Dewey's I WAKE UP DREAMING 2013 at the Roxie

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ChiO
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Re: Dewey's I WAKE UP DREAMING 2013 at the Roxie

Post by ChiO »

The Maven wrote:
( Brother Theodore?!!! He was the most frightening thing I ever saw in my young life back then! Geez! They let anybody into show business! )
You weren't the only one. He, Prof. Irwin Corey and Lord Buckley were my introduction to Performance Art. Two were funny. One wasn't. Then, one night on The Allan Burke Show, at the end of a Brother Theodore terrifying rant, Burke laughed and introduced him as an actor and good friend. Was the illusion broken? Nope. With his next appearance on The Merv Griffin Show, I was still scared...because I couldn't tell whether he was an actor, crazy or both.

Did Andy Kaufman study him?
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
RedRiver
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Re: Dewey's I WAKE UP DREAMING 2013 at the Roxie

Post by RedRiver »

Now you're scaring me. I have never heard of Brother Theodore. I'm familiar with Irwin Corey. Even Chicago's Dr. Coffee. (Do NOT ask!) Of the good Brother, I have not had the pleasure!
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JackFavell
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Re: Dewey's I WAKE UP DREAMING 2013 at the Roxie

Post by JackFavell »

I looked him up on youtube... they are right, he is scary. Loved prof. Irwin Corey though. Still do. And the Great Ballantine.
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Re: Dewey's I WAKE UP DREAMING 2013 at the Roxie

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One is Brother Theodore...

ImageImage

...the other is Richard Kind ( from "Mad About You"-tv show. )

This is the image I remember as a child...

Image

...and I'm pretty spooked now just posting this. Ugh! I'd better go to bed. Dreaming of Allan Burke won't help me either. :roll:
"You build my gallows high, baby."

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ChiO
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Re: Dewey's I WAKE UP DREAMING 2013 at the Roxie

Post by ChiO »

It’s a formula as old as Thomas Alva Edison:

Screwball Comedy + Nazis = Film Noir

What if IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT were set in England during WWII and the leads were Brian Donlevy and Diana Barrymore? Why, you’d have NIGHTMARE (Tim Whelan 1942), that’s what. A down-on-his-luck American in London (Donlevy), quite by happenstance, breaks into a home. He cooks some eggs and gets caught by the lovely owner (Barrymore). They see her husband (Henry Daniell), in the library, with the knife…in his back. To divert any possible attention from her for the murder, he agrees to dispose of the body. Upon his return to the house, the dead husband’s body is in its former position. What gives, guv’ner?

Luck? I saw seven straight elevens on dice once. They were loaded.

Upon her request, Donlevy drives her to the home of her uncle (Gavin Muir), a maker of fine Scotch, in the uncle’s car. Along the way, a hitchhiker, walking the opposite direction, stops them and asks if Donlevy is SI-10. Odd. After being greeted at the home by the uncle’s butler (Ian Wolfe), Donlevy starts driving back to catch his passage to America. But, when he pulls out the cigarette lighter, he hears German. It’s a Nazi short-wave radio! And the car’s license plate is SI-10!

He returns to the house. In the meantime, Barrymore learns that her uncle (who really is German; he was adopted by the family as a youth) has placed a powerful explosive in several Scotch bottles bound for America. The ships will go Ka-blooey! Donlevy must save Barrymore and America from bad Scotch! And he does, but only after disposing of – in a quite shocking manner – the ace killer Nazi (Hans Conreid) and a feverish confrontation with Muir and gang. Yes, a stand-off between Muir with a gun and Donlevy with a bottle of Scotch…that just may have the explosive. ”Do I feel lucky?” Well, do ya, Nazi punk? (Well, Donlevy could have said that.)

The dialogue is incredibly hard-boiled, but said so straight…with knowing smirks (Donlevy is fabulous at both)…and sexual nuance. And the cinematography of George Barnes (SPELLBOUND; THE BOY WITH THE GREEN HAIR; FORCE OF EVIL; THE FILE ON THELMA JORDON) adds menace to the proceedings. This is the find of the Festival…thus far.

I start out the evening with a nice poker game in view and wind up in Central Park playing Cowboys and Indians. Now I don't know where I am. How about that! Me, in the middle of New York City, lost in the woods.

Ever see a movie several times and always like it, but never really think about it? Then, see it again, in a different context, and its many virtues become clear? It certainly happened to me last night watching ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT (Vincent Sherman 1941). Oh, the seriousness of the theme – Nazi fifth columnists undermining American confidence – was always there mixed with the Runyonesque humor, but never had I noticed how dark, nasty, mean and brutish the movie can be and how quickly after such a scene there is a seismic paradigm shift to humor…humor that is just really, really funny, not merely droll. But always with a dark-edge. And the death of Mr. Miller (Ludwig Stossel) at the hand of Pepi (cue for Mr. Lorre) early on can stand proudly with the pushy Tommy Udo as a scene of terror.

Yeah, I recognize the face but I don't know where to put it. Hey, there's more here than meets the F. B. I.

And the Cast…O, the Cast…one for the Ages: Humphrey Bogart, William Demarest, Wallace Ford, Conrad Veidt (Yikes!), Judith Anderson (Double Yikes!), the aforementioned Peter Lorre (Triple Yikes!), Jane Darwell, Frank McHugh, Barton MacLane, Edward Brophy, Jackie Gleason and Phil Silvers. What? Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall weren’t available? All beautifully shot by one of the greats, Sid Hickox (TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT; THE BIG SLEEP; DARK PASSAGE; WHITE HEAT; THEM!).

Brilliant programming, Sir!

In the post-screening de-briefing disorientation, Don, Dewey and I mulled over a possibility: If, as here, William Demarest always has the best lines and timing, was he the real auteur in the films of Preston Sturges? Essays, not to exceed two pages, double-spaced, 12-point type, are due on Friday.

As Greek Yia-yias say, Po, po, po, po, po (roughly translated, Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, but with a hint of regret). I have been negligent in failing to mention the new addition to the Festival – a Dewey pal scanned the low-downiest, nastiest panels from the cheapest pre-code comics and created a slideshow scored by Dewey himself. It runs during intermissions and is the talk of the Festival.
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
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JackFavell
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Re: Dewey's I WAKE UP DREAMING 2013 at the Roxie

Post by JackFavell »

Gosh, I can actually hear Donlevy's voice in your post! He is marvelous isn't he?

You're so right about the scary ickiness of poor Mr. Miller's demise in All Through the Night. It's genuinely horrifying.

WIlliam Demarest as the brains behind the brains? You are blowing my mind!
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Re: Dewey's I WAKE UP DREAMING 2013 at the Roxie

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“ Ever see a movie several times and always like it, but never really think about it? Then, see it again, in a different context, and its many virtues become clear? ”

Brother, THIS is the $64,000,000 question that I tried to examine myself when I attended TCM's Film Festival. Tell me...tell us: WHY do you make the pilgrimage to Dewey's festival, and not TCM's. WHAT is the lure that draws you to these screenings in San Francisco as opposed to the glossy shiny pennies from Heaven TCM showers folks?

I am truly enjoying your write-ups on these films, ChiO: ( Yikes, Double Yikes...and Triple Yikes! ) Funny. :lol:

As for our assignment on Mr. Demarest:
...If, as here, William Demarest always has the best lines and timing, was he the real auteur in the films of Preston Sturges? Essays, not to exceed two pages, double-spaced, 12-point type, are due on Friday.


I submitted mine here and Wendy handed hers here as well. Everyone else better get crackin'!!

Enjoying the read, ChiO. :) Do you have a favorite film so far? Or has there been an audience favorite as far as you can tell?
"You build my gallows high, baby."

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ChiO
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Re: Dewey's I WAKE UP DREAMING 2013 at the Roxie

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O, my Dear Maven, the answer to the question -- WHAT is the lure that draws you to these screenings in San Francisco as opposed to the glossy shiny pennies from Heaven TCM showers folks? -- is found within the question. (Om....)

There's Dewey...there's San Francisco (the only city, other than Chicago, where I can spend 5-8 days alone and enjoy it, and 5-8 nights with my little coterie of Noirish pals)...and B Noirs (All Noir! All the time!!). Give me a choice between an A Hollywood Production with Stars (on the screen and elsewhere) with which I'm familiar and a B Monogram Noir that I've never heard of and...well...I don't even see the choice. It's just the way I'm hard-wired. Or, unwired. Idiosyncratic will always win out.

And the choices within the "I Wake Up Dreaming" World? I list the days. I fill in every movie being shown. I put an asterisk by each one I haven't seen (11 this session). Two astericks for those I really want to see based on the director, cinematographer and general theme (unapologetic auteurist that I am -- I treat actors as the cattle they resemble, with Noir exceptions made for Stanwyck, Ryan, Tierney (Lawrence, not Gene) & Carey). Then asterisks by those I've seen and loved, but haven't seen on a Big Screen. The asterisks do the planning. So, these days were selected because they snagged 7 "Unseens" out of the 11, with THE MONSTER AND THE GIRL/UNDER AGE/Woolrich on one end and PICKUP (Hugo Haas!)/WICKED WOMAN -- two huge favorites -- on the other. Then Fate takes over.

Sturges and Demarest -- what a Comic Noir couple. Still looking for Robert Dudley.
Do you have a favorite film so far?
Await the next installment from my aisle seat at the Roxie.
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
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ChiO
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Re: Dewey's I WAKE UP DREAMING 2013 at the Roxie

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Arch Oboler Night at the Roxie.

The three Oboler (born in Chicago, I might add) movies I’ve seen are THE TWONKY (1953), THE ARNELO AFFAIR (1947) and BEWITCHED (1945). The first is quirky (and extremely fun), the second is okay, and the last is clunky.

BEWITCHED led off the night. I hoped that on the big screen it would exhibit more virtues than it does at home. The cinematography (Charles Salerno, Jr.) is impressive, but it was still clunky. A sweet and charming girl-next-door (Phyllis Thaxter) is in love with a Keefe Brasselle lookalike (Henry Daniels, Jr.) and kills him with a pair of scissors in the back (anyone that schmarmy deserves it). She hears a voice (Audrey Totter – wish she were on screen). She must have two personalities. Her new love and defense attorney (Stephen McNally -- yes, a Good Guy) convinces psychiatrist Edmund Gwenn to bring those two personalities out through hypnosis. And he does…and we actually see them emerging from her physical body…one being Thaxter…and the other being Thaxter doing a prescient imitation of Joan Crawford in WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE (now that is Camp). Exposition, exposition, exposition. The good Thaxter wins.

Then came FIVE (Arch Oboler 1951) aka 5IVE.

One of the most profound film experiences of my life.

To write about it after one viewing is to do it a grave injustice.

Story by Arch Oboler. Dialogue by James Weldon Johnson!

Cinematography by Sid Lubow (this is his only credit) and Louis Clyde Stoumen (his only credit, though he’s uncredited for Ida Lupino’s great OUTRAGE (1950)).

Post-Apocalyptic America. The Heart of Human existence.

It’s the next day and I can’t get it out of my head.

Five survivors of a nuclear holocaust – Rosanne, a pregnant woman; Michael, a poet; Mr. Barnstaple, a banker; Charles, a black man; and, Eric, a mountain climber – miraculously find themselves together at a mountain retreat. Barnstaple soon dies of radiation poisoning. Michael and Charles till the soil. Eric does nothing to help, wanting the group to leave and build a New Order in the nearby city. Roseanne, admires Michael, but wants to go to the city to find her husband. She keeps house and gives birth. Eric convinces her to leave with him to go to the city one dawn…and kills Charles when he tries to stop him. The city is barren except for skeletons (one of which is Roseanne’s husband) and some diamond jewels, snatched by Eric. He now has radiation poisoning. Roseanne starts the trek back to the retreat, her baby dying of radiation poisoning along the way. Michael is tilling the soil. Rosanne picks up a shovel.

I want to help you.

Ninety minutes of bleakness. One final moment of Hope.

Revelations. Lot’s wife. Sodom. Cain and Abel. The Serpent. Adam and Eve. The Garden of Eden.

The Story of Mankind. In reverse.

An independent production, not only does it not look or feel like a Hollywood production, it doesn’t look or feel like any other independent production of the time.

It is miracle that two people survived. It is a greater miracle that this film survived. And is available on DVD. With the series label “Martini Movie”. Obviously it wasn’t watched by the Marketing Department.

I will be watching, frame by frame, sequence by sequence, with frequent pauses to focus on how the cinematography and editing tell the story as much as the dialogue.

And then I’ll watch it again. And again.
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
RedRiver
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Re: Dewey's I WAKE UP DREAMING 2013 at the Roxie

Post by RedRiver »

I'm trying to remember if I've seen ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT; confusing it with ACROSS THE PACIFIC. That film, I enjoy in a kind of casual, bike riding way. Light, clipping along, not too serious. Neither as dark as MALTESE FALCON nor as stirring as CASABLANCA. It almost plays as if it's intended to be overshadowed by stronger movies. A second feature with a big name cast. Again, I refer to "Pacific." Not sure about "Night."

WIlliam Demarest as the brains behind the brains? You are blowing my mind!

Gee, Uncle Charley! What's for dinner?
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Re: Dewey's I WAKE UP DREAMING 2013 at the Roxie

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[u][color=#4040BF]ChiO[/color][/u] wrote:
Arch Oboler Night at the Roxie.

Then came
FIVE (Arch Oboler 1951) aka 5IVE. One of the most profound film experiences of my life. To write about it after one viewing is to do it a grave injustice. Ninety minutes of bleakness. One final moment of Hope. Revelations. Lot’s wife. Sodom. Cain and Abel. The Serpent. Adam and Eve. The Garden of Eden. The Story of Mankind. In reverse.

An independent production, not only does it not look or feel like a Hollywood production, it doesn’t look or feel like any other independent production of the time...It is a greater miracle that this film survived...

I will be watching, frame by frame, sequence by sequence, with frequent pauses to focus on how the cinematography and editing tell the story as much as the dialogue.

And then I’ll watch it again. And again.
Whoa man! I like how you wound that up and weaved that whole review. You've got to love miniscule-budgeted films and their inventiveness in telling a story.

My Oboler experience is with "The Arnelo Affair." For my money it is a more than okay. It's no Sodom and Gomorrah, but a very good film exploring an unfulfilled woman who is struggling to keep her marriage together, while fighting the temptation to stray outside her marriage. I'd urge folks to seek that one out. "The Arnelo Affair" stars the lovely Frances Gifford, John Hodiak, George Murphy and Eve Arden.

ChiO...keep 'em coming!
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Re: Dewey's I WAKE UP DREAMING 2013 at the Roxie

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My first foray into Keefe Braselle was as a kid watching "Million Dollar Movie." He was in "The Eddie Cantor Story" which played on Million Dollar Movie for the week. ( "If you missed any part of the movie or wish to see it again..." ) I don't know if I knew he was smarmy when I was a kid, but he looked like he used a whole lot of Brylcreme:

Image

Image
John Hodiak and Frances Gifford in "THE ARNELO AFFAIR."
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Re: Dewey's I WAKE UP DREAMING 2013 at the Roxie

Post by Lzcutter »

ChiO,

Looking forward to seeing you and Elliot tomorrow evening at the Roxie!
Lynn in Lake Balboa

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