that all the world's greatest engineers had been Scottish. The character of Lt. Commander Montogery Scott, also known as "Scotty," was then born. Initially, Scotty was conceived as a semi-regular. This changed very soon when it became apparent that many of the series' plots required action on the part of the Chief Engineer. Scotty not only became a regular, but third in command of the starship Enterprise. Doohan not only played Scotty on the original run of Star Trek, but in the animated series and seven of the movies based on the show. On the animated version of Star Trek, Doohan not only provided Scotty's voice, but many other voices as well.

Following the original run of Star Trek, Doohan continued to make guest apperances on television, including a memorable appearance as Scotty on Star Trek: the Next Generation. He was a regular on the Saturday morning TV series Jason of Star Command. On August 31, 2004, James Doohan received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

I am very, very sad to hear of James Doohan's death. I have alwyas thought it was regrettable that following Star Trek he was somewhat typecast as the Scottish engineer. Before playing Scotty on Star Trek, he was a guest star on many TV series, playing a variety of roles. He even played heavies and played them well. There can be little doubt that much of the reason Scotty was such an interesting and three dimensional character was due to the talent of Doohan. Doohan portrayed Scotty as a fantastic enginner, yet at the same time very eccentric and very human. Besides McCoy, Scotty was always my favourite charaacter on Star Trek. Quite simply, James Doohan was one of the most gifted character actors on televison.

Doohan's last wish was for his ashes to be sent into space. Space Services Inc. will be sending Doohan's ashes into Earth's orbits aboard a Falcon I rocket. Given that Doohan was most famous for playing the engineer of a starship and his devotion to space exploration, I find this very fitting. At any rate, James Doohan will most certainly be missed.