In the House
Will there be any consequences for the Cuomo lies and coverup? Don’t hold your breath.
Snippet from an article on Wokeism and the N word by Glenn Harlan Reynolds at nypost.com: “The New York Times has used the word in its pages 6,481 times.” Cancel your subscription, Wokeists.
Clarice, based on The Silence of the Lambs (1991), debuted last night on CBS at ten. Since I nodded off a couple of times — a frustrating facet of life at 70 — it wouldn’t be fair to comment on it. One aspect surprised me. Jenny Lumet, daughter of legendary director Sidney, granddaughter of legendary singer Lena Horne, is one of the producers. I remember her acting in his films but did not know she went on to writing and producing. Her first screenplay was the interesting Rachel Getting Married (2008), directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Anne Hathaway, who was nominated for an Oscar. Her ensuing work veered sharply from such seriousness toward sheer entertainment. She wrote the script for the 2017 version of The Mummy and she is involved in three current Star Trek series. Kudos.
It had been a while since Movies!, channel 5–2 on ota’s in NYC, aired a film noir I hadn’t seen, so I eagerly looked forward to House of Numbers (1957), starring Jack Palance as a man helping his brother escape from San Quentin. I’m not sure how much of the action was filmed at the prison other than the exteriors, but it looked authentic. I won’t divulge details, as the screenplay is intelligently designed to keep the viewer guessing. Yes, it is outlandish, but it is absorbing, and the ending is highly unusual. Harold J. Stone as a guard and Edward Platt as — what else — the warden, lend their considerable talents in support. The lovely Barbara Lang was cast as the moll. Her career was brief. There are only 12 titles under her name at IMDb, but she had a shining moment in L.A. theater, receiving a Best Supporting Actress award for her performance in The Robber Bridegroom, a musical adaptation of the Grimm Brothers fairy tale by Alfred Uhry (book) and Robert Waldman (music). She was afflicted with polio early in life and was told she may not walk again. She recovered and was successful, but her personal life was sorrowful. She married three times, survived a suicide attempt, and was taken by pneumonia at 54 in 1982… The film’s director was Robert Rouse, who co-wrote the screenplay with Don Mankiewicz, adapted from a novel by Jack Finney. Rouse had a solid career, sharing an Oscar with three other writers for the Doris Day-Rock Hudson then risque comedy Pillow Talk (1959), and also writing one of the greatest film noirs ever — D.O.A (1949). He has 18 credits as a writer, eleven as a director. He passed away at 73 in 1987… One other aspect about the movie surprised me, although I don’t know why it should have. The film was shot in Cinemascope, which I associated with color. I googled the matter and found that The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), as well as other notable black and white flicks, was shot in widescreen. Here are the leads of House of Numbers in character:
Here’s a poster. Note the eyes of Palance:
The sun was shining as I stepped outside at 10:30, but it was a teaser. It was apparent as I was driving that clouds would dominate the rest of the day. I spent most of today’s session of the floating book shop in the car out of the cold. My thanks to the young man who overcompensated me for Care of the Soul by Thomas Moore, The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling and The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson; and to the woman who bought a Bible in Russian.
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