The Late Great Lou Reed

Lou Reed, pioneering rock performer and leader of The Velvet Underground, died today the age of 71. The cause was liver disease.

Lou Reed was born on 2 March 1942 in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in the village of Freeport, New York on Long Island. He discovered rock 'n' roll and rhythm and blues while he was very young, learning to play guitar. He played rhythm guitar with various bands in high school, including The Eldorados, Pasha and the Prophets, and a doo-wop band initially called The Shades, but later renamed The Jades. It was with The Jades in 1957 that Mr. Reed recording his first song, "So Blue". He attended Syracuse University, where he studied English and Modern Philosophy. He was also the host of a jazz programme on the university radio station. While at Syracuse he befriended critic and poet Delmore Schwartz, who would prove a lasting influence on him.

After graduating from Syracuse in 1964 Mr. Reed took a job as a songwriter with Pickwick Records. The small, Long Island record label had designs of being a hit factory, and followed whatever trends were in the music industry at the moment. While at Pickwick Records, Lou Reed wrote or co-wrote such varied songs as the Chuck Berry inspired "Cycle Annie", a dance song parody entitled "The Ostrich", and the surf music influenced "I've Got A Tiger In My Tank". While Mr. Reed worked only briefly for Pickwick Records, it was there that he got his first experience in a recording studio. It was also at Pickwick Records that he wrote his first songs with future Velvet Underground song writing partner John Cale. It was also while they were at Pickwick Records that Messrs. Reed and Cale founded their first band together, The Primitives.

It was in 1964 that Lou Reed and John Cale formed a new band that included guitarist and bassist Sterling Morrison and percussionist Angus MacLise. Initially called The Warlocks and later The Falling Sparks, the band received the name by which it would be forever known in November 1965. It was John Cale's friend filmmaker Tony Conrad who introduced the band to a paperback book on paraphilia, The Velvet Underground by Michael Leigh. It was Angus MacLise who suggested they adopt they renamed the band after the book's title and as a result they became The Velvet Underground.

The Velvet Underground would see a few changes before they received a recording contract. Angus MacLise did not remain with The Velvet Underground for long, and was replaced by  Maureen Tucker. It was in 1966 that artist Andy Warhol saw them performing at the Café Bizarre in Greenwich Village, and made them part of his  multimedia show The Exploding Plastic Inevitable. It was largely due to Mr. Warhol's influence that The Velvet Underground received a recording contract with MGM/Verve in 1966. It was also at Mr. Warhol's insistence that Nico sang some of the songs on their first album, The Velvet Underground and Nico. Released in March 1967, The Velvet Underground and Nico featured subject matter that was shocking at the time, including carnal lust, drug addiction, and sado-masochism. The album featured a wide array of styles, from pop rock ("Sunday Morning") to ballads ("I'll Be Your Mirror") to garage rock ("Waiting for the Man").  The Velvet Underground and Nico performed somewhat respectfully well for a debut album, reaching #171 on the Billboard albums chart.

It was after the release of The Velvet Underground and Nico that the band broke with Andy Warhol. They recorded their second album, White Light/White Heat, in two days in January 1968. Like the first album it dealt with subject matter that had previously been forbidden in pop music (everything from drug abuse to transsexualism), although it was musically far more experimental. By the time of their self titled third album The Velvet Underground had moved from MGM's subsidiary Verve to MGM Records. The album was also a dramatic departure from the band's first two records. The songs were gentler and more melodic. The subject matter of The Velvet Underground would also be less controversial than the band's first two albums, with songs that tended to be more reflective. Indeed, the album even included a few love songs. Unfortunately, The Velvet Underground sold poorly, not even hitting the Billboard Top 200 albums chart.

In 1969 The Velvet Underground would find themselves dropped by MGM, along with  Eric Burdon and the Animals and Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. The band was then signed by Atlantic Records. It would be that label that would release the last studio album Lou Reed recorded with The Velvet Underground. Loaded was released on the Atlantic subsidiary Coalition in November 1970. Loaded was a much more traditional rock record for The Velvet Underground and produced two of their most popular songs, "Sweet Jane" and "Rock & Roll". Unfortunately, Loaded was also re-edited and resequenced without Lou Reed's permission, and its compositions were credited to The Velvet Underground rather than Lou Reed himself. John Cale having left the band in 1968, Lou Reed would leave The Velvet Underground in 1970. The Velvet Underground would continue to exist until 1973 with Doug Yule as lead vocalist, but its glory years were over.

Lou Reed spent the next two years as a typist in his father's office. It was in 1971 that he signed a contract with RCA Records. His first solo album, Lou Reed, was released in June 1972. His second solo album, Transformer, was released in November of that year, and proved to be his first hit. Produced by David Bowie and Mark Ronson, it went to #29 on the Billboard albums chart and produced the hit single "Walk on the Wild Side". Lou Reed's next album, Berlin would only reach #98 on the Billboard albums chart, but his fourth solo album would prove to be his biggest hit to date. Sally Can't Dance went to #10 on the Billboard albums chart. His following album, Metal Machine Music, was entirely guitar feedback played at differing speeds. It did not perform well. It was followed by Coney Island Baby in 1975, which went to #41 on the Billboard albums chart.

Lou Reed moved from RCA Records to Arista, his first album on the label being 1976's Rock 'n' Roll Heart. His following album, Street Hassle, was the first to use binaural recording technology. He recorded two more albums while with Arista, The Bells and Growing Up Public. With 1982's The Blue Mask Mr. Reed returned to RCA. With RCA he recorded in the Eighties he recorded the albums Legendary Hearts, New Sensations, and Mistrial. Lou Reed contributed songs to the animated feature Rock & Rule, released in 1983.

Lou Reed then moved to Sire Records. His first album on Sire, New York, produced a hit single in the form of "Dirty Blvd." His next album, Songs for Drella, saw Mr. Reed exploring his past. He reunited with John Cale on the album, and the album itself was a concept album centred around Andy Warhol ("Drella" was a nickname given to Mr. Warhol by actor Ondine). His next album would also deal with his past. Magic and Loss (released in 1992) was inspired by the illness and death of Mr. Reed's friend (and legendary songwriter) Doc Pomus, and a woman only called Rita (sometimes assumed to be Rotten Rita of Andy Warhol's Factory),

Following Magic and Loss Lou Reed's output slowed considerably. He released only two more albums in the Nineties:  Set the Twilight Reeling in 1996 and Ecstasy in 2000. From the Naughts to the Teens he released three more albums: The Raven from 2003 (a concept album inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe); Hudson River Wind Meditations from 2007 (it was a collection of meditational music), and Lulu (a collaboration with Metallica).

It is quite possible that Lou Reed was one of the most influential rock musicians and songwriters of all time. He was certainly a pioneer. In an era when The Rolling Stones' "Let's Spend the Night Together" and The Standells' "Try It" were considered controversial, Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground were recording songs with much more controversial subject matter than mere sexual desire. Lou Reed pushed the envelope on what was considered acceptable in rock music, writing songs that dealt with such forbidden subjects at the time as drug abuse, prostitution, homosexuality  transexualism, and sado-masochism. During his solo career Lou Reed continued to address subjects not generally addressed by pop music at the time, everything from domestic abuse to psychiatric hospitals. That having been said, it would be a mistake to think that Lou Reed did not write gentler material. He could write love songs, as demonstrated by "Coney Island Baby". And he did have a sense of humour, taking the mickey out of his imitators with "NY Stars".

It is probably impossible to measure the entirety of Lou Red's influence on rock music. While he is often cited as having a major impact on the development of punk, it would be hard to find a subgenre of rock in which Mr. Reed did not have an impact. He was very important to glam rock, influencing such artists as David Bowie and T. Rex. He was also pivotal in the development of New Wave, having an impact on artists (most notably The Talking Heads). Lou Reed would even prove to be an influence on power pop, providing inspiration for artists from Big Star to Matthew Sweet. Artists as diverse as Iggy Pop and The Stooges, MC5, Roxy Music, The New York Dolls, The Sex Pistols, R.E.M., and Sonic Youth took inspiration from Mr. Reed. Only a very few artists could boast having had the impact on rock music the way that Lou Reed did. Rock musicians are often called pioneers and legends. In Lou Reed's case, both were true.

"Monster Mash" by The Misfits

I didn't have time to write an entire post tonight, so I will leave you with The Misfits' cover of Bobby "Boris" Pickett and The Crypt Kickers' "Monster Mash". The Misfits recorded their version of the song in 1997 to help promote planned release of the classic Rankin/Bass stop action animation film Mad Monster Party on DVD in 1997. It is for that reason the video is composed of clips from the film!  Not only did The Misfits record a cover of "Monster Mash" for a the planned DVD release of Mad Monster Party, but they also played hosts for a special showing of the movie held at Anthology Film Archives in New York City. Unfortunately, disagreements over distribution rights would develop and Mad Monster Party would not be released on DVD until 2006. The Misfits would record a new cover of "Monster Mash" for their album Project 1950, on which they covered several other classic songs as well. Without further ado, here is "Monster Mash" by The Misfits.

Twenty Years Ago Today Vincent Price Died

It was 20 years ago today, on 25 October 1993, that the great Vincent Price died. He has always been my one of my favourite actors, and one whose impact on me was more immediate than many. Although he would travel far and wide in his career, he never forgot his home state of Missouri. He made annual, personal appearances at  Northeast Missouri State University in Kirksville for over thirty years. He also taught workshops on both acting and art history there. In 1984 Mr. Price founded the Vincent Price Theatrical Performance scholarship at the university, awarded to those who have demonstrated talent in acting. I have known more than one person who had the honour to meet Vincent Price in person. What is more is all of them have the same thing to say about him. Quite simply, he was the consummate gentleman.

Of course, even if Vincent Price and I did not share the same state and even if he had not done so much for the state of Missouri, he would still be one of my favourite actors. Vincent Price is one of those actors whose name everyone recognises. He numbers among such legendary horror actors as Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Peter Cushing, and Sir Christopher Lee. Beyond being the only American among those celebrated actors, Vincent Price would be unique among them in other ways. Although each of them had careers before they entered the horror genre. Messrs. Karloff, Lugosi, Cushing, and Lee would not become truly famous until they began acting in the genre. This was not the case with Vincent Price.

Prior to his career changing role in House of Wax (1953) he may have been best known for dramas and period pieces. He appeared in such films as  The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1938), Hudson's Bay (1941), Dragonwyck (1944), The Three Musketeers (1948), Otto Preminger's classic Laura (1944), and Leave Her to Heaven (1945). While Vincent Price did make horror films before House of Wax, including Tower of London (1939), The Invisible Man Returns (1940), The House of the Seven Gables (1940), and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), he was not particularly identified with the genre. And well before House of Wax Vincent Price was a recognisable name among cinema goers, if only as a character actor in period pieces and dramas.

Of course, following House of Wax Mr. Price would become best known for his work in the horror genre. Even then the work Mr. Price did in horror films would set him apart from Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and Sir Christopher Lee. Indeed, in some respects he could be considered the American equivalent of Peter Cushing. Vincent Price did not play monsters. Instead his role generally fell into two categories. He was either the sometimes flawed protagonist who battles monsters (The Tingler, Last Man on Earth, The Oblong Box). Unlike Peter Cushing's Van Helsing, however, Vincent Price's characters were not professional monster hunters, but men who through circumstances beyond their control were forced to confront terrors:  Dr. Warren Chapin in The Tingler coming face to face with the title creature, Dr. Robert Morgan fighting humans transformed into vampiric creatures by a plague (it was the first adaptation of Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend), and so on.

The second type of character Vincent Price often played during his career as a horror actor (and perhaps the sort of characters for which he was most famous) were individuals who, through circumstances or even the ill intent of others found themselves driven to the brink of sanity (and often beyond it). It was a pattern set by House of Wax, the film that established Vincent Price as a horror star after fifteen years in the film business. In the film he played wax figure sculptor Prof. Henry Jarrod, who seeks revenge after his business partner Matthew Burke (Roy Roberts) burns their wax museum to collect the insurance money, seriously disfiguring Prof. Jarrod in the process. It was the sort of role that Vincent Price would play several times in his career. In The Mad Magician he played the Gallico, who finds both his greatest trick and the woman he loves stolen by his greatest rival (the Great Rinaldi, played by John Emery). In The Abominable Dr. Phibes he played the title role, who seeks revenge on the physicians he holds responsible for the death of his wife on the operating table. In Theatre of Blood he plays Edward Kendall Sheridan Lionheart, a Shakespearean actor who seeks vengeance on the critics he believes had ruined his career.

Although Vincent Price's roles as heroes trapped in circumstances beyond their control in some ways seem very different from his roles as madmen bent on revenge, they have on thing in common: they were generally complicated characters whose lives had been touched by tragedy. In most cases they were men who had suffered severe losses or experienced an extreme miscarriage of justice. Even when he was playing madmen bent on revenge, Vincent Price's characters were never purely good nor evil. Instead they were men who had seen their lives destroyed and came through the experience changed, sometimes for the better and often for worse. This made Vincent Price's characters more human and, even when he was playing madmen, more sympathetic than those often played by the other great horror actors. While we may not condone the actions of Prof. Jarrod or Dr. Phibes, we can at least understand them to a degree. After all, we have all suffered losses in our lives or many of us have felt we have been treated unjustly at some time or another. Even when do not approve of the actions of Vincent Price's actions, we can at least feel sympathy for the tragedies they have endured.

While Vincent Price had a career extending well beyond the horror genre, appearing in films from A Royal Scandal (1945) to The Ten Commandments (1956), it the characters in his horror films for which he remains best remembered. Whether playing unwilling heroes or revenge crazed madmen, Vincent Price's characters were often more human and often more complicated than those seen in other horror films. It is perhaps because of this that Vincent Price is still counted among the greatest horror actors of all time.

The Late, Great Hammer Films Producer Anthony Hinds

Anthony Hinds, who turned the modest Hammer Films into the best known maker of horror films besides Universal, died 30 September 2013 at the age of 91.

Anthony Hinds was born on 19 September 1922 in  Uxbridge, Buckinghamshire. He was the son of William Hinds, who performed in theatres and music hall under the name Will Hammer. Anthony Hinds attended St. Paul's School in London. It was in November 1934 that his father founded  Hammer Productions Ltd. It was in 1935 that William Hinds met former cinema owner Enrique Carreras and together the two founded the film distributor Exclusive Films. Anthony Hinds and  Enrique Carreras' son James Carreras joined Exclusive Films in 1938. Both Hammer Film Productions and Exclusive Films suspended operations during World War II, during which time Anthony Hinds served as a pilot in the Royal Air Force.

Following World War II Anthony Hinds returned to Exclusive Films and with James Carreras took charge of the company. James Carreras reformed Hammer in 1947 as a subsidiary of Exclusive Films Ltd. It was in 1948 that Anthony Hinds produced his first film, the 48 minute short Who Killed Van Loon?. The first feature Mr. Hinds produced was Man in Black in 1949. It was Anthony Hinds who came up with the money saving idea of shooting in private houses rather than in studios. It was primarily for this reason that Hammer Films bought Down Place in 1951. A large house in Bray, Berkshire, it was later renamed Bray Studios.

In the late Forties and early Fifties Hammer produced a good number of crime thrillers, as well as films based on BBC radio shows (such as Dick Barton - Special Agent and The Adventures of P.C. 49). Early in his career, then, Anthony Hinds produced such varied films as Dick Barton Strikes Back (1949), The Adventures of P.C. 49: Investigating the Case of the Guardian Angel (1949), The Black Widow (1951), and Death of an Angel (1952). in 1953 Hammer Films made their first venture into science fiction with Spaceways. Although Spaceways was produced by James Carreras' son Michael Carreras, it would be Anthony Hinds who would be responsible for Hammer's next science fiction film, a film that would signalled a major change in direction for the studio.

In 1953 the BBC aired the television serial The Quatermass Experiment, which proved enormously successful. Anthony Hinds was very impressed with the serial and as a result Hammer Films entered into negotiations with the BBC to buy the film rights to The Quatermass Experiment only two days after the last episode had aired. While the BBC worried that any film based on the serial would inevitably receive an "X" certificate (the British Board of Film Censors rating that restricted audiences only to anyone over the age of 16), Hammer Films had no such concerns. Indeed, having noticed the success of the French film Les Diaboliques (1954), Hammer decided to take advantage of the situation for publicity purposes when the BBFC awarded it with an "X" certificate, even titling their film  The Quatermass Xperiment. Released in 1955, The Quatermass Xperiment proved to be a huge hit, so much so that it was Hammer's most successful film up to that time.

If The Quatermass Xperiment signalled a change in direction for Hammer Films, a film released by the studio in 1957 would make that change in direction a fact. Produced by Anthony Hinds, The Curse of Frankenstein  was the first of Hammer Films' colour horror films. Colour was not the only thing revolutionary about The Curse of Frankenstein, however, as it was further set apart from the Universal Gothic horrors of the Thirties and Forties by blood (in Eastmancolor red), violence, and a rather strong hint of sex. The Curse of Frankenstein proved incredibly successful not just in the United Kingdom, but in the United States and elsewhere as well. In 1958 Hammer Films followed The Curse of Frankenstein with their own adaptation of the Bram Stoker novel Dracula. Also produced by Anthony Hinds, Dracula (known as Horror of Dracula in the United States), proved even more successful than The Curse of Frankenstein and would set the pace for all Hammer Horrors to come.

Throughout the Sixties, Anthony Hinds produced many of Hammer's most notable films, including The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), The Brides of Dracula (1960), The Phantom of the Opera (1962), The Kiss of the Vampire (1963), The Evil of Frankenstein (1964), and Fanatic (1965). He also produced Hammer Films' television show Journey into the Unknown. Anthony Hinds was not only a producer, but also wrote screenplays under the pen name John Elder. He did uncredited work on The Brides of Dracula, before going onto do credited work on such Hammer films as Captain Clegg (1962), The Phantom of the Opera, The Kiss of the Vampire, and Rasputin: The Mad Monk, among others.

It was in 1970 that Anthony Hinds left Hammer Films. He continued to write screenplays, including such films as The Ghoul (1975) and Legend of the Werewolf (1975). He wrote an episode of the TV programme Hammer House of Horror, as well as the television film Sherlock Holmes and the Masks of Death.

While Anthony Hinds revolutionised Gothic horror with hints of sex and violence, he was not particularly pleased with the more explicit horror films that Hammer Films made after he had left. When James Carreras told him that now they could do anything, Mr. Hinds thought, "'Well, I’m not sure that doing everything is what it’s all about."

There can be no doubt that Anthony Hinds was largely responsible for turning Hammer Films into the foremost producer of horror films in the Sixties and, along with Universal Pictures, the studio most associated with the genre. It was not simply that he took Gothic horror, a genre generally filmed in monochrome, and gave it colour, but that he also pushed the boundaries of Gothic horror in terms of violence and sex. In doing so he not only ushered in a new era of slightly more explicit horror films in terms of gore and sex, but also a new cycle towards Gothic horror that persisted into the Sixties. With Hammer's success, American International Pictures, Tigon British Film Productions, Amicus, and other studios would produce their own colour, Gothic horror films.

Of course, Anthony Hinds was not only a producer, but he was also a screenwriter. He co-wrote or wrote some of Hammer's better films, including The Kiss of the Vampire, Captain Clegg, and Dracula Has Risen from the Grave. Even when the films he wrote did not have the quality that The Kiss of the Vampire (one of Hammer's very best) did, the films written by Mr. Hinds were generally enjoyable and a lot of fun. A ground breaking producer who built Hammer into the horror studio of the Sixties and revolutionised the genre of Gothic horror, as well as a screenwriter, Anthony Hinds will long be remembered.

A Review of The Mitford Girls' Guide to Life by Lyndsy Spence

There were perhaps no more notorious sisters of the 20th Century than the Mitford sisters. The oldest of them mingled with the Bright Young Things of 1920's London. The youngest of them came of age in Britain during the later interwar years. Some of the Mitfords would go onto considerable acclaim for their various works, while others would find themselves condemned for political beliefs many found abhorrent. The children of David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale and Sydney Bowles, the Mitford girls were beautiful, intelligent, eccentric, and often controversial. They could never be accused of being boring.

The Mitford sisters' fame and notoriety would lead to what to what around 1979 the London Evening Standard termed "the Mitford Industry". If anything, since 1979 the Mitford Industry has only grown, with literally hundreds of books and documentaries about the sisters, and even a musical (The Mitford Girls by Caryl Brahms and Ned Sherri). This year has seen a new addition to the many books published as part of the Mitford Industry, The Mitford Girls' Guide to Life by Lyndsy Spence.

The Mitford Girls' Guide to Life is an original, unique, and whimsical take on the Mitford sisters. It is written in the form of a self help book, showing how the life experiences of the Mitfords may be applied to our own lives. There are such sections as Nancy's Guide to Fashion, The Mitfords' Guide to Funerals, and Pamela's Household Hints and Tips. The Mitford Girls' Guide to Life tells how one can throw a jubilee party, take a holiday in winter, conduct oneself at a shooting party, and even speak like a Mitford. Miss Spence delivers these bits of advice on how to behave as a Mitford with a good deal of wit and humour, making the book both amusing and very readable.

While humour is at the forefront in The Mitford Girls' Guide to Life, that does not mean it is a book that lacks depth. Miss Spence has clearly done her research and it shows. The Mitford Girls' Guide to Life is then not simply a humorous look at possibly the most famous sisters of the 20th Century, but also a very good overview of the sisters and their lives. Indeed, the book includes summaries on each sister, as well as individuals' personal recollections of the sisters themselves. The Mitford Girls' Guide to Life also has one of the most extensive bibliographies I have ever seen, and could prove most useful as a guide to books for those who wish to read more about the Mitfords.

Not only is The Mitford Girls' Guide to Life a very readable book, but it is also a very attractive one as well. Tessa Simpson's illustrations of the Mitfords on the cover evoke the famous sketches of the girls by Sir Harold Acton, while at the same time having a personality all their own. History Press also provided the book with such nice touches as special glyphs for the various sections  There are little hangars for Nancy's Guide to Fashion, little rifles for the Mitford's Guide to a Shooting Party, and so on. There are also several never before seen photos of the Mitford family over the years.

The Mitford Girls' Guide to Life is an amusing and very entertaining volume that those who are interested in the Mitfords will find as a welcome addition to their library. At the same time, however, Lyndsy Spence gives us a wonderful overview of the sisters with considerable insight into their lives. This also makes The Mitford Girls' Guide to Life an excellent introduction to anyone new to studying the Mitford sisters. In the end, The Mitford Girls' Guide to Life is not simply a book for those who are already familiar with the famous sisters, but anyone with an interest in the history of 20th Century Britain.

The Mitford Girls' Guide to Life is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, the History Press, and other fine books sellers. 

A Review of Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait by Kendra Bean

Today, nearly 100 years after her birth and a few years shy of the 50th anniversary of her death, Vivien Leigh remains one of the most famous and beloved film stars of all time. This is all the more remarkable when one considers that she made a total of 19 films, far fewer than most of the big names to emerge during the Golden Age of Film. To this day she remains one of the most iconic actresses of all time, with books, documentaries, merchandising (mostly related to her role as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind), and web sites dedicated to her.

Among those many web sites is VivAndLarry.com, dedicated to Miss Leigh and her long time husband and collaborator Lord Laurence Olivier. Chances are that if you are a classic film buff, then you are not only familiar with this website, but its webmistress as well, Kendra Bean. You might also know that for the past five years Miss Bean has been working on a coffee book about the life and work of Vivien Leigh. This month saw the culmination of that work with the publication of Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait.

As a coffee book Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait is most impressive. It has a large number of photographs, including many never before published photos by Angus McBean, who photographed Vivien Leigh for the entirety of her career, from her earliest days on stage to her death. I must also say that I really appreciated the layout of the book as well. Too often coffee books are put together in such a way that it interferes with both reading and sometimes even looking at pictures. This is not the case with Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait, whose layout flows quite well. Indeed, while I usually don't notice such things, I have to say I was even impressed by its typography, which is both easy to read and aesthetically pleasing. The cover, with a photograph of Vivien Leigh at her most beautiful and her name in electric blue, numbers among the most eye catching book covers I have seen in a long time. Running Press did a very good job of putting Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait together, creating a book that is nearly as beautiful as its subject.

Here I do not wish to give the impression that Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait is a picture book. For a coffee book it has a good deal of text. While it is not an in depth biography of the sort that Hugo Vickers' Vivien Leigh: A Biography is, Miss Bean gives the reader a good overview of Vivien Leigh's life and career. She does a particularly good job of addressing Miss Leigh's relationship with Lord Laurence Olivier, her husband for many years. This should not at all be surprising. Beyond her obvious talent as a researcher and writer, Kendra Bean had access to the Laurence Olivier Archives with its literal treasure trove of private letters and documents. For a coffee book, then, Miss Bean gives considerable insight not only into Vivien Leigh's career, but her unfortunate struggle with bipolar disorder. Here I must say that while Miss Bean is obviously a fan of Vivien Leigh, she does not shy away from the more unfortunate aspects of Miss Leigh's life. That having been said, she presents Miss Leigh in a most sympathetic light, while also presenting her as an all too human woman with a very serious illness.

Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait is an extraordinary tribute to an actress who has remained an object of fascination since she first appeared on stage. It gives a very balanced and objective, but at the same time sympathetic view of a film star who is still considered one of the great beauties of her time as well as one of the most talented actresses of the Golden Age of Film. Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait would be an excellent addition to any Vivien Leigh fan's collection.

Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes And Noble, the TCM Shop, and other Fine Book Sellers

What's in a Name: The Changing Titles of Films

Last night I watched Night of the Eagle, known in the United States as Burn, Witch, Burn. To be honest, I never have quite understood why the title was changed for American audiences, unless the American distributor (American International Pictures) did not think Night of the Eagle was provocative enough or perhaps they feared people would not realise it was a horror film. Of course, I have never understood why neither distributor used the title of the novel upon which it was based, the classic Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber, which I think is better than either Night of the Eagle or Burn, Witch Burn.

Of course, it is not unusual for British films to have their titles changed in the trip across the Atlantic, and Night of the Eagle is hardly the only movie to see a change in name upon coming to the United States. This morning I watched The Witches, the Hammer Horror starring Joan Fontaine. In the United States it was retitled The Devil's Own, which was also the title of the novel by Norah Lofts (using the pen name Peter Curtis). While I think The Devil's Own has a nice ring to it, I am still a bit puzzled as to why its title was changed for American audiences. The book The Devil's Own was not any better known in the United States than it was in the United Kingdom, and there had been no other films recently released under the title The Witches. I can only assume Seven Arts (its distributor in the United States) preferred the tile The Devil's Own.

While the changes in the titles of Night of the Eagle and The Witches seem rather arbitrary, there is often a very good reason for a change in a British film's title upon arriving in the States. The Hammer classic The Devil Rides Out had its title changed to The Devil's Bride in the United States because of concerns that Americans might think it was a Western if the original title was used. Hammer's classic Dracula had its title changed in the United States to Horror of Dracula because Universal's 1931 film of the same name was still occasionally shown in theatres. To avoid confusion, then, Hammer's Dracula became Horror of Dracula in the United States.

So far I've just discussed horror films, but British films from other genres might also have their titles changed in the United States.  The Dave Clark Five movie Catch Us If You Can was inexplicably retitled Having a Wild Weekend in the Untied Sates. It is true "Having a Wild Weekend" is one of the songs from the film, but unlike the song "Catch Us If You Can" it was never released as a single. What is more, the song "Catch Us If You Can" was a top five hit on both sides of the Pond. While I can't speak for anyone else, I personally think Catch Us If You Can is a more interesting title than the somewhat generic Having a Wild Weekend.

Here I must point out that American films are also retitled in the United Kingdom. Since the restaurant chain White Castle does not exist in the UK, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle was retitled Harold & Kumar Get the Munchies there.  Live Free or Die Hard was retitled Die Hard 4.0 in the UK, as the phrase "Live free or die" (the state motto of New Hampshire) is not well known there.

Of course, British films are not the only ones to be retitled in the United States. One would think that foreign film titles would be translated literally into English for both the U.S. and UK, but this is often not the case. The classic French film Les Diaboliques (literally "The Devils") became simply Diabolique in the United States. Seven Samurai (the literal translation of Shichinin no samurai) was originally distributed in the U.S. under the title The Magnificent Seven. I can only presume the American distributor thought Americans would not know what a samurai was. Just as with British films, the titles of European films are sometimes changed to avoid confusion with other movies. The title of  Lars von Trier's Europa was changed in the United States to Zentropa to avoid confusion with the 1990 film Europa, Europa.

So far I have discussed films that have changed titles in making their way to the United States, but there have also been American films whose titles have been changed over the years for whatever reason. There can perhaps no better example of this than Tod Browning's classic horror film Freaks. Upon its release by MGM in 1932 Freaks was the source of a good deal of controversy, even to the point of being banned in some parts of the United States (as it was the UK for many years). Worse yet, Freaks was hardly profitable. It lost $164,000 at the box office. In an effort to make the film more profitable MGM's head of production Irving Thalberg reissued Freaks under the new title Nature's Mistakes (this time without the MGM logo). The new title did not particularly improve ticket sales for the film. Eventually MGM licensed Freaks to exploitation impresario Dwain Esper, who gave it one more new title, Forbidden Love, in hopes of marketing it as an exploitation film. To make matters more confusing, at times the film was at times still shown under the title Nature's Mistakes as well as another title given to it by Dwain Esper, The Monster Show! Of course, eventually film buffs would rediscover Freaks and it has been known by its original title ever since.

Not surprisingly, in the long run changes in titles can often be a source of confusion for film buffs.  The typical American film buff might not be aware that the original title of The Devil's Bride was The Devil Rides Out and, as a result, may be puzzled when a hardcore Hammer Films fan mentions the film by its original title. A more serious problem is researching films that have multiples titles or changed titles often. In such instances it can often be difficult to determine how many re-releases such films have had and when those re-releases took place. I rather suspect that anyone researching the release history of the 1936 film Tell Your Children, now better known as Reefer Madness, would find themselves fighting an uphill battle. It was released under such titles as The Burning Question, Dope Addict, Doped Youth, and the rather odd title of Love Madness!

Even given the confusion changing the titles of films can cause, it is doubtful that the practice will change any time soon. Indeed, it still takes place today. The Marvel Comics film The Avengers was reclassified as Avengers Assemble in the United Kingdom to avoid confusion with the Sixties spy show The Avengers (personally, as a fan of the show, I wished they had done that worldwide). The 2009 British film The Boat That Rocked was re-edited and released in the U.S. as Pirate Radio. For better or worse, films will probably see their titles changed once they make the trip across the Atlantic.