This Mortal Coil

Millvina Dean, in June of this year, passed away, at the age of 97 in a nursing home in Southampton, England. She was the last survivor of the RMS Titanic. An era did not pass with her. That era, the era in which people crossed the ocean in ships, before commercial passenger airlines (and luggage charges), before the New Deal, when all decent men wore hats outside and removed them at the table, and where indecent men were doing the kinds of things that Tiger Woods has been accused (some things never change) -- that era had passed long ago. It faded slowly, with each new technical invention, with each new political invention, with each new atrocity and triumph. If you live long enough, you will see the world change and the people who defined your world will, inexorably, go the way of all flesh. Cynics believe each change, in some way degenerates us. Children, with hand-held calculators and digital clocks never learned to perform arithmetic or how to read a clock (the big hand is on the ...). Latin is not taught in schools, and children text their friends at all (mostly inappropriate) times. Optimists, we've all met one, inform us that Latin was boring, clocks no longer require hands, and calculators have freed our minds with the minutiae of multiplication tables so that young folk could master differential calculus.

As film noir fans, we are familiar with the passing of our favorite actors. Every year, there are fewer and fewer. Today, Jennifer Jones died. She was 90. Jones was not really a noir actress, although she did co-star in Beat the Devil, along with Bogart, Peter Lorre, Gina Lollobrigida and which was directed by John Huston and co-scripted by Truman Capote. Based on that alone, you'd want to rush out to the store (or send your request to Netfl*x) and get what, on paper, sounds like a masterpiece. Life can disappoint us when it comes to such expectations.

Ms. Jones was married to David O. Selznick. When they met, the role of Mrs. Selznick was occupied by Irene, daughter of Louis Mayer, but Hollywood never allowed one's current marital status to interfere with what might potentially follow -- that glittery new future of greener pastures on the other side of that proverbial fence.

Jennifer Jones had a long life. In casual conversation, I recently mentioned that Humphrey Bogart died at the age of 57 (forty years short of Millvina). But, the retort was, he really lived. I was thinking the same thing. There is a pseudo-spiritualist who believes that we must capture each moment and live in the now, not in a carpe diem, sense, but in some deeper, non-defined sense that only a spiritualist can evoke (and which tends to keep them in limos and mistresses as long as they can keep a place on the Times Best Seller list). But a physicist will put lie to the "now" concept. There is no now. Time, like the calculus of space under a curve, is a description, not an absolute value. We tend to think that the past grows and the future becomes shorter. Indeed, it does. For us. That, however, is not a natural absolute. Time does not pass. We do. But before we pass, assuming we live to a certain age, we will witness the passing of Bogart, Huston, and Peter Lorre. The movies and the stories of their lives will continue until such a time as described by physicists and spiritualists when all that is will be no longer. Until then, we can relive a past (not necessarily our own) through the magic of DVDs and retro houses.

Noirvember

Welcome to Noirvember. Noirvember is the month in which all the long lost promise and premise of, arguably, John Huston's greatest movie, based on, arguably, the greatest short story in the English language, and a long, long wait for this to be released on DVD and we have ... The Dead.

As mentioned in earlier posts, Huston's last movie, based on the last story in James Joyce's Dubliners was more than a cinematic masterpiece. It was a transcendent work of genius. It is a story of deep despair, of love and youth -- lost dramatically and romantically (the death of Michael Fury), lives just wasted away, and the protagonist, poor Gabriel Conroy who is the debased messenger of man's unrealized desires. All this, in a single work of fiction, transcribed to screen by the very same man who brought us Treasure of the Sierra Madre in which his father co-starred, and who cast his daughter (Anjelica Huston) as Gretta (Gabriel's wife) all while he himself was dying. Finally, this movie is available on DVD! Was it released by Criterion? They would seem the likely candidate, but after I wrote them on the subject, they were kind enough to respond with some worthless pabulum that indicated they had no idea of the value of the movie. Oddly enough, Lionsgate has released it. Go figure. In any event, if you have not read Dubliners, then you must. Then watch the DVD. Buy one for yourself; your loved one; me (kidding -- I've already ordered mine).

Ok ... Noirvember also brings us "Film Noir Classics: Volume 1". Now, for those of us who've gone out and purchased other noir collections, you have probably been somewhat disappointed. Like the movies of old, you got some gems packaged with some stuff that gave B movies a bad name. Ok, let's be blunt ... studios were maximizing their profits on movies that were made 50 years ago. The people who put the packages together didn't know shit about noir or film and no one cared. But we bought them anyways because there was always some good stuff in there. Well, this package is different. There are five movies, from Columbia (smells of the Roxie show) which include The Lineup and The Sniper (both recently shown at the Roxie). 5 Against the House (1955), directed by Phil Karlson is the rarity of the bunch. Karlson, who also directed Phenix City Story, and Kansas City Confidential, directed this movie starring Kim (Miss Deepfreeze -- she was once a refrigerator spokesperson) Novak. Oh yeah Brian (Uncle Bill Davis) Keith also stars. Ummm ... Murder by Contract and Fritz Lang's The Big Heat are also included in this package. So, if you don't already have these (and I don't see how you can) -- get them while they are still available.

What else is new? You can buy North by Northwest on Blu-ray if you are so inclined. That's hardly worth mentioning since it brings absolutely nothing to the table except for some profits for studio heads who can't figure out how to make a movie as good as North by Northwest anymore.

Oh, and The Prisoner, perhaps the only existentialist spy television series, which originally was conceived by and starred Patrick McGoohan, is coming to television (AMC). This time around Ian McKellan plays Number Two. James Caviezel, will be playing Number Six. He seems to lack the sheer forcefulness and conviction of McGoohan. Can it equal or surpass the original?