Loretta Swit 1937-2025

 

Charles Rangel 1930-2025

 

Susan Brownmiller 1935-2025

 

Michael Roemer 1928-2025. Directed one of the great films of the early 60's Nothing But A Man.

 

Billy Williams 1929-2025 Great Cinematographer

 

White Heat 1949

 

Top Of The World Ma.

Released towards the end of 1949 and indeed towards the end of the entire terrible and tumultuous decade, “White Heat “can also be seen as the end of James Cagney's tremendous nearly 20 year career as the most important screen actor of the time. His reign began in 1931 with his groundbreaking performance as a hood in “Public Enemy” and came to an explosive end (literally) with his great performance as another hood in “White Heat.”

His influence as the most important screen actor of his time was coming to an end and screen acting would change once more in the early 50's with the appearance of Marlon Brando. After “White Heat” Cagney mostly coasted from one safe movie to another safe movie with one or two explosive performances most notably in 1955 when he did “Love Me Or Leave Me” getting his final Oscar nomination for best actor.

But it is in this somewhat B movie with A credentials that he gave what many consider to be one of the great works of screen acting in the history of film. Playing a gangster named Cody Jarrett who rules over a raw rag tag of a gang who when the film opens are about to rob a mail train of treasury bonds and pretty much everything could go wrong does including Jarrett's cold bloody killing of 4 members of the train crew who make the mistake of recognizing him. Bang bang and they're dead. Also in the dead mix is one of the gang members whose face is burnt off in a burst of white hot heat steam from the locomotive and is left to die when the gang takes off from where they're holed up a little later in the movie.

Cody suffers from extreme headaches that might be migraine, a blowzy cheating wife played by the very good Virginia Mayo, and a scary unnatural relationship with his mother, Ma Jarrett acted by the terrific Margaret Wycherly. The scene where she comforts him as he sits on her lap is jaw dropping. He is also dealing with some duplicitous members of the gang most notably “Big Ed” Somers played by the sexy and dangerous Steve Cochran who is playing around with Virginia. I can only take a guess at why he is called “Big Ed” as it certainly has nothing to do with his height. Maybe Virginia could help us with the answer.

The feds are of course after him and his gang and the late 40's techniques and machinery of law enforcement shown are dated but fun to see. They decide to use an agent played by the always good and reliable Edmond O' Brien as a plant to get close to Cody after he is sent up the river for another crime committed by him that gives him a lesser sentence than any he would have gotten for the robbery and murder of all those railroad employees.

This plot ploy might give rise to raised eyebrows among some, but it sets up one of the most shocking and intense scenes in film history that takes place in the prison dinning hall after Cagney receives some bad news. Cagney tears the film apart in this scene even shocking the hundreds of extras who had no idea what was coming. Check their expressions. Cagney still had his grace of movement even at this age, no one moved like Jimmy. The ending of the film is also memorable and still has power and heft, serving as a coming attraction for the political mishaps our nation would endure during the new approaching decade.

Directed by Raoul Walsh who began his long career as an actor, appearing as John Wilkes Booth in D.W. Griffith's “The Birth Of A Nation” and moving on to directing including the beautiful silent Douglas fairbanks version of “The Thief Of Bagdad” in 1924. In 1929 His right eye was lost in a car accident during the making of “In Old Arizona” that he was going to star in and also direct and for the rest of his life he wore an eye patch that added to his allure and persona. His career as I said was long and varied but he is mostly known for his muscular crime and western movies he did at Warner Bros. In the 30's and 40's including “The Roaring Twenties”, “They Drive By Night”, “High Sierra “& “Gentleman Jim”, many of which starred Cagney, Bogart and Errol Flynn. He was one of the founders of The Academy Awards, yet he never received a nomination nor did he get a lifetime achievement statue. He made his last film in 1964. This one here is one of his best and one of the greatest gangster films ever made. Best actor of 1949 and 10 best of 1949.

Mixed on paper 2025

 

Charles Strouse 1928-2025

A few years back I was riding the subway and at the front of the car was a guy, probably a street performer who started to sing "Tomorrow" from Annie. Well soon the entire car joined in singing. I didn't but a big smile was on my face. A nice New York Moment. I will always be grateful for the movie Bye Bye Birdie and this 16 year old seeing Ann-Margaret for the first time.

Joe Don Baker 1936-2025

 

Robert Benton 1932-2025

 

Etoile Prime Streaming

If you need something light beautiful and fun to take your mind off of the shit that we are wallowing in and doesn't cost 500.00 a ticket you might check out this charming and entertaining series about two fictional dance companies. The gimmick here is that the companies located in New York City and Paris are drowning in debt and lack of audience so the directors come up with a ludicrous idea to switch dancers to up their chances of lasting. So it goes and New York send their cuckoo head choreographer and young ballerina who actually is French, and the French send their great dancer who is a big pain but she is a star. That's it. The two directors butt heads and hearts and are acted with charm by Luke Kirby and Charlotte Gainsbourg. The dancers are of course lovely to look at and when there is actual dancing it might make you swoon. From the people who gave us The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and though not as nutty, it has its charm, and as I said oh those dancers and when those bright primary colored umbrellas open up in the rain, every great MGM musical will come to mind.

Small sculptures 1983-2025

Small sculptures 1983-2025. These have gone through changes over the years, the last being a week or so ago when a bookcase collapsed and damaging a few of them. I made changes and they go on. Mixed.

Faggot 2025 Mixed on paper

 

Johnny Eager 1942

 

M.G. Empty or how Green Was My Valley Of Decision.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ah the very name conjures up images of satin and silk. Furs and Art Deco interiors, and more stars then there are in heaven. From the start they were not known for gangster films or streets running red with the blood of small time hoods and tough guy gangsters. That was Warner Bros.

And one of the big time directors of the era worked big at both. Mervyn LeRoy's career loomed large and long at both studios during the golden age of Hollywood. His career began in 1927 and ended in 1966 quite a run. His Warner Bros. Years was full of harsh sharp edge gangster movies and stories “torn from the headlines” as studio publicity liked to use in their ads. Leroy made “Little Caesar,” “I am a Fugitive From A Chain Gang “,”Five Star Final” and a big Busby Berkley musical Gold Diggers of 1933 all within a 3 year time span. He was in the money, and these films still shake and shudder me.

Then in the late 30's he moved on to M.G.M. Where he made big budget smooth women weepie movies like “Random Harvest,” “Waterloo Bridge”, “Blossoms In The Dust”,and “Madame Curie” and also found time to produce “The Wizard Of Oz”. Making big bucks and big movies was his game and he did it very well.

Which brings me to the movie I saw of his the other night 1942's war time Johnny Eager. This one has glamour,silk and satin, but it also has harshness and criminality that recall his Warner Bros. Days. Its a bowl of slick MGM mixed with Warner Bros. Grime.

This was not an easy one to pull off and LeRoy mostly does a good job telling the story of a real rotten apple, no soul, harsh and nasty to everyone including his best friend, a poetic sensitive soft young Van Helflin who is also alcoholic, depressed and wounded. More about Van later. Meanwhile let me focus on who he got to play the lead criminal and racketeer.

Robert Taylor who began life in films as a soft pretty young actor in such forgotten little nubs as “A Wicked Woman” “Buried Loot”, “Society Doctor,” “Times Sq. Lady” & “Murder In The Fleet” before making it somewhat big as Irene Dunne's co-star in the original “Magnificent Obsession” and as Garbo's young lover in “Camille” which did it.

He was coasting on his very good looks, that profile, that nose but he was treading water as rumors were running wild because of his sexuality which is still brought up in red light stories about Hollywood. Was he gay? Some say yes, some say duh we don't know, so he had to be “butched” up, regardless of who he played around with. This was a mama's boy oh boy oh boy so the studio big boss Louie B. got him married to that tough as nails gal and also rumored lesbian the great Barbara Stanwyck.

The stories of these two still bounce and ricochet off the walls of the internet, and fill big hefty bios. The latest one on Stanwyck weighs a ton and is soft around the edges. No smut or scandal here. Anyway getting back to Bob who as Johnny was given a butch look including a nice little mustache and a nasty persona as a racketeer gangster who will do anything to make a buck and keep his head and body out of prison where when the movie opens he is just out of and working a taxi driver.

This is of course a ruse, a nice surprise for the audience as hey we believe it when he goes to his parole office but we quickly realize he's still on the game running rackets and living the life of a crook, and he lies about everything to get away with his rackets and crimes. Women are of course all over him the sexual innuendos are quite randy for the time, but he just uses them without any remorse or feelings for them.

Toss them away and get on with your conniving and lying Johnny. That is until he falls for a soft conniving Lana Turner, all blonde fluffy and sexy who just so happens to be the step daughter of the vengeful prosecutor played by the always good Edward Arnold who first put Johnny in a cell and is out to do it again if he can.

Supposedly Bob and Lana hit it off big time off screen and filled the gossip rags with lots of sex talk for months which of course got Babs in a tiff. Personally I don't believe any of it, but never mind, they do burn up the screen which is all that mattered to movie audiences. They wanted their movie stars to be movie stars and these two filled the bill.

Meanwhile Taylor/Johnny schemes to make Lana his fall gal and uses her in a plan to make her think that she has killed a rival gangster. She really didn't. Hey Lana its only ketchup on his shirt. Doesn't matter Lana goes off the deep end and winds up on planet Debbie even though Taylor tries to convince her that the guy is still alive. Poor Lana, a decade or so later, her life will become like this movie. Taylor is surprisingly good playing bad, and this will become his winning hand in the years to come including his embracing of far right wing politics and his founding of the Motion Picture Alliance For The Preservation of American Ideals along with his giving damaging testimony before The House Committee on Un-American Activities naming Karen Morley and Howard DaSilva as communists thus ruining their film careers. To his credit he did this reluctantly and refused to appear unless subpoenaed.
He was and he did.

The End fades out as Taylor lies in the gutter cradled not by Lana but by sweet confused Van Heflin. Tears rolling down his face and hey wait a minute is this really what I'm seeing, what I thought I saw through most of the film? The minute Heflin appears my gaydar went off loud and screeching. This is an early 40's closeted gay man. Coded for sure but I got it and Van I got it. Of course the critics of the day never saw this or simply ignored it, but many contemporary reviewers of the film make a point to point this deep dark gay romance “out” in their reviews.

This is of course not the first movie of the time to use coded gay romances, there are quite a few including this one, “Captains Courgeous”, and “Test Pilot” which come to mind. It was and it is a coded gay romance between Taylor and Heflin, and of course that's why Van is a walking drunk through the entire film, mooning and sprouting romantic lines of poetry at Taylor and begging him to go off to the mountains with him and not being able to accept who he is. Heflin 34 at the time went on to win a best supporting actor Oscar for his superb and moving performance. At the time Supporting winners were given a plaque instead of the statuette but this changed in 1943. This one is well worth a look, not only Heflin's staggering performance but also for the glory of M.G.M. Film making at its height.

Ruth Buzzi 1936-2025

The marvelous Ruth Buzzi has passed. A favorite of mine when I was a late teen, and me and my roommates never missed Laugh-In.