At the Moma in the freezing cold

Spent the day at the Moma looking at this well done photography show, Modern "Photographs from the Thomas Walther Collection" that is beautifully installed and full of memorable images by many of the great photographers (and some artists) of the 20th Century. As usual I would prefer looking at photographs in books and this show is no exception. Also saw "Making Music Modern Design for Ear and Eye" which is done with the usual Moma flair when it comes to their design exhibitions, jam packed and colorful with almost too much stuff and information to take in. Walls of posters and other memorabilia along with the history of how we listen to music and how we use to listen to museum. Finally I sat through a dim witted minor little fleck of a movie from 1940 called "The House Across The Bay" that starred the wonderful and underrated Joan Bennett as a nightclub entertainer (her big musical number is a take off on Carmen Miranda in which a dubbed Joan sings about her Chihuahua dog, cute) and takes up with the gangster owner of the club played with greasy charm by George Raft. They marry but when George is threatened by a rival gangster over the takeover of an enterprise, Joan comes up with a scheme with the help of their crooked lawyer played by Lloyd Nolan to turn him into the I.R.S. for tax fraud so he go to jail and be safe from the guns of the rival. Joan is told he will get only a year in jail but instead he's sentenced to 10 years at Alcatraz because of the dirty doings and bad defense of Nolan who is in love with Bennett (who by the way looks great in 40's gowns designed by the great Irene) So Joan moves to San Francisco to be near her jailbird and thrown into this hash is Walter Pidgeon who is an aircraft designer who also falls for Joan. Also on hand is the wonderful Gladys George who really gives this duller the zip and zig that it needed. Directed by the so so Archie Mayo.