Telescopio de Galileo

En 1609, hace exactamente 400 años, Galileo apuntó su primer telescopio rudimentario hacia el cielo nocturno de Padua e inició una serie de descubrimientos que cambiarían radicalmente el concepto aristotélico del universo de su tiempo. Por este motivo, 2009 ha sido declarado Año Internacional de la Astronomía (IYA2009) por la UNESCO con el objetivo de ser una celebración global de la Astronomía y de destacar la contribución de esta ciencia a la sociedad, a la cultura y al desarrollo de la humanidad.

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) ha sido considerado como el “padre de la astronomía moderna”. Con su apoyo a la teoría heliocentrista copernicana, cuestionó la doctrina eclesiástica que proclamaba que la Tierra era el centro de la creación. Así contradijo los principios que hasta entonces habían sustentado el conocimiento e introdujo las bases del método científico que a partir de entonces se fue consolidando.

Su obra Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo (1633) fue fruto de una fuerte polémica en su epoca, que finalizó en acusación formal por “sospechas graves de herejía” ante la Inquisición y posterior condena. El libro fue a continuación incluido en el Index de publicaciones prohibidas, del cual no fue eliminado hasta 1822.

En el siglo XX se inició una débil rehabilitación de Galileo en el marco del Segundo Concilio. El papa Juan Pablo II creó una comisión de revisión del caso que concluyó en que la Iglesia había cometido un error. El 15 de febrero de 2009, la Iglesia católica rindió homenaje por primera vez a Galileo con una misa en su honor en el Vaticano con motivo del 445 aniversario de su nacimiento. La celebración estuvo promovida por la Federación Mundial de Científicos.

En el marco del Año Internacional de la Astronomía, la Santa Sede organizó en mayo un congreso académico internacional sobre Galileo Galilei. Entre otras actividades conmemorativas, Galileo también ha sido este año el protagonista de innumerables cursos, simposios y exposiciones en su país natal.

Si queréis consultar las actividades conmemorativas realizadas en Italia sobre la figura de Galileo, podéis visitar la página italiana del Anno Internazionale della Astronomia 2009.

Galileo en el cine

No en pocas ocasiones, el cine ha sido uno de los medios más idóneos para recrear, con mayor o menor fidelidad, y divulgar la historia de la ciencia y de sus científicos. Galileo no ha sido una excepción y ha sido llevado a la gran y pequeña pantalla en varias ocasiones. Los dos casos más memorables y polémicos han sido los siguientes:

Galileo, Liliana Cavani (Italia-Bulgaria, 1969)

La película fue presentada a competición en la Mostra de Venecia en 1969. Producida por la RAI, nunca fue retransmitida por la televisión pública italiana y la censura de la época le impuso la prohibicion para los menores de 18 años por anticlerical, al representar una fuerte crítica contra la intransigencia y la ignorancia del poder clerical.

En la película, Liliana Cavani abandona los esquemas de los clásicos biopics centrados en el individuo como protagonista para centrarse en los graves problemas de diálogo y conflicto social y político que puede ocasionar la ciencia y el gran debate entre la libertad de investigación científica y los dictados impuestos por la Iglesia. Por tanto, la película es una acusación contra la arrogancia del poder.

Para más información: “Il mio Galileo censurato dalla Dc” (artículo en italiano publicado el 21 de mayo de 2005 en el Corriere della Sera.

Bertolt Brecht’s Galileo, Joseph Losey (Reino Unido 1975)

Leben des Galilei (o Galileo) es una obra del dramaturgo alemán Bertolt Brecht. La primera versión de la obra fue escrita entre 1937 y 1939, y la segunda (más conocida como la versión “americana”) fue escrita entre 1945–1947, en colaboración con el actor y director Charles Laughton, quien también subió al escenario para interpretar a Galileo en Los Angeles en 1947.

Basada fielmente en el texto de Brecht, la adaptación cinematográfica de la obra fue producida y distribuida por el American Film Theatre y dirigida por Joseph Losey, quien ya había dirigido la primera versión teatral americana en 1947. En la película, Losey conserva gran parte de los elementos teatrales de la obra original como el coro de jóvenes que van introduciendo la trama o la teatralidad del plano inicial.

“Galileo” fue presentada fuera de concurso en 1975 en el Festival de Cine de Cannes. Una de las críticas más negativas que recibió fue relacionada con su protagonista, el actor israelí Topol (“El Violinista en el Tejado”), a quien se criticó la falta de fuerza interpretativa, sobretodo al estar rodeado de grandes figuras de la escena británica como Sir John Gieguld o Edward Fox.

Para más información:

Traducción argentina de la primera versión de la obra original Leben des Galilei (Vida de Galileo) escrita por Bertol Brecht (Dinamarca, 1938-39). Publicada por Ediciones Losange, Buenos Aires
Descargar pdf

Un pequeño pueblo rural y una familia en la miseria. Dos asesinatos, diez mil dólares escondidos Dios –y los niños- sabe dónde y, el padre de familia, Ben Harper, condenado a muerte por robo y asesinato. Aparece entonces en escena la figura del predicador, Harry Powell, ambicioso, sin escrúpulos ni remordimientos que, conocedor de la existencia de una cuantiosa suma escondida, galanteará a la viuda de Harper y conseguirá que se case con él. Es entonces cuando comienza la frenética lucha del predicador contra los pequeños John y Pearl por conseguir que le revelen el paradero –inimaginable- de los diez mil dólares. Pero no pueden hacerlo porque se lo habían prometido a su padre. La astucia y determinación de los niños presentará batalla a Powell hasta un final inesperado, propiamente terrorífico.

Tensión, terror, suspense, incertidumbre, sorpresa, pánico. Todo adjetivo se queda corto a la hora de describir los sentimientos espasmódicos que crea la mirada de Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) mientras explica la razón de los tatuajes –“LOVE” y “HATE”- en los nudillos de sus manos. Los gestos, el énfasis, la razón en sí, todo está impregnado de una oscuridad inefable. En esta obra de arte del cine negro y el suspense, consigue Charles Laughton, el director, sumir al espectador en un sentimiento mezcla entre el cariño y la angustia por los niños. Todo gira en torno a ellos, a su inocencia, a su perspicacia y a ese manto invisible surgido de un cuento de hadas que parece rodearlos a lo largo de toda la trama. La estructura circular que presenta el filme os sorprenderá, queridos espectadores, sobremanera pues las reacciones finales, en relación con las del principio, son sorprendentes y desconcertantes.

La personalidad psicopática de Powell, que se casa veinticinco veces y asesina a todas sus esposas, se puede resumir en esta frase que dice a la señora Cooper en referencia a las mujeres: “El Señor Jehová guiará mi mano en la venganza. Sois demonios”.

Juan Luis Muñoz Fernández. 2ºBC

Witness for the Prosecution

Pais: EU
Año: 1957
Género: Intriga
Duración: 114 min.
Dirección: Billy Wilder
Guion: Billy Wilder, Harry Kurnitz (Teatro: Agatha Christie).
Música: Matty Malneck
Producción: United Artists

Reparto:
Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton,Elsa Lanchester, John Williams, Una O’Connor, Henry Daniel, Norma Varden, Torin Thatcher, Philip Sonidoge, Ian Wolfe.

Descripción:
Un afable personaje, Leonard Vole, es acusado del asesinato de una rica dama, la señora French, con quien mantenía una relacion de carácter amistoso. El posible móvil del crimen es la herencia de todos los bienes de la difunta. A pesar de que las pruebas en su contra son demoledoras, el prestigioso abogado criminalista de Londres Sir Wilfrid Roberts acepta su defensa al creer en su inocencia.

Críticas:
“Excelente película, con la dosis de intriga de la obra de Christie, que crece en emoción hasta un final tan inesperado como sugestivo. El glamouroso reparto en el que destaca el impresionante trabajo de Laughton, hace el resto.” (Fernando Morales: Diario El País)
–
Tanto tiempo después sigue siendo ejemplar
Es “Testigo de cargo” una de esas películas que de tanto rizar el rizo en su final, se vuelve todo inverosímil pero que te quedas con una agradable sonrisa en la cara. Sonrisa al comprobar unos diálogos ingeniosos, con grandes toques de humor, con un sarcasmo tan sutil que pasa desapercibido.

Magistralmente interpretada por su trío protagonista: Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton. Laughton lleva la interpretación en esta cinta hasta confundir su personaje con su propia persona. Cercano, bonachón y pícaro. Fantástico durante todo el metraje.
La película se hace corta. Ni el tiempo, ha podido borrar la brillante realización del director Billy Wilder.

Divierte, fascina, inquieta y sorprende. ¿Qué más se le puede pedir a una película?

La Dietrich siempre refinada, puesta para nuestro disfrute dice: “Nunca me desmayo porque no estoy segura de caer con elegancia“.

Y yo contesto: señora, con frases como esa y directores como el que le ronda la elegancia esta garantizada.
–
Orgía dialéctica
Permítanme unos segundos para recoger aire después de tan inmenso placer…

Gracias.
–
Divertimento criminal
Desde la primera vez que vi a Charles Laughton en una película, es la escala de medida que utilizo para valorar el trabajo de cualquier actor: me sorprende constatar que ningún Robert DeNiro, ningún Pacino, en fin, ninguna de esas supuestas luminarias del cine actual son dignos ni de besarle las suelas de los zapatos a este actor que fue pirata, abogado, capitán, contrabandista, rey, jorobado y sobre todo, inmenso director que con una única película se situó de golpe y porrazo en el especial Olimpo que reservamos para los muy grandes. Cuando un talento como este se junta con otra gran mente como la de Billy Wilder, obtenemos como resultado esa maravilla que es “Testigo de cargo”. Basada en un relato corto de Agatha Christie, mezcla soberbiamente el ritmo y los diálogos marca de la casa Wilder (aprende, Tarantino, esto sí que son diálogos) con la trama criminal de Christie, un juego de sospechosos, culpables e inocentes que cambian de signo. La película es en todo momento autoconsciente de su propia levedad: el relato de Christie, como muchas de sus novelas, nacen marcadas por un espíritu de divertimento, un juguete criminal para lectores y espectadores deseosos de convertirse en detectives.
“Testigo de cargo” no sólo rescata admirablemente las letras de Christie, además ofrece un recital de talento por parte de sus tres protagonistas, una encomiable agilidad narrativa que prohíbe el aburrimiento y uno de los finales más sorprendentes de la historia del cine (hay quienes consideran “previsibles” aquellos finales que pueden adivinar: cuando no lo consiguen, los llaman “engañosos”). Una película emblemática que sobrevive al transcurso de los años con la frescura intacta.
–
Gracias, Billy
Paradigma del género judicial, “Testigo de cargo” merece disfrutar indiscutiblemente de un puesto honorífico en el Olimpo de los grandes clásicos cinematográficos. Admitiendo de antemano la existencia de algún que otro gazapo o despropósito intrascendente en el clímax final, no estimo en ello motivo suficiente como para entablar polémicas bizantinas sobre si la película está sobrevalorada respecto a otros trabajos del director como “El apartamento”, “Perdición” o “El crepúsculo de los dioses”.
Wilder entremezcla sabiamente drama y comedia (las escaramuzas verbales entre Sir Wilfrid y su enfermera son antológicas ) hilvanando magistralmente, al mismo tiempo, un entramado argumental repleto de diálogos que no decae ni resulta tedioso en ningún momento.
Laughton está grandioso, Tyrone Power sobreactúa oportunamente y la hiératica Marlene borda su papel, sobretodo en la metamorfosis final de su personaje, contribuyendo a construir uno de los desenlaces más insólitos e inesperados de la historia del séptimo arte.
Gracias, Billy, allá donde estés, por seducirnos con tu cine sencillo, ingenioso y ameno. El público es soberano y no es casualidad el grado de devoción que te profesa.

Datos técnicos:
Tamaño:  1,66 Gb
Duracion: 01:51:33
Vídeo codec: Xvid (doble pasada)
Resolución: 640 x 384
Bitrate: 1671 Kbps.  Qf: 0.272
Audio codec: 0×2000(AC3, Dolby Laboratories, Inc) AC3
Bitrate Castellano/Inglés: 48000Hz  224 kb/s total (2 chnls)
Subtítulos : [(Castellano,gracias a ShooCat)-Inglés]

Capturas:

Película

Subs.es-en

Reverend Harry Powell raises the left hand of hate to strike in "The Night of the Hunter".

(Charles Laughton, 1955)

November 11, 2009

by Joel Crary

I get a charge out of old films that twist the mid-20th century American Judeo-Christian religious ethic into something disturbing and subversive. My dad’s a religious man who loves a good western. I wonder what he made of Robert Mitchum in his role as a psychotic, murdering preacher hellbent on stealing from widows. He probably didn’t see it. Not many did, after all, but it serves to reaffirm my own belief that Mitchum is one of the great actors of any era, former or current.

There weren’t a lot of films quite like “Night of the Hunter”, at least until long after its 1955 release. I wasn’t aware of it until earlier this year, when I saw it starting to pop up as a forgotten classic on a few best-of lists. There is a bit of the disturbed Reverend Powell in Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger and the Ghost Face Killer. The film’s main characters, a young brother and sister, are relentlessly chased downstream by Powell on a river that snakes through the midwest. They make their way across farmlands that clearly appear to have influenced Tim Burton’s darkly imaginative set designs and hide in a barn as Powell’s silhouette is seen riding eerily against the horizon, singing a hymn that would bring a congregation to a hesitating silence.

It is during the time of the Great Depression, when orphaned children were forced to knock on doors for handouts of food and clothing. There doesn’t seem to be much of God in the suffering. Out of desperation, Ben Harper (Peter Graves) commits murder and makes off with $10,000 in cash. He is arrested in front of his son John (Billy Chapin), who promises his dad to keep the money’s hiding place a secret. It is stuffed into the plaything of Pearl (Sally Jane Bruce), who is too young to see its value and cuts the bills up into paper dolls.

The father is executed, but not before putting the idea of the money’s whereabouts in the head of his cellmate. Powell has a racket of courting widows until he is able to rob them of their funds and has left a trail of bodies in his wake. He is under the delusion that he is performing the Lord’s work and talks to God as he navigates country roads in a stolen car. Dressed in an ominous black getup and sporting tattoos on his fingers that spell out “LOVE” and “HATE”, Powell is nevertheless able to charm townspeople all over Ohio with his charisma and unique philosophies on God’s will.

Powell introduces himself to the widow Willa Harper (Shelley Winters) and is soon able to work his way into their marriage bed, which he soundly condemns shortly after she gazes fondly at her body in the mirror. In one of the film’s best scenes, Powell stands in the foreground with his back to the camera as Willa seems trapped in the space between his accusing gaze and the foreboding black jacket hanging on the bathroom door. She moves across the room to look into a mirror and the shot switches to show the look of overbearing scorn on Powell’s face as he preaches that her body is a temple.

The film is operatic in its treatment of Powell’s madness. The sets look obviously constructed and recede deeply into the frame, making the characters appear grotesque and isolated. I was struck by the way its framing worked in perfect conjunction with the performances to create a tense yet comedic atmosphere. Upon a first consideration, Winters’ character seems almost laughably awful as she spouts trite and weak-willed dialogue. We can’t imagine that she could possibly marry this man, who seemed to enter her life with such ease. Yet she readily suits her purpose, which is to heighten the sickness of Powell’s murderous, misogynistic persona behind the cloth. She cannot last under the tight hold he has on her.

There is a longstanding feeling of horror in the idea that man can turn to God and find the Devil. It is in the works of Flannery O’Connor and other writers in the Southern Gothic tradition, along with the Davis Grubb source material. Director Charles Laughton, screenwriter James Agee and cinematographer Stanley Cortez, who shot Orson Welles’ “The Magnificent Ambersons”, greet the gothic themes with a feverish Expressionist energy, creating distorted yet hyperreal environments for their characters to run in. Balancing Mitchum’s creepy preacher is Lillian Gish as a saintly orphanage matron, whose readings of the Bible and loaded shotgun attempt to restore a sliver of sanity to the narrative.

Robert Golden’s editing work intercuts phallic metaphors of speeding trains and sprung jackknives to indicate the threat of rape. Hardly any of the violence is shown, but his dramatic use of shadows and light make the darkness a palpable threat, especially once John and Pearl are on their own, running scared. The film is peppered with unsettling musical numbers about death sung by children in innocent, angelic voices. There is a mania to how things transpire and it is consistently driven by Mitchum’s insane and often hilarious performance. As the children hide in a cellar, he pokes his head in from the top of the stairs, announcing, “I can feel myself getting awful mad” in the voice of a bedtime storyteller raising the curtain on a nightmare.

This was the only major film directed by Laughton, who had a slate of successful acting work in films such as “Spartacus” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”. In “Hunter”, he offered the kind of wildly inventive suspense picture that infuriated critics and studios wishing to brand the film as one thing or another. It recalls to mind the craziness of Robert Aldrich’s “Kiss Me Deadly”, released the same year, also overlooked and just as influential by virtue of its desire to be a nail in the coffin of film genre. Sometimes the benefits of hindsight are tenfold.

The creepy hymn, “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms”, sung by Reverend Powell:

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Baby Blues 2008

Directors: Lars Jacobsen and Amardeep Kaledeka

Writer: Lars Jacobsen

Starring Colleen Porch, Ridge Canipe, Joel Bryant, Kali Majors, Holden Thomas Maynard and Gene Witham

    This was a film I had many interesting things about, so I thought I would check it out.  It is quite a gripping and frightening film.  It said it is based on actual events, I do not know what it is based on, but the incident it seems most familiar too is the Susan Smith case that happened in Texas a few years back.  The film was very harrowing at times and it at times sort of reminded me of Charles Laughton’s classic suspense film Night of the Hunter.  It deals with the same issues a young child having to defend himself and his siblings from a adult that has gone amok.  Though in this case it is the mother that went batshit crazy instead of a interloping step parent.  It is a child’s worst fear that one of their parents will change and become something irrevocably evil.. That is what this film really plays upon.  It also deals with the very real threat of post partum depression and how it can change a woman’s personality and fracture her psyche.

    The plot basics are this, on a secluded farm a young mother (Porch) who has four children is collapsing due to stress of raising her children and not having the support with her husband (Bryant), always away working as a truck driver.  It falls upon their eldest son (Canipe) to be the man of the house.  But it seems that the mother is having a mental breakdown, due in parts to post-partum depression and the stress of keeping the family together.  She begins to hear voices and soon, she goes into a dementia state and drowns her newborn baby and sets her sights on the rest of the family and it is up to the eldest to save them and to try to outwit his mother, who he loves deeply but has to fight her to save his life and the lives of his siblings.

    This was a really tense and suspenseful film>  The direction was tight, very claustrophobic at times and it was really great how they filmed the quickly dissolving     mind of the mother.  The script was very good too, the characterization was minimalist, but it worked very well for the film.  It set up everything perfectly and you knew from the get go that something was wrong with this family.  The cast was very good, it is really anchored by Porch and Canipe as the mother and the son fighting off her madness with only his smarts at his side.  The gore is limited but done very effectively.  The ending is quite good, with a nice twist.  I cannot end the film without speaking about the scene in the bathroom of the house, it was very reminiscent of the bathroom attack in The Shining and Porch really brings the spirit of Nicholson in that scene.  I highly recommend this to people who love suspenseful films that keep you on the edge of the seat till the nerve wracking climax.

This one gets 4 out of 5

Ok, so I was looking at last years reviews trying to remember what we watched and it appears that we started our little fest a lot earlier last year, like September 3rd early. Wow! So we’ve made up for our late start by watching a movie almost every night. So here goes…

September 21, 2009

Vargtimmen/The Hour of the Wolf (1968) Written and directed by Ingmar Bergman 3/5

I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about this film. It’s not so much a horror film as it is a psychological thriller and even then it’s more bizarre than it is thrilling. Max von Sydow plays Johan Borg, a mentally disturbed artist living in the countryside with his wife, Alma (Liv Ullman). It’s a dark film filled with strange and sometimes disturbing imagery which only grows more bizarre as Johan’s mind unravels. I suppose Bergman intended to viewer to feel like his protagonist, Alma. We don’t know whether what we’re seeing is real or imagined, however we know it’s very real to Johan, but what we see is difficult to understand. In the end Bergman leaves both Alma and the viewer to come to their own conclusions.

September 22, 2009

Martyrs (2008) Written and directed by Pascal Laugier 4/5

As I get older I find that I can handle less and less gore, making torture movies almost unbearable to watch. If you’re into that sort of thing you should totally check out this film though. The violence is gut wrenchingly graphic and disturbing (I had trouble sleeping the night I watched it thanks to some of the images I found imprinted on my brain). However, I felt like the violence in the film wasn’t so much violence for the sake of violence as we often see today, but to convey a message. The plot was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. The first half of the movie feels like a Japanese horror film. A girl is propelled by revenge; haunted by the demons from her past, demons only she can see, but the second half is something quite different. Instead of leading you down the expected circular path most of these films take you on, Laugier takes you in a whole different direction, turning the film into something made only more sinister by the involvement of religion. Laugier goes to great lengths to show the viewer just how far religious fervor can take someone…how people can do unspeakable horrors, but he does this without involving any one particular religion. It’s really a spectacular film if you can put aside the gore, but then again without it I doubt the film would’ve made as much of an impact. This movie is definitely worth watching if you’re into horror, but if you don’t like seeing humanity at its worst I suggest you stay away. I can’t really say I enjoyed watching this film, but I’m glad I did, it was good, so good I will probably never watch it again.

September 23, 2009

Hard Candy (2005) Written by Brian Nelson, directed by David Slade 4/5

I’m not really quite sure what I was expecting when this film arrived on our doorstep. I think I was expecting something seedier, something darker and though the film was not what I expected it was great. Ellen Page is fantastic as a seemingly innocent young girl intent on terrorizing a child molester. This film was tame in comparison to Martyrs and I imagine the film’s psychological terrorizing works more on men than on women, since the person being attacked in the film is a man. It was still enjoyable though. I always enjoy a good revenge movie, especially one with strong female characters and a great cast of competent actors.

September 24, 2009

Island of Lost Souls (1937) Based on the novel The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells, directed by Erle C. Kenton 4/5

This film is by far my favorite adaptation of H.G. Wells’ novel The Island of Dr. Moreau, though it is interesting to note that Wells was not a fan and that this film was banned in Britain for several years. Charles Laughton does a magnificent job of portraying the megalomaniacal scientist Dr. Moreau. A man intent on speeding up evolution by making animals into quasi-humans going so far as to teach them “The Law” which includes not eating meat, not spilling blood and not walking on all fours. Each of these laws is followed by united cries of “Are we not men?” Moreau is viewed as a god on his little island, but when some unexpected visitors come along his research is compromised and he’s forced to order his creatures to break the law which leads to chaos. The film explores man’s relation to beasts begging the question: Are men truly superior to beasts or are we all savages?

September 25, 2009

The Wolf Man (1941) Written by Curt Siodmak, directed by George Waggner 3/5

This film was exactly what I expected. Lon Cheney Jr. plays the titular character in this Hammer Horror Classic. I used to love watching movies like this one when I was a kid; black and white affairs featuring damsels in distress who must be rescued from some sort of creature. There’s no gore, nothing to really cause you fright (unless you’re 5 or my grandma), but they’re good, entertaining stories which I can watch over and over again.

September 26, 2009

Near Dark (1987) Written by Kathryn Bigelow and Eric Red, directed by Kathryn Bigelow 3/5

Seems like teen vampire stories like Twilight are all anyone talks about these days as if it’s a new concept, but Near Dark was out long before Stephenie Meyer ever even thought of writing about Edward and Bella. Adrian Pasdar (Heroes) stars as Caleb Colton, a young Texan farm boy who picks the wrong girl to flirt with when he meets Mae. Unfortunately for Caleb, Mae has little self control biting him as dawn approaches and within minutes he finds himself kidnapped by a gang of vampires which includes Bill Paxton and Lance Henriksen. Like John Carpenter’s Vampires or From Dusk ‘til Dawn what follows is a vampire western of sorts with a little romance thrown in. The film is a bit dated and cheesy at times, but it’s entertaining and I’d take Caleb Colton over Edward Cullen any day.

De McCarey nous avons déjà évoqué aux débuts de Zéro de Conduite son An Affair to Remember, seconde (et meilleure) version. Aujourd’hui nous nous attaquons à un des classiques de la comédie américaine d’entre-deux guerres, L’extravagant M. Ruggles. Mais peut-être est il bon de dire quelques mots de McCarey avant d’aborder le film. Renoir a dit de lui qu’il était l’homme à Hollywood qui comprenait le mieux les gens ordinaires. Il débute sa carrière comme assistant de Tod Browning (Freaks) et contribue à la création du duo comique Laurel & Hardy. Les années 30 sont pour lui la décennie de ses plus grands succès, sa carrière d’après-guerre étant faite de hauts et, bien souvent, de bas.

Ruggles (Marmaduke de son prénom) est un domestique au service du duc de Burnstead  (Rolland Young) qui réside à Paris. Celui-ci à rencontrer des Américains avec lesquels il a joué (et perdu) au poker. L’enjeu de cette partie n’est autre que Ruggles (Charles Laughton) qui apprend avec surprise et amertume qu’il est désormais la propriété de ce couple venu du grand ouest. La seule perspective de se retrouver au milieu des Indiens (cliché oblige) lui fait horreur. Mr. Floud (Charles Ruggles), le mari, est un type plutôt sympathique, bon vivant, pas très à l’aise avec tout le protocole “bourgeo-aristocratique” que sa femme, Effie (Mary Boland), veut lui inculquer. Pour lui Ruggles n’est pas un domestique mais plutôt un nouvel ami avec lequel il peut papoter et boire un coup. Ruggles éprouve des difficultés à prendre ses marques avec ce nouveau maître peu ordinaire. Après quelques jours, il est temps pour les Américains et Ruggles de rentrer aux Etats-Unis. Floud présente celui qui est supposé être son domestique comme étant le Colonel Ruggles. La population de Red Gap ignore donc son vrai statut. Petit à petit, Ruggles prend ses aises dans une société sans classe, où tous les hommes sont égaux.

Bon, deux choses. Dans un premier temps il est impossible de ne pas observer avec délice la façon dont Laughton s’approprier petit à petit les réflexes de l’homme libre. Impossible aussi de ne pas apprécier le sens aigu qu’à McCarey pour la mise en scène et la chronique sociale. Cependant c’est peu dire que je suis agacé par la propagande pro-liberté américaine que le film nous serine à l’oreille pendant près d’une heure et demie. Amérique land of the free, Europe terre des concepts rances. La jeune Amérique face au vieux Continent. Sans être tout à fait nationaliste j’ai bien peur que cela n’affecte mon jugement concernant Ruggles of Red Gap. De bons moments malgré tout, dont le passage où Laughton récite le discours de Lincoln à Gettysburg.

Robert Mitchum Night of the Hunter (1955)

 

The Night of the Hunter is a 1955 film noir film directed by Charles Laughton and starring Robert Mitchum and Shelley Winters . The film is based on the novel of the same name by Davis Grubb, adapted for the screen by James Agee and Laughton. The novel and film draw on the true story of Harry Powers, hanged in 1932 for the murders of two widows and three children in Clarksburg, West Virginia. The film’s lyric and expressionistic style sets it apart from almost all other Hollywood films of the 1940s and 50s, and has influenced later directors such as David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Terrence Malick, and the Coen Brothers. In 1992, The Night of the Hunter was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the United States Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in their National Film Registry.

Tagline:  The wedding night, the anticipation, the kiss, the knife, BUT ABOVE ALL… THE SUSPENSE!

Buy this Title on DVD!

A psychopathic preacher is in relentless pursuit of two children possessing their dead fathers stolen fortune. Special features: theatrical trailer and behind-the-scenes booklet. Starring: Robert Mitchum, Lillian Gish and Shelley Winters Run time: 93 minutes. Director: Charles Laughton

The film resulted from a collaboration between Charles Laughton and screenwriter James Agee. Laughton drew heavily on the harsh, angular look of German expressionist films of the 1920s.

Shelley Winters

The film’s music, composed and arranged by Walter Schumann in close association with Laughton, features a combination of nostalgic and expressionistic orchestral passages. The film also includes two original songs by Schumann, “Lullaby” (sung by Kitty White, whom Schumann personally discovered in a nightclub) and “Pretty Fly” (originally sung by Sally Jane Bruce as Pearl, but later dubbed by an actress named Betty Benson). A recurring musical device involves the preacher making his presence known by singing the traditional hymn “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.” Mitchum also recorded the soundtrack version of the hymn.

In 1974, film archivist Robert Gitt Anthony Slide retrieved several boxes of

Lillian Gish

photographs, sketches, memos and letters relating to the film from Laughton’s widow Elsa Lanchester for the American Film Institute; she also gave the Institute over 80,000 feet of rushes and outtakes from the filming. In 1981, this material was sent to the UCLA Film and Television Archive where, for the next 20 years, they were edited into a two-and-half hour documentary that premiered in 2002, at UCLA’s Festival of Preservation.

So, I haven’t written in a while (sadly), but that’s what this is for. Yesterday, while researching the great Belgian surrealist René Magritte, I happened to find this fascinating blog called Sexuality & Love in the Arts, topics to which Pussy Goes Grrr is certainly no stranger. And I ended up reading their article on Alan Turing, the brilliant British cryptographer, mathematician, and pioneering computer scientist who was legally persecuted (after helping win WWII) until he committed suicide. Why, you may ask, would a great genius like Turing be chemically castrated, tormented, and hounded? Because of what the authorities called “gross indecency”… he was a homosexual.

So, reading about Gordon Brown’s recent apology for Turing’s rather shabby treatment by the government, I was reminded of an idea I had the other day. Because, okay, homophobia is alive and well and living in America, as evidenced by this video of Carrie Prejean, the ditzy beauty queen whose po’ widdle ego was demolished by contest judge Perez Hilton after she said “You know what, in my country, in my family, I think I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, no offense to anybody out there…” and some other similarly halting statements. And now apparently she’s a horribly persecuted, God-loving inspiration to us all who’ll get her rewards in heaven!! at least according to her.

And so, between that and reading about Turing, I thought about this: lots & lots of people (hell, even the majority of California voters) don’t want gay people marrying each other. And they’d also prefer if they’d take their homosexual selves, get back in the closet, and let the children go on thinking heterosexual is the only kind of desire. (Honestly, people act like attraction to the same sex is automatically graphically sexual, while attraction to the opposite sex is, by default, clean and pure. ‘Cause men never lust after women, right? And so exposing kids to the notion of gayness is sucking away their innocence. But that’s another blog.) So it got me to thinking, people are OK with letting queer artists provide them with great entertainment and profundity, but if they have to know that Rock Hudson’s sleeping with men on his off-days, they’d rather he was prosecuted for it? Because let’s face it: queerness and art have gone together pretty well for, oh, all of human history. And I wanted to take a look at some examples. Hence, this is the “what would gay-hating bigots do if they knew…” list.

First, a few caveats: I’m going by a pretty loose definition of queer here. If I’ve been witness to some form of evidence that a historical figure was queer, I’ll include them for argument’s sake, but by no means is this academically rigorous. It’s a thought experiment. Also, there’s going to be a lot more gay men on this list than lesbians because, well, men are better-represented historically in everything than women. When you narrow it down to women attracted to other women, the representation gets even tinier. That said, here’s my list! What would gay-hating bigots do if they knew a gay person was crucial in creating:

Western philosophy, Hellenistic civilization, the Sistine Chapel, the Mona Lisa, My Ántonia, Leaves of Grass, A Shropshire Lad, The Importance of Being Earnest, much of literary modernism (Stein, Woolf, and H.D. for starters), Remembrance of Things Past, Valentino, The Battleship Potemkin, Bride of Frankenstein, Blithe Spirit, Gaslight, computers (going liberally with Turing), Jean Cocteau himself, Night of the Hunter, Screaming Popes, Beat poetry, pop art and the phrase “15 minutes of fame,” Breakfast at Tiffany’s and In Cold Blood, The Leopard, American absurdist theater, if…, Harold and Maude, Cabaret, Berlin Alexanderplatz, and then starting in the ’70s-’80s, too many advancements in the arts and elsewhere to name as the LGBT community became more legal, visible, and able to express themselves – I’ll just toss out Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home as one particularly sublime example.

Now, I grant there are a lot of flaws with this list and its reasoning, and I admit that most of the examples come from film, because queer filmmakers are one of my great areas of interest. But I was mainly trying to make a point: if intolerant people think they can dismiss all gay men & women as being icky, unnatural, somehow poisonous, undeserving of rights or public exposure, or evil/impure on some basic level, maybe they should look around their culture and realize that often what they consider wholesome, unobjectionable art (like one case in point I discovered tonight) is actually made by (gasp!) the very “perverts” and “deviants” they’re dead-set against. I think homophobia requires much of the same solipsistic blocking out of the real world as racism – “No, no, no, I’m not listening; you will not be a counterexample to my passed-down belief that all gays/blacks/etc. are unworthy degenerates…”

They’re often similarly ignorant of the fact that homoeroticism turns up all over place – for an obvious example, in The Picture of Dorian Gray – because, oh, it’s a pretty common, basic element of human sexuality and hell, I’d even say a universal part of the human experience (I mean, honestly, who hasn’t had at least a fleeting, vaguely homoerotic thought or two in their whole life?). These people act like by constructing thick moral walls we can erase all the “evil” in the world and create a cuddly, gay-free cultural womb. The fact is, queerness has factored somehow into some of the greatest artistic accomplishments in history, in one form or another. And you know what? If Charles Laughton, John Gielgud, Noël Coward, Oscar Wilde, and all the rest are wrong, I don’t want to be right.

September 22, 1939

Hollywood Gossip

AA = The Afro American
MAS = Mt. Adams Sun
MJ = The Milwaukee Journal

Benny Goodman’s chartered a plane to rush him from one one-night stand to the next; thinks it’s too warm on trains.  –MAS:  09-22-1939

NEW YORK—Cab Calloway celebrated “Minnie the Moocher’s*” tenth birthday with a party at the Cotton Club in New York for all the entertainers and guests, on Friday night, September 15. . . . .  This marks a decade of popularity for Cab’s radio theme song and also serves as a milestone in his own career, for his fame can be measured from the first show at the old Cotton Club in Harlem, where Minnie made her debut. . . . .  Calloway’s final broadcast from the Cotton Club over WABC and the Columbia network will feature a cavalcade of songs made famous during the ten years he has played at the mecca of Harlem entertainment. . . . .  The greatest honor ever paid to “Minnie the Moocher” was being chosen as the most typical piece of modern jazz for Grace Moore to sing in the Columbia picture, “When You’re in Love.” . . . . . Cab estimates that in the past ten years he has played the number over 25,000 times.  It was used in more than fifteen different feature films and Cab will never forget the time a finicky director made the band play the tune thirteen times in one day because he did not like the expression on the drummer’s face.  “Minnie the Moocher” will go down in history with other great women like “Dinah,” “Margie,” and “Sweet Sue.”  –AA:  09-23-1939

Charles Laughton proved himself a hero recently, and the cameras weren’t grinding either.  “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” company was on location, and hundreds of extras were milling about, staging festival scenes in Fifteenth century Paris.  Part of the atmosphere was a trained bear in a cage, who was placidly eating ice cream. . . . .  Somebody bumped into the cage, as the mob pushed and shoved about, and it was overturned.  The bear, ice cream dripping from his jaws, got out—and the panic would have been on, with people convinced that the bear was frothing at the mouth, if Laughton hadn’t stepped in. . . . .  Over the public address system he reassured the crowd, telling them it was ice cream on the bear’s mouth, and that, if they would stand still, the trainer would tie the bear up. . . . .  All in the day’s work for Laughton—but can’t you see the newspaper headlines if he hadn’t kept his head?  –MAS:  09-22-1939

Hartford, Conn.—Eddie (Rochester) Anderson and Betty Grable played at the State Theatre here during the week beginning September 1.  Frankie Masters’ orchestra supplied the music.  –AA:  09-23-1939

NEW YORK—Eddie (Rochester) Anderson, Jack Benny’s unpredictable valet, will do his best to antagonize his employer once again when the Benny gang returns to the NBC Red network on October 8. . . . . Appearing on the heels of “Man About Town”, the picture in which he lent such brilliant support to Benny, Rochester had an unprecedented two-week run at the Los Angeles Paramount and has been breaking records in several spots on his tour. . . . . On October 9, the day after the Benny troupe returns to the air, Rochester will begin a 35-week motion picture contract at Paramount.  His first assignment will be in Jack’s new picture, tentatively titled, “Buck Benny Rides Again.”  –AA: 09-23-1939

Dr. George Washington Carver, famous scientist, who, as a child in the Civil War, was traded for a racehorse, will appear on “Strange as It Seems,” Thursday.  –AA:  09-23-1939**

Ida Lupino has written 30 musical compositions including the notable “Aladdin Suite” that’s been played by the Los Angeles Philharmonic!  –MJ:  09-22-1939

Since her return to radio Jessica Dragonette*** is singing better than ever before—and she’s practically the only star of the air waves who could stay away for two years and return to find that she was just as popular as ever, according to what’s happened to others who tried it.  –MAS: 09-22-1939

Linda Darnell becomes a star in “Public Deb No. 1,” with the top men at Twentieth Century-Fox all set to send her straight to the top.  She was booked for “Drums Along the Mohawk,” but they felt that the role assigned her wasn’t important enough.  –MAS:  09-22-1939

In “Golden Boy” you’ll meet a new movie hero, William Holden—six feet tall, possessed of brown hair, blue eyes, a pleasant personality, and so much ability as an actor that he was picked from 4,500 candidates for the leading role in the picture.  And some of those other candidates were experienced actors. . . . . Holden wasn’t.  He’d gone to college, and been a member of Paramount’s stock company.  It was when he took part in a college play in Pasadena that a talent scout spotted him, and he was signed to a seven-year contract.  After that he didn’t do anything but report to the studio and exercise in the gymnasium, until he made a screen test with a girl who was being considered for a role in “Golden Boy.”  Director Mamoulian saw the test, spotted Holden, Columbia bought a half-interest in him—and you’ll see him in “Golden Boy.”  –MAS:  09-22-1939

* Cab Calloway’s “Minnie the Moocher”

** Although not the episode mentioned above, click here to listen to a 1930’s episode of “Strange as it Seems.”

*** 1939-12-21:  “Good News” Program – Guest:  Jessica Dragonette

1960: Spartacus di Stanley Kubrick

Ha scritto Il Corriere della Sera: “Kolossal con l’anima, si diceva per identificare il grande spettacolo, ma d’autore. Qui c’è la mano del maestro anche nel raccontare l’antica Roma… Ma anche gran successo nazionalpopolare meritatissimo. E 4 Oscar 4”. E su Cinema Nuovo leggiamo: “Un film capace di suscitare – attraverso toni di controllata emozione – uno sdegno vivo, virile e di chiara efficacia, un’ansia di rinnovamento: un risultato insomma che riesce a farci dimenticare tutti i “kolossal” di buona memoria, da Cabiria a  Ben-Hur”.

Non ricordavo che questo capolavoro del 1960 fosse così bello. L’ho rivisto recentemente e ho trovato l’ennesima conferma della maestria di Stanley Kubrick (qui alla sua prima esperienza con il colore). Il regista non è interessato alle ricostruzioni colossali né a sbatterti in faccia la presenza di migliaia di comparse (a differenza di tutti i “peplum” non solo hollywoodiani che si caratterizzano, solitamente, per i personaggi di cartapesta e per la preoccupazione di evidenziare la massa di dollari spesi). Sceneggiato da Dalton Trumbo, che era stato in prigione durante il maccartismo, Spartacus è un inno alla libertà e alla ribellione. Celebrando più il cervello che i muscoli, Kubrick analizza non tanto la gloria, quanto i sentimenti, i dubbi, le angosce, le speranze di un uomo che, per primo, incrinò delle regole secolari producendo un qualcosa i cui risultati si vedranno solo molto tempo dopo. Un’ opera magistrale che ancora oggi, come d’altronde ogni suo film, rappresenta un punto di riferimento, un modello da imitare. Grandiose le scene di battaglia (ma non sono la cosa più importante), sottile la caratterizzazione dei personaggi (e del comportamento ambiguo di alcuni di loro), toccante il finale triste e amaro, struggente il bellissimo tema d’amore di Alex North. Stellare e perfetto il cast: Kirk Douglas (non lo credevo capace di tante sfumature) Charles Laughton Laurence Olivier Jean Simmons (da ragazzo, dopo Deborah Kerr, era la mia attrice preferita) Peter Ustinov (giustamente premiato con l’Oscar) Tony Curtis.

p.s.

1) La nuova edizione del film presenta, per la prima volta, la famosa scena, mai vista al cinema a causa della censura, tra Laurence Olivier e Tony Curtis col bellissimo monologo sulle ostriche e le cicale.

2) Il film è tratto dall’omonimo romanzo  di Howard Fast, di cui Pietro Bianchi ha scritto: “… non è un’opera d’arte memorabile, ma è un libro sanguigno, teso, di sapore schiettamente polemico. Il ribellismo dello schiavo trace è innalzato a categoria extratemporale; Spartaco è il primo ribelle all’autorità arida e cieca, al razzismo, alla prepotenza dell’uomo sull’uomo”.

3) Wikipedia: “Il film fu bollato come socialmente pericoloso, pertanto fu varata un’insistente e ossessiva propaganda volta a boicottarlo”.

scheda

The night of the hunter

Director: Charles Laughton.

Guión: James Agee, basado en la novela de Davis Grubb.

Intérpretes: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lilian Gish, Peter Graves, James Gleason, Billy Chapin, Sally Jane Bruce.

Música: Walter Schumann.

Fotografía: Stanley Cortez.

EEUU. 1955. 95 minutos.

Modernidad

A estas alturas, poco queda por decir de este insuperable clásico del cine, dirigido por un actor superlativo que fue pionero en eso de convertirse en realizador no menos superlativo (y que, para más desconcierto, no rubricó ninguna otra película tras la cámara), y que es una patente demostración del concepto de modernidad aplicable al Séptimo Arte.

Pérdida

Contextualizada en el periodo de la Depression, y bajo esa estela coyuntural de miseria y necesidad, The Night of the Hunter nos propone un viaje diría que iniciático –protagonizado por dos hermanos, niños- al dolor y a la pérdida. Utilizando la misma coda que el villano de la función lleva impresas –en una imagen referencial del cine- en los nudillos de sus manos, Laughton pasea su nada complaciente discurso por el tamiz de constantes referencias a la dualidad entre el bien y el mal, que, todas ellas, acabarán disipándose en la cruda realidad emocional que espera a los dos niños protagonistas en el desenlace.

Filigrana

Para germinar  en imágenes tan arriesgado e imponente discurso, Laughton opta por la filigrana formal, y nos entrega una puesta en escena de lo sombrío de una hechura impactante y bellísima, inolvidable, y que sirve de fiel reflejo visual a la crueldad y sugerencia que en la película se dan cita. La riqueza formal (y genérica: como el mismísimo Hitchcock –con quien, por cierto, el actor siempre se llevó fatal-, Laughton juega a su aire, con total impunidad y con excelsos resultados, a transitar por –o incluso manipular- las diversas teclas genéricas que abraza, desde el drama al terror, utilizándolos nada más que como fuentes del tono muy personal, de la idiosincrasia extraña pero tan bien definida que albergan las imágenes) es el lustroso vehículo de la otra riqueza, la textual, que obedece sutilmente a ese prisma (o contexto) histórico para alentar no pocas y desgarradoras reflexiones sobre el agobiante influjo del dinero en el alma (el engaño, la codicia, la estafa), sobre la instrumentalización de Dios en manos de desaprensivos (no tienen parangón las secuencias que nos muestran en la cerrazón más absoluta del juego de claroscuros el patético misticismo de la Winters, arrodillada a los pies de su verdugo cual de si el mismísimo Mesías se tratara), y relacionado con lo anterior, y más allá, del perfil psicológico de una de las tipologías de personajes que (¿sintomáticamente?) más celebridad han alcanzado en la nación de las barras y estrellas y más popularidad se han labrado en el espectáculo de masas en que se erige el Cine industrial: hablo de nada más ni menos que del psicópata.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048424/

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19961124/REVIEWS08/401010344/1023

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/night_of_the_hunter/

http://www.filmsite.org/nightof.html

http://homepage.eircom.net/~obrienh/noh.htm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2003/jun/06/artsfeatures1/print

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art22219.asp

Todas las imágenes pertenecen a sus autores

Carrying on the work of their Cinema of Dreams at the Ballerina Ballroom in Nairn last year, Tilda Swinton and Mark Cousins have found a new way of re-igniting an audience’s passion for cinema without fast food and CGI.

Why on earth aren’t Swinton and Cousins in charge of Homecoming Scotland 2009? In one week they and a motley band of followers have rolled a wave of happiness and true delight across the Highlands, using – and on occasions actually pulling – the 30 tonne Screen Machine, almost unrecognisable under brightly coloured garlands, scarves and tinsel. Magic, pure and simple.

Showing films from around the world, A Pilgrimage nevertheless conjured the spirit of Scotland and ceilidh culture. Compare and contrast the “golf/whisky/Rabbie Burns” concept being promulgated in the official Homecoming celebration; a concept which was memorably described last year by the director of the Scottish Storytelling Centre as ‘incoherent rubbish’.

In truth, it often feels about as genuinely Scottish as the phalanxes of tartan dollies and Nessie monsters which lie in wait for the unwary visitor. If Joanna Lumley is now considered a goddess by the Gurkhas, Ms Swinton should forthwith be crowned Queen of the Highlands.

Each night’s showing was introduced with a selection of inspiring tunes, anything from Aretha Franklin and Patti Smith to Take That and David Bowie, to accompany and inspire a dancing singalong clapathon around the cinema seats, led by Pied Pipers Swinton and Cousins.

In Fort Augustus the audience re-acquainted themselves with the genius of Powell and Pressburger’s A Canterbury Tale, a film made at the end of WW2 linking back to Chaucer’s 14th century poem. With the trademark clarity of their cinematography and their theme of spiritual discovery amidst ruin and strife, this still felt relevant today.

The pleasure in seeing an old film on the big screen was repeated the next night in Dores with the extraordinary Night of the Hunter. No matter how many times one views this gem, it always sets the heart pounding. The pilgrimage in this case is a flight of the innocents threatened by laconically fiendish Robert Mitchum in a performance to rank in any villainous Hall of Fame, until they reach sanctuary, rescued by the luminous spirituality of Lilian Gish, one of the greatest actresses in the history of cinema.

This, the only film Charles Laughton ever directed, was preceded by a little jewel of a documentary by Edinburgh-based Matt Hulse, who used both film and video to record a walk along the South Downs Way to commemorate his grandfather’s life. Accompanied by his girlfriend Lucy and their dog Tippy, the themes of spirituality and pilgrimage were brought right up to date and of course – never act with children or animals – Tippy stole the show by a nose from the warmly likeable Lucy.

Other showings later in the week included Peter Watkins’ Culloden, actually screened at Culloden battlefield, which, as Swinton reminded us, is a sacred site. A party of followers set out to walk there on their own pilgrimage from Dores in a gesture from the heart which was typical of this memorable, inspiring, utterly exhilarating project. Whatever they come up with next, clear your diary.

PS A large bouquet to the unflappable Matt Lloyd whose unobtrusive, self-effacing efficiency ensured a smooth pilgrimage for all.

August 27, 1939

Hollywood Studios Frantically
Order Stars to Return

Fear Actors Will Be Marooned if War Breaks Out

HOLLYWOOD, Aug. 25—(INS)—Hollywood motion picture studios today sent urgent orders to their stars traveling in Europe to make every effort to return home at once.

Producers, of course, were forced to look at the matter from the standpoint of business, should their high salaried workers become marooned in Europe in the event of war, thousands of dollars in delay to scheduled pictures would result.

TYRONE AND ANNABELLA

Stars receiving the summons included Norma Shearer, Tyrone Power and Annabella, Madeleine Carroll, George Raft, Edward G. Robinson, Gene Autry, Gloria Stuart, Bob Hope and Constance Bennett.

Gloria Stuart.....of "Titanic" fame.

Power and Annabella, in France, were ordered to cut short their honeymoon.  They booked passage on an Atlantic Clipper for Tuesday.

Madeleine Carroll received an urgent cable from Paramount studio in Paris.  The blond actress was reported to be dropping a divorce suit she had brought against Capt. John Astley because he has been called to the colors by the British army.

MATTRESS ON DECK

Edna Best, actress wife of Herbert Marshall, sailed from England yesterday aboard the New Amsterdam with her daughter, Sarah.  The ship was so crowded they slept on a mattress on deck, a studio press agent said.

Sonja Henie was reported aboard the Normandie bound for New York.  She has been in Norway.

David Niven, graduate of the British military academy at Sandhurst, prepared to start for England to join the colors at a moment’s notice.  Other British subjects of not in Hollywood include Charles Laughton, George Sanders, richard Greene, Brian Aherne, Ronald Colman, Ray Milland, Boris Karloff, Victor McLaglen, Basil Rathbone, Laurence Olivier, Cary Grant, James Stephenson and Donald Crisp.

Charles Boyer, a French subject, is already in Paris, subject to call to the French army.

The Milwaukee Sentinel