Hello. My name is Michael Taylor, and I'm ... well, I'm not an alcoholic -- at least not yet, although the repercussions of Nov. 5 may yet drive me to the bottle. No, today I stand before you to confess that I'm among the very few sentinet Americans who've never seen Young Frankenstein, Mel Brook's epic -- or so I'm told -- reimagining of the Mary Shelly tale and James Whale film. The only explanation I can offer for this cinematic oversight is that I was still wearing a ridiculous straw hat and red-and-white striped shirt while working for minimum wage behind the counter of a Straw Hat Pizza Parlor in Santa Cruz when the film was released in 1974. Money was scarce, and being young, dumb, and full of, uh ... enthusiasm ... whatever spare cash I had after paying the monthly bills was spent obeying the Prime Directive of young straight men: the relentless pursuit of attractive young women. When not slaving at the pizza factory forty hours a week or chasing girls, I was editing my thesis film in the hopes of earning what would prove to be an entirely worthless college degree.
Maybe that's why the post production process took so long...
At any rate, I missed Terri Garr's performance in the film, which put her on the map of Hollywood, and wasn't really aware of her until 1982, when I saw One From the Heart during it's painfully short release. Although most of the world was unimpressed, I loved that movie. Truth be told, I should see it again to find out if it was reallly as good as I thought back then or if I just happened to fall in love with Terri Garr while watching it, but there's no denying that I was besotted with a crush that hasn't faded all these years later, despite the sad news of her recent passing. Her girl-next-door beauty, quick wit, and down-home charm rang my bell in a big way.
NPR's Fresh Air ran an interview with her a few years back in which she tells about getting started in the biz as a dancer who appeared in several Elvis Presley movies, how she got the famous part in Young Frankenstein, and describing her obdurate refusal to let a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis end her career. She soldiered on doing her job the best she could -- which was very well indeed -- until she finally retired in 2011. I never had the chance to meet or work with her during my years in Hollywood, but people who were lucky enough to do so tell me she just wonderful ... and I believe them.
So long, Terri. RIP, and thanks for the memories.
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Sure, it's a bit dated -- at nearly 80 years old, shot in black and white, and a long way from the wide screen, high-def films of today, it could hardly not be -- but it has more heart and honest human emotion than anything I've seen lately. Everyone involved was a master of their craft, and it shows on the screen. This one is definitely worth seeing sometime when you've got three spare hours.
After watching, I googled Teresa Wright to learn more about her career, which was the usual good, bad, and ugly roller coaster ride taken by so many who grasp the brass ring in Hollywood. She appeared in many teriffic movies, including headlining the Hitchcock classic Shadow of a Doubt. Beyond all that, an interesting side note is an addenddum to her contract with Goldwyn:
"The aformentioned Teresa Wright shall not be requlired to pose for photographs in a bathing suit unless she is in the water. Neither may she be photographed running on the beach with her hair flying in the wind. Nor may she pose in any of the following situations: In shorts, playing with a cocker spaniel; digging in a garden; whipping up a meal, attired in firecrackers and holding skyrockets for the Fourth of July; looking insinuatingly at a turkey for Thanksgiving, wearing a bunny cap with long ears for Easter; twinkling on prop snow in a skiiing outfit while a fan blows her scarf, assuming an athletic stance while pretending to hit something with a bow an arrow."
Although I'm not quite sure what her lawyer meant by "twinkling in the snow," I must admit that he was remarkably thorough, and clearly posessed a sense of humor.
This being the Christmas season in a year that's ending on such a dismal note, I'm not sure I can make it all the way to New Years Eve without watching another old classic, It's a Wonderful Life, with an equally magnificent cast directed by the inimitable Frank Capra. I've seen a lot of Capra's films, and like them all, but I'm a complete sucker for this one.
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The Agent on the Loose, Steve Jacob, posted another thoughtful column over on Substack, in which he ponders what the coming four years will mean for Hollywood in particular, and the overall medisphere in general. Not much of what he says is optimisitc, but it rings true -- and there's no question that we're all going to experience "interesting times."
This is one is definitely worth a read.
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If you've seen the Blade Runner -- the original, not the sequel -- you probably noticed the glowing eyes featured by some of the replicants: notably, Rachael and the artificial owl. I assumed it must have been done with an Obie light over the camera, but it was actuallly a very old technique called the Schüfftan Process developed in Germany by cameraman Eugen Schüfftan back in the 1920s. With a little time and effort, you can see for yourself -- as this demonstrates -- but it's probably more worth your time to dig into the importance of eyes in the narrarative of the film. Not having a giant analyltical brain, I hadn't thought about this before ... and now I'm gonna have to watch Blade Runner again. Hey, it's fine with me: that movie is one of my favorites.
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That's it for 2024, kiddos. I wish you all a wonderful holiday season, and the best of luck in the New Year to come.
We're all gonna need it.
