Actor Stanley Kamel, perhaps best known for playing Adrian Monk's psychiatrist, Dr. Kroger, on the TV show Monk, died Tuesday from a heart attack. He was 65 years old.
Kamel was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey on January 1, 1943 and raised in South River, New Jersey. He attended Rutgers Preparatory School and later Boston University. He studied under acclaimed acting teacher Sanford Meisner, who also taught actors ranging from Gregory Peck to James Caan. He began his acting career in various off Broadway plays. He made his television debut in a bit part in an episode of Mission: Impossible in 1969. A year later he made his film debut in a bit part in the movie Bacchanale. Throughout the Seventies, he made guest appearances on such shows as The Sixth Sense, Mannix, The Mod Squad, Emergency, and Kojak. From 1972 to 1976 he played the role of Eric Peters on the soap opera Days of Our Lives. Kamel appeared on Broadway in the musical Plantinum in 1978.
The Eighties saw Kamel make yet more guest appearances, on such shows as Quincy M.E., Three's Company, Hill Street Blues, and The Fall Guy. He was a semi-regular on Cagney and Lacey. He appeared in the films Making Love Star 80, and Murder by Numbers. The Nineties saw Kamel's career at its peak. He continued to guest star on such shows as Murder She Wrote, Matlock, and The Nanny. He was a regular on both Melrose Place and Beverly Hills 90210 and a semi-regular on L. A. Law. On Murder One he was a regular as the slightly frightening psychiatrist Dr. Graham Lester. He also appeared in the films Automatic, Ravager, A Fare to Remember, Stonebrook, and Running Red. The Naughts saw Kamel cast as Monk's long suffering psychiatrist, Dr. Charles Kroger, in the TV show Monk. He also appeared in the David Lynch movie Inland Empire, and the movies Judge Koan and Domino.
Stanley Kamel was one of the great characters of more recent generations. He could play a wide range of characters. Often they would be unsavoury characters, such as the scheming Tony Marchette on Beverly Hills 90210. Other times they might be a bit unsettling, a particular example being Dr. Lester on Murder One. Yet other times his characters could be comforting and reassuring, such as Dr. Kroger on the TV show Monk. What is remarkable is that Kamel could play all of these roles very convincingly. He was one of the many great character actors who often go unnoticed in film and television, almost never winning awards, but brightening any film or TV show in which they appear. It is sad that he had to die all too soon.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Sweeney Todd is easily one of the most famous characters to come out of England. Indeed, he is perhaps the earliest fictional serial killer to achieve any sort of fame. He made his first appearance n the serial The String of Pearls, published in The People's Periodical and Family Library, issues 7 (November 21 1846) to 24 (March 20, 1847). The String of Pearls would meet with incredible success. The serial was not even completed when the first dramatic adaptation appeared, written by George Dibden Pitt for the Britannia Theatre in Hoxton in London.in 1947. Tales of the demon barber of Fleet Street would become popular fare in pubs across England. He would appear again and again throughout the latter part of the Nineteenth century and into the Twentieth, in print, on stage, on film, and even in music hall ballads. It would have a lasting influence on British literature, influencing future detective stories and a novel called Dracula. In many ways he became the stuff of legend.
That is not to say that the portrayal of Sweeney Todd would not vary over the years. In his earliest appearances, beginning with The String of Pearls. Todd's motivation was simply to become very, very rich. It was in 1973, in his play Sweeney Todd, that playwright Christopher Bond would give Sweeney the motive for which he is best known now--revenge. In 1979 Stephen Sondheim would adapt Bond's play into the highly successful musical, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. It is Sondheim's musical which director Tim Burton adapted for the big screen.
Fans of the musical will naturally notice some differences between the original musical and its screen adaptation. The musical clocks in at nearly three hours, while the movie is only around two hours. Several songs were cut and others would lose verses. But overall, the movie Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is fairly loyal to the musical. The central plot is still there, in which Todd seeks revenge for iniquities committed against him, and every character from the musical can be found in the film. This is definitely for the best. Film being a different medium than the stage, the plot should not be slowed down for songs which may be peripheral to the central plot thread. Similarly, in a musical such as Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, the characters are ultimately more important than the songs. Both the film and the musical are character driven works, in which each character is driven by his or her own, often very powerful, motives and desires.
As to the overall quality of the film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, it is a bloody good film, emphasis on the word bloody. Both Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are adequate as singers, but they make up for any lack in the singing department with stellar performances. Indeed, Depp's performance brings to mind the horror actors of old, particularly Boris Karloff. His Todd is wonderfully quiet and often very, very still--the effect of which can be unsettling at times. As Mrs. Lovett, Carter realistically potrays a lonely widow one can believe would fall in love with a revenge driven madman. Kudos must also go to Alan Rickman, the judge and villain of the piece who puts the whole plot into action when he falsely imprisons Todd. Rickman's Judge Turpin is wonderfully intimidating and even a bit creepy.
Of course, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street won the Oscar for Best Achievement in Art Direction. And the very look of the film does lend it much of its appeal, and not simply because of the movie's fantastic production design. From the costumes to Dariusz Wolski's cinematography, the movie creates a very dark, very rich atmosphere that is in many ways reminiscent of the Hammer movies of old.
While speaking of the overall look and feel of the movie, I suppose I should mention the violence of the movie, of which much had been said and written. Indeed, the MPAA's rating carries with a warning about "Bloody graphic violence." And there is a good deal of blood in the movie, as might be expected of a film in which a murderous barber slashes his victim's throats with his razors. In fact, blood not only flows in this movie, it spews. That having been said, I think Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is actually less graphic than many horror movies (particularly the many torture chic films). While there is a lot of blood, there are no guts in sight. At any rate, I must warn viewers, if you have weak stomachs, this movie is not for you.
As someone who loved the original Stephen Sondheim musical and has followed Sweeney Todd in his various incarnations, I must say that Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is one of the best interpretations of the demon barber. More than that, it is a genuinely good film with fantastic performances, some great songs, a fantastic look and feel, and, as might be expected, a lot of blood...
That is not to say that the portrayal of Sweeney Todd would not vary over the years. In his earliest appearances, beginning with The String of Pearls. Todd's motivation was simply to become very, very rich. It was in 1973, in his play Sweeney Todd, that playwright Christopher Bond would give Sweeney the motive for which he is best known now--revenge. In 1979 Stephen Sondheim would adapt Bond's play into the highly successful musical, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. It is Sondheim's musical which director Tim Burton adapted for the big screen.
Fans of the musical will naturally notice some differences between the original musical and its screen adaptation. The musical clocks in at nearly three hours, while the movie is only around two hours. Several songs were cut and others would lose verses. But overall, the movie Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is fairly loyal to the musical. The central plot is still there, in which Todd seeks revenge for iniquities committed against him, and every character from the musical can be found in the film. This is definitely for the best. Film being a different medium than the stage, the plot should not be slowed down for songs which may be peripheral to the central plot thread. Similarly, in a musical such as Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, the characters are ultimately more important than the songs. Both the film and the musical are character driven works, in which each character is driven by his or her own, often very powerful, motives and desires.
As to the overall quality of the film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, it is a bloody good film, emphasis on the word bloody. Both Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are adequate as singers, but they make up for any lack in the singing department with stellar performances. Indeed, Depp's performance brings to mind the horror actors of old, particularly Boris Karloff. His Todd is wonderfully quiet and often very, very still--the effect of which can be unsettling at times. As Mrs. Lovett, Carter realistically potrays a lonely widow one can believe would fall in love with a revenge driven madman. Kudos must also go to Alan Rickman, the judge and villain of the piece who puts the whole plot into action when he falsely imprisons Todd. Rickman's Judge Turpin is wonderfully intimidating and even a bit creepy.
Of course, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street won the Oscar for Best Achievement in Art Direction. And the very look of the film does lend it much of its appeal, and not simply because of the movie's fantastic production design. From the costumes to Dariusz Wolski's cinematography, the movie creates a very dark, very rich atmosphere that is in many ways reminiscent of the Hammer movies of old.
While speaking of the overall look and feel of the movie, I suppose I should mention the violence of the movie, of which much had been said and written. Indeed, the MPAA's rating carries with a warning about "Bloody graphic violence." And there is a good deal of blood in the movie, as might be expected of a film in which a murderous barber slashes his victim's throats with his razors. In fact, blood not only flows in this movie, it spews. That having been said, I think Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is actually less graphic than many horror movies (particularly the many torture chic films). While there is a lot of blood, there are no guts in sight. At any rate, I must warn viewers, if you have weak stomachs, this movie is not for you.
As someone who loved the original Stephen Sondheim musical and has followed Sweeney Todd in his various incarnations, I must say that Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is one of the best interpretations of the demon barber. More than that, it is a genuinely good film with fantastic performances, some great songs, a fantastic look and feel, and, as might be expected, a lot of blood...
Monday, April 7, 2008
You’ll Never Find Someone Like Her: an Interview with Karen Stever
You may not have heard the name "Karen Stever," but I am willing to bet that in the coming years you will hear it plenty. Born in Canada and now in Los Angeles, Karen is a multi-talented singer, songwriter, musician, producer, and animator. Late last year she released her CD Playground Isolator. Co-produced with Frank Gryner (who has worked with the likes of Rob Zombie, The Dandy Warhols, and The Cult). Playground Isolator contains some of the most starkly original and inventive songs to come down the pike in years. Karen and Frank also animated and provided the theme song for the trailer for Ben Templesmith's graphic mini-series Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse.
Through the modern miracle of email, I recently had the opportunity to interview this brilliant, multi-talented artist.
---------------------------------
Mercurie: Growing up, did you always want to be a singer and songwriter?
Stever: Just today, I received a picture of my niece from my sister who looks alot like me (I am told she is acting a lot like me too...not sure that is good or bad....lol)
My sister said she just started grabbing the camera and taking pictures of herself. When one of her parents clicks her picture, she always asks, "Am I in it?" Apparently, that was me. I was a kid who always danced in front of a mirror and banged on things. I think I was free then. I had a time period in my life where I was not free and the idea of being a singer/songwriter was called a pipedream/stupid/not a real job so I shelved it. The music haunted me and called me back. I've mentioned before to people that it's an appendage. It really is. Cutting it off just creates a ghost that you don't want haunting you. As soon as I accepted that it was my path, I was lived in harmony with the ghost. My path changes a lot...the voices and words that are constantly flowing through my head probably aren't going anywhere anytime soon,
but if they do go away, I'll follow the next path. I've learned to listen more.
Mercurie: On a related note, what music did you grow up listening to? That is, what are your influences?
Stever: Everything except country. It was pretty much banned from my home as my father was a touring musician who got paid the most to play country and hated it. His annoyance rubbed off on us like a prejudice. HA! Despite the fact that I loved the metal, pop, new wave stuff that my siblings listened to, anything orchestral and rock made me "feel" the most. My home was filled with just about every kind of music you can imagine...and family jams on Sundays. Many people know about Lisa Dalbello being a heavy influence on me as she never seemed afraid to be herself. She taught me through her music to accept my own voice and experiment with it.
Mercurie: How would you describe your music stylistically and thematically?
Stever: Stylistically; heavy and orchestral. I like to grind my teeth and clench my fists to music. My life is intense, so in keeping it honest, thematically the subject is generally intense. I'm a bit of a boy really...so everything has a healthy level of sand and sawdust on it.
Mercurie: Could you tell us about your creative process? How do you go about writing a song?
Stever: This could change from day to day and hour to hour lately. A song like "Sicko" was written in the middle of my bed as a diary entry and turned into a poem and then a song later. "Sicko" ripped my guts out whereas a song like "Ride of Your Life" was written upside down on a couch on a crappy piece of paper with my foot tapping 4 on the wall (as opposed to 4 on the floor) throughout. Really my main goal with the process is to exorcise the voices in my head. They dance in insanity in there ya know...LOL. I have to free them and give them all a home. I am a foster parent of my songs...keeping them safe, giving them some stability and organizing them in such a way that they will have legs to stand on and wings to grow someday. It's awkward and ugly sometimes. It's a lot of tears, ripped up paper and anger. I'm probably not the best person to teach a seminar on song-writing. I'm still trying to figure out where the melodies come from. I don't write them. They present themselves in an obvious way to me. They float in my head, I match them up with their word partners and away they go for better or for worse. The Playground Isolator cd varies from song to song in it's conception. A few songs my co-producer Frank Gryner had some preliminary instrumentation for and he'd hand it off to me. "Funeral Mute" was perhaps my favourite (as far as fun) process. I had some words written and Frank had a very crappy acoustic guitar with him and we came up with the chords and I put my melody and words with it. I later played with the accordion sounds and then instrument by instrument layered on. I will say that I believe a song that works should be played around a camp fire and work. I never believe instrumentation should hold a song together.
Mercurie: Were there any authors, film makers, or artists who have had a strong influence on your work?
Stever: I love Italian Renaissance art. I also love anything graphically insulting meaning if it makes me feel uncomfortable, I question it and become envious of the courage of the artist.
Shakespeare was an enormous influence on me (even though I don't write like him) because of his theatrical experience in Elizabethan times. I was into theatre a lot in high school. I didn't understand him though so my mom would break down what he was saying into modern day terminology and I started to see the beauty of his poetry. It made me want to write. But instead of writing like him, I just wrote with the modern words. Poetry after all doesn't have to be eloquent. LOL I was always more inspired to write music after watching Bugs Bunny (because of the orchestration) and a film like The Crow makes me feel dark and edgy enough to put myself in the appropriate place to write. Anything intense doesn't influence me so much as gives me licence to also do it.
Mercurie: How many instruments do you play? And what instruments are your favourites?
Stever: I am a hacker. I don't look at instruments how they should although I was taught to play piano growing up. I was the kid that annoyed my teacher because I would improvise songs to make them more interesting rather than follow her ugly notes. I would also argue with her that the writer sucked at writing and therefore it wasn't a good song to learn anyways. SO I play drums, guitar and bass POORLY...I mean POORLY whereas the piano I am comfortable on. I like writing at my piano. I probably should have been a drummer though as I tap incessantly ALL DAY LONG. All the instrumentation on the Playground Isolator cd was shared between Frank and myself. We played what we needed to when it came up. I sing all my own vocals and backgrounds. I would never subject another soul to how we do things...UGLY UGLY UGLY.
Mercurie: You're originally from Canada, but you are now based out of Los Angeles. Was it difficult in making the move from Canada to California?
Stever: I like to think I am not based out of anywhere. I want to keep my mind somewhat nomadic. Location doesn't mean anything. It is the people you are around. Travel breeds tolerance and for me right now, being anywhere permanently means I am not listening to where I am needed. Canada will always be my home, but unfortunately having lost both parents, I don't have a family home to visit. New York feels like a second home to me as I feel really comfortable when I am there. People are dark and edgy. Middle America has rocks and landscapes that inspire me. But California has sunshine which is like an anti-depressant for the suicidal. California is a good place to be for a time to renew one's relationship with the sun and hills. If I feel the need to settle down somewhere, I hope it is an old abandoned church in the middle of nowhere...somewhere I can sing into the rafters and feel the history around me.
I think a move is only difficult when a person is to attached to where they are. For the first time, I'm not.
Mercurie: You are also an animator. Do you find animation more or less satisfying than your music?
Stever: Oh please let me say I am no animator. I hack at that more than music! I couldn't tell you how half these programs operate. I want it to do something and I use the help menu and make it work for what I want at the time. Something like Ben Templesmith's Wormwood trailer took probably 50 times longer for Frank and I to do than it would some professional because we honestly don't know what we are doing. But to answer your question, it's SO MUCH FREAKING FUN! It's just something cool to do.
Mercurie: Do you think the advent of the internet and digital formats such as MP3 has drastically changed the music business? Is it quite as important for an artist to be attached to a music label as it once was?
Stever: Oh wow. Don't hit my nerve like that! hahahahaha.... Seriously, if one single artist out there reads this, I will say if a major label comes to you, turn and RUN. The majors are dying. I have had contracts in front of me and they are RAPE. Not only that, what they offer is irrelevant nowadays. They may hate me for saying it, (all a person has to do is look at sales and stock market numbers) but they will sink into the ocean. People are constantly being fired as we speak. I suggest every artist out there goes and reads the Bob Lefsetz Letters and educates themselves. With the internet, you don't need major labels. It does depend on the artist's motivation though. Despite the dozens of requests I get from these people for cds etc, I don't want to be a big star. I want to remain being an artist and my goal on earth is not to be wealthy, it's to make a difference in the lives of PEOPLE. I don't even like the term "fans". People I meet inspire me daily. I learn from them. We are a community. I don't want fans...I just want to have relationships with like-minded spirits. I hate the hierarchy and arrogance of the "Rock Star" Get down from your pedestal. You look stupid up there...morons... lol. I do think too many artists put money before art. Art should not be driven by the need for money. I did (and do) other things to pay the bills so the art doesn't suffer. It keeps it pure. I've seen artists make bad choices because of the need to make money. My dad quit those country gigs he did, kept farming to pay bills and spent his evenings playing the music he loved with his family. No interest in fame. Just an interest to enjoy his life.
Mercurie: Any parting words for our readers?
Stever: I am delighted you made it this far. Anyone who is part of my blog community knows what a rambling, blithering idiot I can be. Thanks for being so patient with me. ;)
----------------------------------------------
For those of you who would like a sample of Karen Stever's work, here is the video to her song "Sicko."
If you would like to hear more of Karen Stever's songs, you can visit her profile at MySpace.
Through the modern miracle of email, I recently had the opportunity to interview this brilliant, multi-talented artist.
---------------------------------
Mercurie: Growing up, did you always want to be a singer and songwriter?
Stever: Just today, I received a picture of my niece from my sister who looks alot like me (I am told she is acting a lot like me too...not sure that is good or bad....lol)
My sister said she just started grabbing the camera and taking pictures of herself. When one of her parents clicks her picture, she always asks, "Am I in it?" Apparently, that was me. I was a kid who always danced in front of a mirror and banged on things. I think I was free then. I had a time period in my life where I was not free and the idea of being a singer/songwriter was called a pipedream/stupid/not a real job so I shelved it. The music haunted me and called me back. I've mentioned before to people that it's an appendage. It really is. Cutting it off just creates a ghost that you don't want haunting you. As soon as I accepted that it was my path, I was lived in harmony with the ghost. My path changes a lot...the voices and words that are constantly flowing through my head probably aren't going anywhere anytime soon,
but if they do go away, I'll follow the next path. I've learned to listen more.
Mercurie: On a related note, what music did you grow up listening to? That is, what are your influences?
Stever: Everything except country. It was pretty much banned from my home as my father was a touring musician who got paid the most to play country and hated it. His annoyance rubbed off on us like a prejudice. HA! Despite the fact that I loved the metal, pop, new wave stuff that my siblings listened to, anything orchestral and rock made me "feel" the most. My home was filled with just about every kind of music you can imagine...and family jams on Sundays. Many people know about Lisa Dalbello being a heavy influence on me as she never seemed afraid to be herself. She taught me through her music to accept my own voice and experiment with it.
Mercurie: How would you describe your music stylistically and thematically?
Stever: Stylistically; heavy and orchestral. I like to grind my teeth and clench my fists to music. My life is intense, so in keeping it honest, thematically the subject is generally intense. I'm a bit of a boy really...so everything has a healthy level of sand and sawdust on it.
Mercurie: Could you tell us about your creative process? How do you go about writing a song?
Stever: This could change from day to day and hour to hour lately. A song like "Sicko" was written in the middle of my bed as a diary entry and turned into a poem and then a song later. "Sicko" ripped my guts out whereas a song like "Ride of Your Life" was written upside down on a couch on a crappy piece of paper with my foot tapping 4 on the wall (as opposed to 4 on the floor) throughout. Really my main goal with the process is to exorcise the voices in my head. They dance in insanity in there ya know...LOL. I have to free them and give them all a home. I am a foster parent of my songs...keeping them safe, giving them some stability and organizing them in such a way that they will have legs to stand on and wings to grow someday. It's awkward and ugly sometimes. It's a lot of tears, ripped up paper and anger. I'm probably not the best person to teach a seminar on song-writing. I'm still trying to figure out where the melodies come from. I don't write them. They present themselves in an obvious way to me. They float in my head, I match them up with their word partners and away they go for better or for worse. The Playground Isolator cd varies from song to song in it's conception. A few songs my co-producer Frank Gryner had some preliminary instrumentation for and he'd hand it off to me. "Funeral Mute" was perhaps my favourite (as far as fun) process. I had some words written and Frank had a very crappy acoustic guitar with him and we came up with the chords and I put my melody and words with it. I later played with the accordion sounds and then instrument by instrument layered on. I will say that I believe a song that works should be played around a camp fire and work. I never believe instrumentation should hold a song together.
Mercurie: Were there any authors, film makers, or artists who have had a strong influence on your work?
Stever: I love Italian Renaissance art. I also love anything graphically insulting meaning if it makes me feel uncomfortable, I question it and become envious of the courage of the artist.
Shakespeare was an enormous influence on me (even though I don't write like him) because of his theatrical experience in Elizabethan times. I was into theatre a lot in high school. I didn't understand him though so my mom would break down what he was saying into modern day terminology and I started to see the beauty of his poetry. It made me want to write. But instead of writing like him, I just wrote with the modern words. Poetry after all doesn't have to be eloquent. LOL I was always more inspired to write music after watching Bugs Bunny (because of the orchestration) and a film like The Crow makes me feel dark and edgy enough to put myself in the appropriate place to write. Anything intense doesn't influence me so much as gives me licence to also do it.
Mercurie: How many instruments do you play? And what instruments are your favourites?
Stever: I am a hacker. I don't look at instruments how they should although I was taught to play piano growing up. I was the kid that annoyed my teacher because I would improvise songs to make them more interesting rather than follow her ugly notes. I would also argue with her that the writer sucked at writing and therefore it wasn't a good song to learn anyways. SO I play drums, guitar and bass POORLY...I mean POORLY whereas the piano I am comfortable on. I like writing at my piano. I probably should have been a drummer though as I tap incessantly ALL DAY LONG. All the instrumentation on the Playground Isolator cd was shared between Frank and myself. We played what we needed to when it came up. I sing all my own vocals and backgrounds. I would never subject another soul to how we do things...UGLY UGLY UGLY.
Mercurie: You're originally from Canada, but you are now based out of Los Angeles. Was it difficult in making the move from Canada to California?
Stever: I like to think I am not based out of anywhere. I want to keep my mind somewhat nomadic. Location doesn't mean anything. It is the people you are around. Travel breeds tolerance and for me right now, being anywhere permanently means I am not listening to where I am needed. Canada will always be my home, but unfortunately having lost both parents, I don't have a family home to visit. New York feels like a second home to me as I feel really comfortable when I am there. People are dark and edgy. Middle America has rocks and landscapes that inspire me. But California has sunshine which is like an anti-depressant for the suicidal. California is a good place to be for a time to renew one's relationship with the sun and hills. If I feel the need to settle down somewhere, I hope it is an old abandoned church in the middle of nowhere...somewhere I can sing into the rafters and feel the history around me.
I think a move is only difficult when a person is to attached to where they are. For the first time, I'm not.
Mercurie: You are also an animator. Do you find animation more or less satisfying than your music?
Stever: Oh please let me say I am no animator. I hack at that more than music! I couldn't tell you how half these programs operate. I want it to do something and I use the help menu and make it work for what I want at the time. Something like Ben Templesmith's Wormwood trailer took probably 50 times longer for Frank and I to do than it would some professional because we honestly don't know what we are doing. But to answer your question, it's SO MUCH FREAKING FUN! It's just something cool to do.
Mercurie: Do you think the advent of the internet and digital formats such as MP3 has drastically changed the music business? Is it quite as important for an artist to be attached to a music label as it once was?
Stever: Oh wow. Don't hit my nerve like that! hahahahaha.... Seriously, if one single artist out there reads this, I will say if a major label comes to you, turn and RUN. The majors are dying. I have had contracts in front of me and they are RAPE. Not only that, what they offer is irrelevant nowadays. They may hate me for saying it, (all a person has to do is look at sales and stock market numbers) but they will sink into the ocean. People are constantly being fired as we speak. I suggest every artist out there goes and reads the Bob Lefsetz Letters and educates themselves. With the internet, you don't need major labels. It does depend on the artist's motivation though. Despite the dozens of requests I get from these people for cds etc, I don't want to be a big star. I want to remain being an artist and my goal on earth is not to be wealthy, it's to make a difference in the lives of PEOPLE. I don't even like the term "fans". People I meet inspire me daily. I learn from them. We are a community. I don't want fans...I just want to have relationships with like-minded spirits. I hate the hierarchy and arrogance of the "Rock Star" Get down from your pedestal. You look stupid up there...morons... lol. I do think too many artists put money before art. Art should not be driven by the need for money. I did (and do) other things to pay the bills so the art doesn't suffer. It keeps it pure. I've seen artists make bad choices because of the need to make money. My dad quit those country gigs he did, kept farming to pay bills and spent his evenings playing the music he loved with his family. No interest in fame. Just an interest to enjoy his life.
Mercurie: Any parting words for our readers?
Stever: I am delighted you made it this far. Anyone who is part of my blog community knows what a rambling, blithering idiot I can be. Thanks for being so patient with me. ;)
----------------------------------------------
For those of you who would like a sample of Karen Stever's work, here is the video to her song "Sicko."
If you would like to hear more of Karen Stever's songs, you can visit her profile at MySpace.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Charlton Heston Rides Off into the Sunset
Legendary movie star Charlton Heston, played roles ranging from Moses to El Cid, died last night at the age of 84. In 2002 he announced that he had symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease.
Charlton Heston was born John Charles Carter in Evanston, Illinois. While a very young child, Heston's family lived in St. Helen, Michigan, When he was only ten his parents divorced. Not long after his mother married Chester Heston. His mother and stepfather then moved to Wilmette, Illinois. He was active in the drama programme at New Trier High School and acted in plays at the Winnetka Community Theatre, Heston majored in drama at Northwestern University. It was while attending Northwestern that he made his film debut, in a film adaptation of Peer Gynt in 1941, directed and written by David Bradley. Bradley would later direct Heston as Marc Antony in his 1950 adaptation of Julius Caesar.
During World War II Heston served in the Army Air Forces as a radio operator on a B-29 with the rank of sergeant. Following the war he took to acting once more. He and his wife, the former Lydia Clarke, founded he Thomas Wolfe Memorial Theatre in Asheville, North Carolina in 1947 (the theatre was named for the city's famous son). In 1947 he also made his Broadway debut, as Proculeius in a revival of Antony and Cleopatra. In 1949 he returned to Broadway for Glenn Campbell in the play Leaf and Bough. In 1950 he appeared on Broadway in the drama Design for a Stained Glass Window. It was the same year that he made his debut on television, in an episode of The Clock.
It was also in 1950 that Charlton Heston appeared in David Bradley's non-professional film adaptation of Julius Caesar. The film brought Heston to the attention of Hollywood. He was soon cast in his first Hollywood film, the noir Dark City, released in 1950. For the next few years Heston appeard frequently on television, making appearances on Lux Video Theatre, Suspense, and several on Studio One. It was in 1952 that he had his breakthrough role, as circus manager Brad Braden in Cecil DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth.
For the next several years Charlton Heston appeared both on television (in episodes of The Philco Television Playhouse, Your Show of Shows, and Playhouse 90), all the while starring in major motion pictures (such as Pony Express, Arrowhead, and The Private War of Major Benson). It was in 1956 that Heston appeared in the role with which he would become most identified, playing Moses in Cecil DeMille's The Ten Commandments. Arguably this was the beginning of Heston's richest period in his career, as he not only played a number of historical figures, but also starred in a number of classic films. He starred in Orson Welles' classic noir Touch of Evil. He played General Andrew Jackson in The Buccaneer. Heston had the title role in Ben Hur. He played Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, the title role, in the classic El Cid. And he played Michelangelo in The Agony and the Ecstasy.
As the historical epics went out of vogue, Heston's career changed as well. With the release of the mega-hit Planet of the Apes in 1968, Heston increasingly appeared in various genre films. He played Robert Neville in The Omega Man, the second adaptation of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend. He starred in the dystopic sci-fi movie Soylent Green. He also had the role of Cardinal Richlieu in The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers, as well as Henry the VIII in Crossed Swords. Heston also appeared in new versions of Julius Caesar (once more as Antony) and Antony and Cleopatra (again as Antony), as well as the films Call of the Wild, Midway, and Two Minute Warning.
The latter part of Heston's career was spent playing supporting roles in feature films, as well as appearing in television movies. He was a regular on the TV series The Colbys. He also appeared in the telefilms A Man for All Seasons (as Sir Thomas More), Treasure Island (as Long John Silver), and The Crucifer of Blood (as Sherlock Holmes). He appeared in such films as In the Mouth of Madness, Alaska, Tombstone, True Lies, and in an uncredited cameo in the re-envisioning of Planet of the Apes. His last appearance on screen was in Egidio Eronico's My Father, Rua Alguem 5555 in 2003.
In addition to his extensive film career, Charlton Heston was also a president of the Screen Actors Guild for six terms. He was also a chairman of the American Film Institute. While justifiably famous as an actor, Heston would also be well known for his sometimes controversial political views. Early in his career campaigning for such candidates as Adlai Stevenson and John F. Kennedy, his political views grew more conservative has he grew older. He would campaign for Ronald Reagan and both Bushs. He also became the outspoken president of the National Rifle Association from 1998 to 2003.
While I disagreed with many, perhaps most of Charlton Heston's political views in his later years, he has always remained one of my favourite actors. Square jawed, tall, and muscular, with a commanding voice, he was well suited to playing many of the larger than life roles he did. I dare say that when most people picture Moses in their mind, it is Charlton Heston that they see. And although Heston won only one Oscar (for his role as Ben Hur in the movie of the same name), I have little doubt as to his talent. His performance as narcotics detective Mike Vargas in Touch of Evil is one of the best things in a movie that is nearly perfect as it is. And while usually playing heroic roles, Heston was utterly convincing as tormented artist Michelangelo in The Agony and the Ecstasy.
Indeed, Charlton Heston starred in some of my favourite movies of all time. Planet of the Apes and El Cid both remain in my list of the greatest movies of all time. And, quite frankly, I am not sure that any other actor could have played Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, the legendary El Cid, quite so convincingly. While I may have disagreed with Heston's politics, I have no doubt that he was one of the greatest leading men of all time.
Charlton Heston was born John Charles Carter in Evanston, Illinois. While a very young child, Heston's family lived in St. Helen, Michigan, When he was only ten his parents divorced. Not long after his mother married Chester Heston. His mother and stepfather then moved to Wilmette, Illinois. He was active in the drama programme at New Trier High School and acted in plays at the Winnetka Community Theatre, Heston majored in drama at Northwestern University. It was while attending Northwestern that he made his film debut, in a film adaptation of Peer Gynt in 1941, directed and written by David Bradley. Bradley would later direct Heston as Marc Antony in his 1950 adaptation of Julius Caesar.
During World War II Heston served in the Army Air Forces as a radio operator on a B-29 with the rank of sergeant. Following the war he took to acting once more. He and his wife, the former Lydia Clarke, founded he Thomas Wolfe Memorial Theatre in Asheville, North Carolina in 1947 (the theatre was named for the city's famous son). In 1947 he also made his Broadway debut, as Proculeius in a revival of Antony and Cleopatra. In 1949 he returned to Broadway for Glenn Campbell in the play Leaf and Bough. In 1950 he appeared on Broadway in the drama Design for a Stained Glass Window. It was the same year that he made his debut on television, in an episode of The Clock.
It was also in 1950 that Charlton Heston appeared in David Bradley's non-professional film adaptation of Julius Caesar. The film brought Heston to the attention of Hollywood. He was soon cast in his first Hollywood film, the noir Dark City, released in 1950. For the next few years Heston appeard frequently on television, making appearances on Lux Video Theatre, Suspense, and several on Studio One. It was in 1952 that he had his breakthrough role, as circus manager Brad Braden in Cecil DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth.
For the next several years Charlton Heston appeared both on television (in episodes of The Philco Television Playhouse, Your Show of Shows, and Playhouse 90), all the while starring in major motion pictures (such as Pony Express, Arrowhead, and The Private War of Major Benson). It was in 1956 that Heston appeared in the role with which he would become most identified, playing Moses in Cecil DeMille's The Ten Commandments. Arguably this was the beginning of Heston's richest period in his career, as he not only played a number of historical figures, but also starred in a number of classic films. He starred in Orson Welles' classic noir Touch of Evil. He played General Andrew Jackson in The Buccaneer. Heston had the title role in Ben Hur. He played Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, the title role, in the classic El Cid. And he played Michelangelo in The Agony and the Ecstasy.
As the historical epics went out of vogue, Heston's career changed as well. With the release of the mega-hit Planet of the Apes in 1968, Heston increasingly appeared in various genre films. He played Robert Neville in The Omega Man, the second adaptation of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend. He starred in the dystopic sci-fi movie Soylent Green. He also had the role of Cardinal Richlieu in The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers, as well as Henry the VIII in Crossed Swords. Heston also appeared in new versions of Julius Caesar (once more as Antony) and Antony and Cleopatra (again as Antony), as well as the films Call of the Wild, Midway, and Two Minute Warning.
The latter part of Heston's career was spent playing supporting roles in feature films, as well as appearing in television movies. He was a regular on the TV series The Colbys. He also appeared in the telefilms A Man for All Seasons (as Sir Thomas More), Treasure Island (as Long John Silver), and The Crucifer of Blood (as Sherlock Holmes). He appeared in such films as In the Mouth of Madness, Alaska, Tombstone, True Lies, and in an uncredited cameo in the re-envisioning of Planet of the Apes. His last appearance on screen was in Egidio Eronico's My Father, Rua Alguem 5555 in 2003.
In addition to his extensive film career, Charlton Heston was also a president of the Screen Actors Guild for six terms. He was also a chairman of the American Film Institute. While justifiably famous as an actor, Heston would also be well known for his sometimes controversial political views. Early in his career campaigning for such candidates as Adlai Stevenson and John F. Kennedy, his political views grew more conservative has he grew older. He would campaign for Ronald Reagan and both Bushs. He also became the outspoken president of the National Rifle Association from 1998 to 2003.
While I disagreed with many, perhaps most of Charlton Heston's political views in his later years, he has always remained one of my favourite actors. Square jawed, tall, and muscular, with a commanding voice, he was well suited to playing many of the larger than life roles he did. I dare say that when most people picture Moses in their mind, it is Charlton Heston that they see. And although Heston won only one Oscar (for his role as Ben Hur in the movie of the same name), I have little doubt as to his talent. His performance as narcotics detective Mike Vargas in Touch of Evil is one of the best things in a movie that is nearly perfect as it is. And while usually playing heroic roles, Heston was utterly convincing as tormented artist Michelangelo in The Agony and the Ecstasy.
Indeed, Charlton Heston starred in some of my favourite movies of all time. Planet of the Apes and El Cid both remain in my list of the greatest movies of all time. And, quite frankly, I am not sure that any other actor could have played Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, the legendary El Cid, quite so convincingly. While I may have disagreed with Heston's politics, I have no doubt that he was one of the greatest leading men of all time.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Bette Davis Turns 100
One hundred years ago today a child was born named Ruth Elizabeth Davis in Lowell, Massachusetts. If the name "Ruth Elizabeth Davis" seems unfamiliar to you, then you are probably familiar with the name by which she came better known: "Bette Davis."
Ruth Elizabeth Davis was born to Harlow Morrell Davis, a patent attorney, and Ruth Augusta Davis. Sharing her mother's first name, the family simply called the child "Betty," short for her middle name "Elizabeth." Her parents separated when Betty was only seven years old. In 1921 her mother, Ruth, moved to New York to work as a portrait photographer. It was there that Betty discovered the movies. She decided to become an actress after seeing The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse starring Rudolph Valentino and Little Lord Fauntleroy starring Mary Pickford in 1921. She also changed the spelling of her name from "Betty" to "Bette" after encountering La Cousine Bette by Honoré de Balzac.
While Davis wanted to be an actress, the path to her chosen career would not be easy. After graduating from Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, she tried getting admitted to the Manhattan Civic Repertory, the repertory founded by actress and director Eva Le Gallienne. La Gallienne rejected Davis, telling her "I can see your attitude toward the theatre is not sincere..You are a frivolous little girl." Although dismissed by La Gallienne, she was accepted into the John Murray Anderson's acting school. There one of her classmates was none other than Lucille Ball. There Davis also studied dance under choreographer Martha Graham.
Despite studying at a prestigious acting school, Davis's path to acting would still not be easy. She left school and even gave up a scholarship to do so when offered a part in a play at the Provincetown Playhouse by director Unfortunately, production of the play was postponed several times, making Davis unable to return to school and very much in need of a job. With a letter of recommendation from director Frank Conroy, Davis met with director George Cukor, then casting for the play Broadway in Rochester, New York. Cukor was not particularly impressed with Davis, but cast her in the small part of a chorus girl as a favour to Conroy. Advised by her mother to study the whole play because the lead actress might have an accident, Bette Davis did just that. As it turned out, her mother was right. Only two days after Broadway opened the lead actress, Rose Lerner, twisted her ankle after a part of the play in which she was to fall down a staircase. Davis soon found herself cast in the lead role because she already knew the part. Davis would go onto play Hedwig in Wild Duck. She made her debut on Broadway in The Earth Between in 1929 and appeared in Broken Dishes on Broadway the same year.
It was on Broadway that Davis was noticed by a Universal talent scout. Following two screen tests, she was signed to a contract and went to Hollywood. Davis was not met by anyone from the studio at the train station. It was later revealed that the Universal employee sent to fetch her had not done so because he saw no passengers who looked like a movie actress. As it turned out, Universal may have been a very poor fit for Davis. Universal production chief Carl Laemmle Jr. considered terminating her contract and once said she had as much sex appeal as comedy actor Slim Summerville. She was saved only by legendary cinematographer Karl Freund, who thought she had beautiful eyes. It was because of Freund that she was cast in her debut film, The Bad Sister. The film flopped. Sadly, all of the films she made at Universal and the ones for which she was loaned to Columbia and Capital Films failed. After only about a year, Universal terminated Bette Davis's contract.
Fortunately for Davis, actor George Arliss was looking for an actress to play his love interest in the film The Man Who Played God, being shot at Warner Brothers. He chose Davis, whose performance was impressive enough that Warner signed her to a five year contract. It would be with the 1934 adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage that Davis would receive her first critical acclaim, even being nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Sadly, the nomination would not lead to great roles for Davis. While she was cast in The Petrified Forest opposite Humphrey Bogart, for the most part she was being cast in mediocre films that did poorly at the box office. As a result Bette Davis took off for England where she had been offered roles in two films, feeling that she was being misused by Warner. Unfortunately for Davis, Warner Brothers brought suit against her for violating her contract. Ultimately, Bette Davis lost her case against Warner Brothers.
It seems possible that the lawsuit may well have resulted in Davis being cast in better films. Her next film, Marked Woman, recieved good reviews. It was in 1938 that Davis would become a bona fide star. That year she appeared in the film Jezebel. A success at the box office, it earned her critical acclaim and the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role. In fact, from 1939 to 1943 Davis would be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role every single year, for Dark Victory (1939), The Letter (1940), The Little Foxes (1941), and Now, Voyager (1942). She was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Lead Actress for her role in Mr. Skeffington in 1945.
Here we should perhaps digress to discuss something other than movies which was pivotal to the legend of Bette Davis--her long standing feud with Joan Crawford. Supposedly it began in 1935 when Bette Davis fell in love with actor Franchot Tone. Sadly, for Davis, it seems that Tone was already taken by another actress, Joan Crawford, then a star at MGM. It would be in the mid-Forties that events would unfold to add fuel to the rivalry between the two actresses. Throughout the Thirties Joan Crawford had made a number of successful films at MGM. By the early Forties, however, her career had stalled. It was then in 1943 that Crawford jumped ship for Warner Brothers, the studio that was home to Bette Davis. Soon Crawford was taking parts that had been meant for Davis
Unfortunately, while Davis's career was still quite strong in the late Forties, it also was not what it had once been. Much of this may have been because of bad career choices on Davis's part. She turned down the parts in Mildred Pierce and was unable to appear in Possessed because she was pregnant at the time (Joan Crawford took Davis's parts in both films). Her film A Stolen Life was critically lambasted, while Deception became the first Bette Davis movie in literally years to bomb at the box office. She clashed with the studio during the making of Winter Meeting, clashed with Robert Montgomery during June Bride, and begged to be released from the film Beyond the Forest. Davis's instincts regarding Beyond the Forest appear to have been right. The film received universally bad reviews. Despite this it contains what may be Davis's most famous line: "What a dump!"
Davis was released from her contract at Warner Brothers following the release of Beyond the Forest in 1949. Many at the time thought that Davis's career was over. And in fact, Davis was not receiving many offers. It was then that Darryl F. Zanuck offered Davis the role of Margo Channing, the ageing theatre star, in All About Eve. The film did very well with critics. The Cannes Film Festival, the New York Film Critics Circle ,and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle all gave her their awards for Best Actress. Amazingly, although she was nominated for the Oscar for Best Leading Actress for All About Eve, she did not win (Judy Holliday did for Born Yesterday).
Despite her success in All About Eve, Davis's film career would not return to the heights it had once been. She still made movies. During the decade she appeared in The Virgin Queen and The Catered Affair. But she was not the movie star she had once been. Perhaps for this reason she returned to Broadway, playing in Two's Company in 1952, The World of Carl Sandburg, and The Night of the Iguana in 1960. She also appeared on television, guest starring on The Twentieth Century Fox Hour, Studio 57, General Electric Theatre, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and Wagon Train.
Fortunately for Bette Davis, she would make a comeback in the Sixties. Director Robert Aldrich cast her in the horror movie Whatever Happened to Baby Jane opposite her long time rival Joan Crawford. The movie centred on two ageing sisters, a former child star Jane (Bette Davis) and former movie star Blanche (Joan Crawford). Now paralysed from the waist down, Blanche is now at the mercy of her long envious sister. The hatred of the two actresses for each other was apparent during the making of the film--each would call Aldrich every night to snipe about the other. And that hatred fuelled the performances of both actresses. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane is one of the most intense movies of the era. As to Davis, she was nominated for another Oscar. Her rival, Crawford, wasn't.
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane was so successful that it was decided the thwo should be teamed for a similar film, Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte. Initially Davis baulked at the idea of performing with Crawford again, but later relented. Crawford simply insisted that her name appear first in the credits. As filming began, however, Joan Crawford fell ill and was admitted to hospital. Her part then had to be recast. It was offered to Katharine Hepburn, Loretta Young, and Vivien Leigh. Ultimately, it was Olivia de Havilland received the role.
In addition to Whatever Happened to Baby Jane and Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Davis made several notable films in the latter part of her career. She appeared in the crime drama Dead Ringer, the horror movie The Nanny, the Agatha Christie adaptation Death on the Nile, and The Whales of August. She also continued to appear on television. She guest starred on Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, and Laugh In. She also appeared in several telefilms, including Scream, Pretty Peggy, The Dark Secret of Harvest Home, Family Reunion, and A Piano for Mrs. Cimino.
Having had breast cancer in 1983, in 1989 it was discovered the cancer had returned. It was on October 6, 1989 that Bette Davis died.
Of the actresses of the Twentieth Century, Bette Davis is one of the most legendary. She was the first actress ever to receive ten nominations for Best Actress. She was one of the biggest box office draws of the Thirties and Forties. What is more, she still maintains a following to this day, among Gen Xers who first encountered her in the horror movies and TV movies she made in the Sixties and Seventies. This is all the more remarkable given that Bette Davis was not what one would call a beautiful woman. Davis herself said that she had made her career without the benefit of beauty. What is more, Bette Davis often took very unsympathetic roles, playing everything from murderers to schemers. If Bette Davis became a star, it was perhaps largely due to her talent.
Indeed, Bette Davis has permeated pop culture in a way that many of her contemporaries have not. Her rivalry with Joan Crawford is the stuff of legend, and has been referenced in everything from Laverne and Shirley to Iki-jigoku. She has been mentioned in at least two songs, "Vogue" by Madonna and "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes (not to be outdone, Joan Crawford is mentioned in song too--"Joan Crawford" by Blue Oyster Cult--personally, I think Joan got the better end of the deal when it came to songs...). Scenes from her movies, from the cigarette lighting scene in Now Voyager to the scene in which she serves a dead rat to Crawford in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? are still well known. One hundred years after her birth, Bette Davis is still a star. One has to wonder if the same will be said of many actresses today?
Ruth Elizabeth Davis was born to Harlow Morrell Davis, a patent attorney, and Ruth Augusta Davis. Sharing her mother's first name, the family simply called the child "Betty," short for her middle name "Elizabeth." Her parents separated when Betty was only seven years old. In 1921 her mother, Ruth, moved to New York to work as a portrait photographer. It was there that Betty discovered the movies. She decided to become an actress after seeing The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse starring Rudolph Valentino and Little Lord Fauntleroy starring Mary Pickford in 1921. She also changed the spelling of her name from "Betty" to "Bette" after encountering La Cousine Bette by Honoré de Balzac.
While Davis wanted to be an actress, the path to her chosen career would not be easy. After graduating from Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, she tried getting admitted to the Manhattan Civic Repertory, the repertory founded by actress and director Eva Le Gallienne. La Gallienne rejected Davis, telling her "I can see your attitude toward the theatre is not sincere..You are a frivolous little girl." Although dismissed by La Gallienne, she was accepted into the John Murray Anderson's acting school. There one of her classmates was none other than Lucille Ball. There Davis also studied dance under choreographer Martha Graham.
Despite studying at a prestigious acting school, Davis's path to acting would still not be easy. She left school and even gave up a scholarship to do so when offered a part in a play at the Provincetown Playhouse by director Unfortunately, production of the play was postponed several times, making Davis unable to return to school and very much in need of a job. With a letter of recommendation from director Frank Conroy, Davis met with director George Cukor, then casting for the play Broadway in Rochester, New York. Cukor was not particularly impressed with Davis, but cast her in the small part of a chorus girl as a favour to Conroy. Advised by her mother to study the whole play because the lead actress might have an accident, Bette Davis did just that. As it turned out, her mother was right. Only two days after Broadway opened the lead actress, Rose Lerner, twisted her ankle after a part of the play in which she was to fall down a staircase. Davis soon found herself cast in the lead role because she already knew the part. Davis would go onto play Hedwig in Wild Duck. She made her debut on Broadway in The Earth Between in 1929 and appeared in Broken Dishes on Broadway the same year.
It was on Broadway that Davis was noticed by a Universal talent scout. Following two screen tests, she was signed to a contract and went to Hollywood. Davis was not met by anyone from the studio at the train station. It was later revealed that the Universal employee sent to fetch her had not done so because he saw no passengers who looked like a movie actress. As it turned out, Universal may have been a very poor fit for Davis. Universal production chief Carl Laemmle Jr. considered terminating her contract and once said she had as much sex appeal as comedy actor Slim Summerville. She was saved only by legendary cinematographer Karl Freund, who thought she had beautiful eyes. It was because of Freund that she was cast in her debut film, The Bad Sister. The film flopped. Sadly, all of the films she made at Universal and the ones for which she was loaned to Columbia and Capital Films failed. After only about a year, Universal terminated Bette Davis's contract.
Fortunately for Davis, actor George Arliss was looking for an actress to play his love interest in the film The Man Who Played God, being shot at Warner Brothers. He chose Davis, whose performance was impressive enough that Warner signed her to a five year contract. It would be with the 1934 adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage that Davis would receive her first critical acclaim, even being nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Sadly, the nomination would not lead to great roles for Davis. While she was cast in The Petrified Forest opposite Humphrey Bogart, for the most part she was being cast in mediocre films that did poorly at the box office. As a result Bette Davis took off for England where she had been offered roles in two films, feeling that she was being misused by Warner. Unfortunately for Davis, Warner Brothers brought suit against her for violating her contract. Ultimately, Bette Davis lost her case against Warner Brothers.
It seems possible that the lawsuit may well have resulted in Davis being cast in better films. Her next film, Marked Woman, recieved good reviews. It was in 1938 that Davis would become a bona fide star. That year she appeared in the film Jezebel. A success at the box office, it earned her critical acclaim and the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role. In fact, from 1939 to 1943 Davis would be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role every single year, for Dark Victory (1939), The Letter (1940), The Little Foxes (1941), and Now, Voyager (1942). She was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Lead Actress for her role in Mr. Skeffington in 1945.
Here we should perhaps digress to discuss something other than movies which was pivotal to the legend of Bette Davis--her long standing feud with Joan Crawford. Supposedly it began in 1935 when Bette Davis fell in love with actor Franchot Tone. Sadly, for Davis, it seems that Tone was already taken by another actress, Joan Crawford, then a star at MGM. It would be in the mid-Forties that events would unfold to add fuel to the rivalry between the two actresses. Throughout the Thirties Joan Crawford had made a number of successful films at MGM. By the early Forties, however, her career had stalled. It was then in 1943 that Crawford jumped ship for Warner Brothers, the studio that was home to Bette Davis. Soon Crawford was taking parts that had been meant for Davis
Unfortunately, while Davis's career was still quite strong in the late Forties, it also was not what it had once been. Much of this may have been because of bad career choices on Davis's part. She turned down the parts in Mildred Pierce and was unable to appear in Possessed because she was pregnant at the time (Joan Crawford took Davis's parts in both films). Her film A Stolen Life was critically lambasted, while Deception became the first Bette Davis movie in literally years to bomb at the box office. She clashed with the studio during the making of Winter Meeting, clashed with Robert Montgomery during June Bride, and begged to be released from the film Beyond the Forest. Davis's instincts regarding Beyond the Forest appear to have been right. The film received universally bad reviews. Despite this it contains what may be Davis's most famous line: "What a dump!"
Davis was released from her contract at Warner Brothers following the release of Beyond the Forest in 1949. Many at the time thought that Davis's career was over. And in fact, Davis was not receiving many offers. It was then that Darryl F. Zanuck offered Davis the role of Margo Channing, the ageing theatre star, in All About Eve. The film did very well with critics. The Cannes Film Festival, the New York Film Critics Circle ,and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle all gave her their awards for Best Actress. Amazingly, although she was nominated for the Oscar for Best Leading Actress for All About Eve, she did not win (Judy Holliday did for Born Yesterday).
Despite her success in All About Eve, Davis's film career would not return to the heights it had once been. She still made movies. During the decade she appeared in The Virgin Queen and The Catered Affair. But she was not the movie star she had once been. Perhaps for this reason she returned to Broadway, playing in Two's Company in 1952, The World of Carl Sandburg, and The Night of the Iguana in 1960. She also appeared on television, guest starring on The Twentieth Century Fox Hour, Studio 57, General Electric Theatre, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and Wagon Train.
Fortunately for Bette Davis, she would make a comeback in the Sixties. Director Robert Aldrich cast her in the horror movie Whatever Happened to Baby Jane opposite her long time rival Joan Crawford. The movie centred on two ageing sisters, a former child star Jane (Bette Davis) and former movie star Blanche (Joan Crawford). Now paralysed from the waist down, Blanche is now at the mercy of her long envious sister. The hatred of the two actresses for each other was apparent during the making of the film--each would call Aldrich every night to snipe about the other. And that hatred fuelled the performances of both actresses. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane is one of the most intense movies of the era. As to Davis, she was nominated for another Oscar. Her rival, Crawford, wasn't.
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane was so successful that it was decided the thwo should be teamed for a similar film, Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte. Initially Davis baulked at the idea of performing with Crawford again, but later relented. Crawford simply insisted that her name appear first in the credits. As filming began, however, Joan Crawford fell ill and was admitted to hospital. Her part then had to be recast. It was offered to Katharine Hepburn, Loretta Young, and Vivien Leigh. Ultimately, it was Olivia de Havilland received the role.
In addition to Whatever Happened to Baby Jane and Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Davis made several notable films in the latter part of her career. She appeared in the crime drama Dead Ringer, the horror movie The Nanny, the Agatha Christie adaptation Death on the Nile, and The Whales of August. She also continued to appear on television. She guest starred on Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, and Laugh In. She also appeared in several telefilms, including Scream, Pretty Peggy, The Dark Secret of Harvest Home, Family Reunion, and A Piano for Mrs. Cimino.
Having had breast cancer in 1983, in 1989 it was discovered the cancer had returned. It was on October 6, 1989 that Bette Davis died.
Of the actresses of the Twentieth Century, Bette Davis is one of the most legendary. She was the first actress ever to receive ten nominations for Best Actress. She was one of the biggest box office draws of the Thirties and Forties. What is more, she still maintains a following to this day, among Gen Xers who first encountered her in the horror movies and TV movies she made in the Sixties and Seventies. This is all the more remarkable given that Bette Davis was not what one would call a beautiful woman. Davis herself said that she had made her career without the benefit of beauty. What is more, Bette Davis often took very unsympathetic roles, playing everything from murderers to schemers. If Bette Davis became a star, it was perhaps largely due to her talent.
Indeed, Bette Davis has permeated pop culture in a way that many of her contemporaries have not. Her rivalry with Joan Crawford is the stuff of legend, and has been referenced in everything from Laverne and Shirley to Iki-jigoku. She has been mentioned in at least two songs, "Vogue" by Madonna and "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes (not to be outdone, Joan Crawford is mentioned in song too--"Joan Crawford" by Blue Oyster Cult--personally, I think Joan got the better end of the deal when it came to songs...). Scenes from her movies, from the cigarette lighting scene in Now Voyager to the scene in which she serves a dead rat to Crawford in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? are still well known. One hundred years after her birth, Bette Davis is still a star. One has to wonder if the same will be said of many actresses today?
Friday, April 4, 2008
Soda-Pop Mail
Sadly, I can no longer check my email from my cell phone. For the past two years I have had an application on my phone called Soda-Pop Mail. Essentially, Soda-Pop Mail retrieves email from one's email provider. That provider can be a web based email service, such as Yahoo or Hotmail, or it can be the email account one has through one's provider. What makes Soda-Pop Mail even handier is that it leaves the email on the server, so that you can still download it to your computer.
Unfortunately, it was about two weeks ago that Soda-Pop Mail simply disappeared from my phone. I have checked the list of applications that U.S. Cellular provides and I don't see it on the list. I am thinking then that they may have dropped it. That is sad, as I think there is a greater need for Soda-Pop Mail than many of the applications they do still offer. I mean, what individual other than a teenage girl is going to use Chick Talk, an application for sharing advice on such things as dating, family, et. al. And I can't think of anyone but the truly desperate or truly hypersexual who would use something like Flirt Pix. It is essentially an application for single people to share their "hottest lifestyle pictures." It amazes me that these applications are still available, and yet Soda-Pop Mail is not.
Anyhow, I truly enjoyed Soda-Pop Mail while I had it. And if you are on a cellular phone company that offers it, I fully recommend that you subscribe to Soda-Pop Mail. It is a worthwhile application that comes in use when you are away from your computer.
Unfortunately, it was about two weeks ago that Soda-Pop Mail simply disappeared from my phone. I have checked the list of applications that U.S. Cellular provides and I don't see it on the list. I am thinking then that they may have dropped it. That is sad, as I think there is a greater need for Soda-Pop Mail than many of the applications they do still offer. I mean, what individual other than a teenage girl is going to use Chick Talk, an application for sharing advice on such things as dating, family, et. al. And I can't think of anyone but the truly desperate or truly hypersexual who would use something like Flirt Pix. It is essentially an application for single people to share their "hottest lifestyle pictures." It amazes me that these applications are still available, and yet Soda-Pop Mail is not.
Anyhow, I truly enjoyed Soda-Pop Mail while I had it. And if you are on a cellular phone company that offers it, I fully recommend that you subscribe to Soda-Pop Mail. It is a worthwhile application that comes in use when you are away from your computer.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
The Dark Side of the Office
On the surface, it would appear that working in an office would not be that bad of a job. After all, it would seem that there are much worse jobs to be had. Office work is not physically demanding in the way that construction work or farming are. Office work is not a dirty job, in the way that garbage collecting or sewer maintenance are. And office work surely is not as dehumanising as some factory work is, in which an individual may repeatedly perform the same simple task over and over and over again.
Despite this, it seems to me that in the latter of part of the Twentieth century, the United Kingdom and the United States has developed a bit of hatred towards working in offices. It would seem that in Anglophonic pop culture offices are at times portrayed as draconian bureaucracies where individualism is discouraged and conformity is often more important than productivity or as Kafkaesque workplaces where office politics often run counter to common sense. While office work may not be physically demanding or particularly dirty, it would seem to have its own dangers if many movies and TV shows are to believed.
In many respects this is nothing new. A law clerk and court stenographer at different times in his life, Charles Dickens often portrayed offices as less than desirable places to work. Perhaps the prime example of this is in A Christmas Carol, in which Scrooge ruthlessly overworks his clerk, Bob Cratchit. Of course, employers weren't the only villains in the office space of Dickens' world. In David Copperfield it is clerk Uriah Heap who ruthlessly blackmails his employer, Mr. Wickfield.
While Dickens and a few other earlier writers recognised offices as potential minefields, it seems to me that it wasn't really until the late Twentieth Century that portrayals of offices as less than pleasant places to work. If there was perhaps a pivotal moment in the Anglo-American portrayal of offices, it was perhaps the publication of the novel The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, later adapted to film with Gregory Peck in the lead role. The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit if the title is employed by a public relations at a television network. It is through this job that he faced with such decisions as to whether work is more important than family and whether integrity has any place in the work place. While it was considered rather stinging at the time, The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit would be tame compared to portraits of the office to come.
Indeed, the play (and later movie) Glengarry Glen Ross is positively dark compared to The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit. Both the play and the movie follow the lives of four real estate agents for two days. So intent are the agents to make sales that they are prepared to violate conventional ethics and even the law to do so. They have utterly no respect for their boss and are even willing to betray each other to get ahead in the business. The owners of the real estate agency, Mitch and Murray, are never seen, but clearly have little concern for their employees. They set up a sales contest in which the agents must make sales or face being fired.
The office as a place of interpersonal politics and cutthroat competition is also seen in the TV series Mad Men. Set in the early 1960's, Mad Men centres on the fictional Sterling Cooper advertising agency. The advertising men on Mad Men are largely amoral characters. They drink. They smoke. They womanise. And they are not below violating ethics and even the law to get ahead. At one point in the series a junior account manager tried to blackmail one of the firm's junior partners into giving him a promotion. The office manager at Sterling Cooper is not below using her feminine wiles to get her way with her male employees. What makes Mad Men. all the more depressing is that it is a largely accurate portrait of Madison Avenue in the early Sixties.
While many movies and TV shows attempt to somewhat realistically portray the dangers of office work, yet others take an absurdist view of the office. In fact, absurdism was at the core of the satirical book How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying by Shepherd Mead. Written as a "self help" of the sort popular in the early Fifties, the book recommends the most devious means to get ahead in business. The book was turned into the musical of the same name, debuting on Broadway in 1962. Although a musical comedy, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying takes a very cynical view of the business world. It centres on J. Pierrepont Finch, a window cleaner who uses the book How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying to rise to the top of the corporate world. And just as the book recommends, Finch uses the most villainous means to get ahead in the work place.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying was not alone in its Kafkaesque view of the office. It would soon be followed by two sitcoms which took similar views. While the primary focus of The Beverly Hillbillies was the Ozark family who moved to Californy, it showed enough of the Commerce Bank for one to get a feel of the place. Not only was banker Milburn Drysdale willing to do literally anything to keep his wealthy clients at the bank, but it was sometimes hinted that he was an absolute slave driver with regards to his employees (he certainly was when it came to his secretary, Jane Hathaway). Bewitched took an even more absurdist view of the office. As if Darren Stevens did not have enough problems being married to a witch, he was also employed at the advertising agency of McMann and Tate. Sadly, his boss, Larry Tate, was more obsessed with profits than anything else, willing to do literally anything to land or keep important clients. And more than once in the series (in fact, it seemed like almost every episode), Larry would "fire" Darren over some foolishness or another.
More recent sitcoms have continued this absurdist view of offices. The Drew Carey Show centred on Drew, who worked in the human resources department of the department store Winfred-Louder. Drew's bosses changed over the years, from the sexist and self centred Mr. Bell to Mr. Wick, who wasn't below violating conventional ethics to keep his job. Of course, as absurdist as offices portrayed in The Beverly Hillbillies, Bewitched, and The Drew Carey Show could be, none of them compare to either offices on the British or American versions of The Office. Both are centred at paper companies. In the British version, the regional manager David Brent is a shameless self promoter who wants to be loved so much by his employees that he has pretty well alienated him. His assistant, Gareth Keenan, is self important and a stringent enforcer of rules. In the American version the regional manager Michael Scott is socially awkward and, like his British counterpart, so desperate to be liked that he drives people away. His assistant, Dwight Schrute, is downright psychotic, eager to believe in any conspiracy theory and overly interested in survivalism of any sort.
Of course, in recent years sitcoms aren't the only things to take an absurdist view of offices. Nine to Five revolved around three women who take revenge on their egomaniacal, hypocritical, sexist, and racist boss. Mike Judge's cult film Office Space would go even farther in portraying the office as a place where ridiculousness sometime rules. It portrayed the plight of average IT workers. They must put up with consultants sent to help their company cut costs. They must also put up with a boss who insists on micromanaging everything, obsessed entirely with making sure every bit of paperwork that passes through the office is absolutely correct. It is a world where a red Swingline stapler is often an office workers' most valuable possession.
While some TV shows and movies portray the office in humorously absurdist terms, yet others take an even darker view of the office. In effect, they use the office workplace as a metaphor for the dehumisation of modern man. The movie Brazil presents a futuristic world in which bureaucracy has run amok. It is perhaps for this reason that screenwriters Terry Gilliam, Tom Stoppard, and Charles McKeown made their lead character, Sam Lowry a low level government employee. His job is dull, boring, and virtually mind numbing. Indeed, in some respects Brazil could be seen as an office on a massive scale, where filling out the wrong form can be a crime.
Office work is also at the centre of both the novel and the film Fight Club. The nameless narrator works for a car company in a division which appraises the cost of automotive recalls. In both the book and the novel the narrator's job would seem representative of his own dissatisfaction with his life and emblematic of the sad state of masculinity in the modern world. Quite simply, the narrator's job at the car company is as dehumanising as Fight Club is liberating.
In Brazil and Fight Club, the office lies at the periphery of greater plots. This is not the case of In the Company of Men, Neil LaBute's dark take on corporate culture. The movie centres upon two junior executives who ruthlessly toy with a secretary at another office in their company. And that is not the end of it--In the Company of Men presents the office as a place of vicious oneupmanship.
Perhaps the darkest view of office work, however, is not to be found in a book or a movie, but in a short lived TV series. Profit centred on Jim Profit, Vice President of Acquisitions at Gracen and Gracen, a large multinational corporation. Profit would literally do anything to get ahead in business. Among other things, he framed the former Vice President of Acquisitions at Gracen and Gracen so he could have the position, blackmailed his archnemesis's psychiatrist, and even murdered his own father. And that is only the start of a very long list of Jim Profit's crimes. Had the show lasted longer (only four of its seven episodes were originally ran), who knows what else he might have done? Profit was the corporate world as the epicentre of evil.
In many respects it is difficult to say why Anglophonic pop culture often takes a dark or absurdist view of office work. I suspect part of it may simply be an outgrowth of the post-World War II United Kingdom and United States. Following World War II, more individuals entered white collar jobs than ever before. With more people working in offices, more people were bound to write about their experiences in offices. And not all of these experiences would be pleasant. The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit was based upon Sloan Wilson's experiences as sistant director of the US national citizen commission for public schools. David Mamet drew upon his own experience as working in a real estate office.
At the same time, however, I suspect that negative portrayals of offices have also developed from a distrust of the corporate world that has grown since the Fifties. After corporate scandals ranging from Kaiser-Frazer Corporation and stock floating to Enron and its myriad crimes, it should be no surprise that many would be suspicious of corporations. And that suspicion might lead many to believe that corporate employees are as cutthroat with each other as they are other corporations. It should be little surprise that it was following the many business scandals of the Eighties that we see works such as In the Company of Men, Glengarry Glen Ross, and Profit.
Of course, another reason for pop culture's concentration on the dark side of office work could be that the office is often being used as a microcosm for society at large. Quite simply, authors, screenwriters, and television writers are using the office in the same way that Shakespeare might use the court of King Claudius or the streets of Verona--as a means to comment on society in general and humanity at large. If much of the material tends to be of a rather dark nature, it could be because that is sometimes more interesting than lighter fare.
Surely not every office is dehumanising, cutthroat, or Kafkaesque (I would like to think mine isn't). And surely not every office worker feels hopelessly oppressed by his job. But I rather suspect that in the future we will see more books, movies, plays, and TV shows in which the office is a metaphorical minefield.
Despite this, it seems to me that in the latter of part of the Twentieth century, the United Kingdom and the United States has developed a bit of hatred towards working in offices. It would seem that in Anglophonic pop culture offices are at times portrayed as draconian bureaucracies where individualism is discouraged and conformity is often more important than productivity or as Kafkaesque workplaces where office politics often run counter to common sense. While office work may not be physically demanding or particularly dirty, it would seem to have its own dangers if many movies and TV shows are to believed.
In many respects this is nothing new. A law clerk and court stenographer at different times in his life, Charles Dickens often portrayed offices as less than desirable places to work. Perhaps the prime example of this is in A Christmas Carol, in which Scrooge ruthlessly overworks his clerk, Bob Cratchit. Of course, employers weren't the only villains in the office space of Dickens' world. In David Copperfield it is clerk Uriah Heap who ruthlessly blackmails his employer, Mr. Wickfield.
While Dickens and a few other earlier writers recognised offices as potential minefields, it seems to me that it wasn't really until the late Twentieth Century that portrayals of offices as less than pleasant places to work. If there was perhaps a pivotal moment in the Anglo-American portrayal of offices, it was perhaps the publication of the novel The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, later adapted to film with Gregory Peck in the lead role. The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit if the title is employed by a public relations at a television network. It is through this job that he faced with such decisions as to whether work is more important than family and whether integrity has any place in the work place. While it was considered rather stinging at the time, The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit would be tame compared to portraits of the office to come.
Indeed, the play (and later movie) Glengarry Glen Ross is positively dark compared to The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit. Both the play and the movie follow the lives of four real estate agents for two days. So intent are the agents to make sales that they are prepared to violate conventional ethics and even the law to do so. They have utterly no respect for their boss and are even willing to betray each other to get ahead in the business. The owners of the real estate agency, Mitch and Murray, are never seen, but clearly have little concern for their employees. They set up a sales contest in which the agents must make sales or face being fired.
The office as a place of interpersonal politics and cutthroat competition is also seen in the TV series Mad Men. Set in the early 1960's, Mad Men centres on the fictional Sterling Cooper advertising agency. The advertising men on Mad Men are largely amoral characters. They drink. They smoke. They womanise. And they are not below violating ethics and even the law to get ahead. At one point in the series a junior account manager tried to blackmail one of the firm's junior partners into giving him a promotion. The office manager at Sterling Cooper is not below using her feminine wiles to get her way with her male employees. What makes Mad Men. all the more depressing is that it is a largely accurate portrait of Madison Avenue in the early Sixties.
While many movies and TV shows attempt to somewhat realistically portray the dangers of office work, yet others take an absurdist view of the office. In fact, absurdism was at the core of the satirical book How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying by Shepherd Mead. Written as a "self help" of the sort popular in the early Fifties, the book recommends the most devious means to get ahead in business. The book was turned into the musical of the same name, debuting on Broadway in 1962. Although a musical comedy, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying takes a very cynical view of the business world. It centres on J. Pierrepont Finch, a window cleaner who uses the book How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying to rise to the top of the corporate world. And just as the book recommends, Finch uses the most villainous means to get ahead in the work place.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying was not alone in its Kafkaesque view of the office. It would soon be followed by two sitcoms which took similar views. While the primary focus of The Beverly Hillbillies was the Ozark family who moved to Californy, it showed enough of the Commerce Bank for one to get a feel of the place. Not only was banker Milburn Drysdale willing to do literally anything to keep his wealthy clients at the bank, but it was sometimes hinted that he was an absolute slave driver with regards to his employees (he certainly was when it came to his secretary, Jane Hathaway). Bewitched took an even more absurdist view of the office. As if Darren Stevens did not have enough problems being married to a witch, he was also employed at the advertising agency of McMann and Tate. Sadly, his boss, Larry Tate, was more obsessed with profits than anything else, willing to do literally anything to land or keep important clients. And more than once in the series (in fact, it seemed like almost every episode), Larry would "fire" Darren over some foolishness or another.
More recent sitcoms have continued this absurdist view of offices. The Drew Carey Show centred on Drew, who worked in the human resources department of the department store Winfred-Louder. Drew's bosses changed over the years, from the sexist and self centred Mr. Bell to Mr. Wick, who wasn't below violating conventional ethics to keep his job. Of course, as absurdist as offices portrayed in The Beverly Hillbillies, Bewitched, and The Drew Carey Show could be, none of them compare to either offices on the British or American versions of The Office. Both are centred at paper companies. In the British version, the regional manager David Brent is a shameless self promoter who wants to be loved so much by his employees that he has pretty well alienated him. His assistant, Gareth Keenan, is self important and a stringent enforcer of rules. In the American version the regional manager Michael Scott is socially awkward and, like his British counterpart, so desperate to be liked that he drives people away. His assistant, Dwight Schrute, is downright psychotic, eager to believe in any conspiracy theory and overly interested in survivalism of any sort.
Of course, in recent years sitcoms aren't the only things to take an absurdist view of offices. Nine to Five revolved around three women who take revenge on their egomaniacal, hypocritical, sexist, and racist boss. Mike Judge's cult film Office Space would go even farther in portraying the office as a place where ridiculousness sometime rules. It portrayed the plight of average IT workers. They must put up with consultants sent to help their company cut costs. They must also put up with a boss who insists on micromanaging everything, obsessed entirely with making sure every bit of paperwork that passes through the office is absolutely correct. It is a world where a red Swingline stapler is often an office workers' most valuable possession.
While some TV shows and movies portray the office in humorously absurdist terms, yet others take an even darker view of the office. In effect, they use the office workplace as a metaphor for the dehumisation of modern man. The movie Brazil presents a futuristic world in which bureaucracy has run amok. It is perhaps for this reason that screenwriters Terry Gilliam, Tom Stoppard, and Charles McKeown made their lead character, Sam Lowry a low level government employee. His job is dull, boring, and virtually mind numbing. Indeed, in some respects Brazil could be seen as an office on a massive scale, where filling out the wrong form can be a crime.
Office work is also at the centre of both the novel and the film Fight Club. The nameless narrator works for a car company in a division which appraises the cost of automotive recalls. In both the book and the novel the narrator's job would seem representative of his own dissatisfaction with his life and emblematic of the sad state of masculinity in the modern world. Quite simply, the narrator's job at the car company is as dehumanising as Fight Club is liberating.
In Brazil and Fight Club, the office lies at the periphery of greater plots. This is not the case of In the Company of Men, Neil LaBute's dark take on corporate culture. The movie centres upon two junior executives who ruthlessly toy with a secretary at another office in their company. And that is not the end of it--In the Company of Men presents the office as a place of vicious oneupmanship.
Perhaps the darkest view of office work, however, is not to be found in a book or a movie, but in a short lived TV series. Profit centred on Jim Profit, Vice President of Acquisitions at Gracen and Gracen, a large multinational corporation. Profit would literally do anything to get ahead in business. Among other things, he framed the former Vice President of Acquisitions at Gracen and Gracen so he could have the position, blackmailed his archnemesis's psychiatrist, and even murdered his own father. And that is only the start of a very long list of Jim Profit's crimes. Had the show lasted longer (only four of its seven episodes were originally ran), who knows what else he might have done? Profit was the corporate world as the epicentre of evil.
In many respects it is difficult to say why Anglophonic pop culture often takes a dark or absurdist view of office work. I suspect part of it may simply be an outgrowth of the post-World War II United Kingdom and United States. Following World War II, more individuals entered white collar jobs than ever before. With more people working in offices, more people were bound to write about their experiences in offices. And not all of these experiences would be pleasant. The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit was based upon Sloan Wilson's experiences as sistant director of the US national citizen commission for public schools. David Mamet drew upon his own experience as working in a real estate office.
At the same time, however, I suspect that negative portrayals of offices have also developed from a distrust of the corporate world that has grown since the Fifties. After corporate scandals ranging from Kaiser-Frazer Corporation and stock floating to Enron and its myriad crimes, it should be no surprise that many would be suspicious of corporations. And that suspicion might lead many to believe that corporate employees are as cutthroat with each other as they are other corporations. It should be little surprise that it was following the many business scandals of the Eighties that we see works such as In the Company of Men, Glengarry Glen Ross, and Profit.
Of course, another reason for pop culture's concentration on the dark side of office work could be that the office is often being used as a microcosm for society at large. Quite simply, authors, screenwriters, and television writers are using the office in the same way that Shakespeare might use the court of King Claudius or the streets of Verona--as a means to comment on society in general and humanity at large. If much of the material tends to be of a rather dark nature, it could be because that is sometimes more interesting than lighter fare.
Surely not every office is dehumanising, cutthroat, or Kafkaesque (I would like to think mine isn't). And surely not every office worker feels hopelessly oppressed by his job. But I rather suspect that in the future we will see more books, movies, plays, and TV shows in which the office is a metaphorical minefield.
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