sweet and hot

Sweet & Hot Theme Song

2012-02-11T15:11:00.015-05:00

Here's the new theme song for this blog. The chords are different from the version I created months ago: The second part is a chromatic scale from F7 downwards through B7, while the melody pretty much follows the bass line. It's actually all standard stuff, as to find in many titles for centuries. Same goes for the first part, with the chords F, dm, gm, C7, again standard chords -- which all together makes our theme song a safe thing in things copyright questions. The essential thing now is, HOW we play and sing this crazy musical patchwork, that actually doesn't mean anything. Which actually is the acid test for a decent musician: paraphrasing something that actually doesn't mean a thing, as if it would mean something. LOL

This is how I recorded the sound: (1) Recording of the digital piano as midi file (2) Recording of my vocal part, while replaying the piano (3) Improvising the trombone, while piano volume very low (4) Improvising the cornet, while piano volume very low (5) Cutting all three wave files together and adding two cymbals as sound effect (6) Adding one of my 2010 tap sequences during the video editing

Will We All Die of SOPA?

2012-01-18T05:54:00.013-05:00

Lern more about SOPA, how harmful it can be to the internet:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn_more

Happy New Year 1933!

2011-12-28T17:13:00.005-05:00

The winter 1932/1933 was the toughest since the 1929 crash. We had our crash in 2008, so lets compare upcoming 2012 to 1933: While Franklin D. Roosevelt was on the way in January 1933 and the Republican Herbert Hoover about to leave, we already have President Obama. So our depression didn't develop a Great Depression, although the teabaggers tried to make it worse. Is 2012 gonna be a happier new 1933?

I recorded the whole thing via cam and at the same time the sound on external device. Then I added a few final notes with recorder-clarinet and trombone to the last cornet bars, to have a collective ending.

___________________

Copyright info: This isn't any tune -- it's just: F major, D minor, G minor, C major (a sequence of chords you can find in dozens of tunes); so here isn't gonna be any copyright problem!

'Santa' Already Gone

2011-12-21T14:04:00.007-05:00

It isn't Christmas yet, but 'Santa' has already gone. Why?

His whole name is Saint Nicholas and his death day December 6, 343. And December 6 is his actual day to remember him. We should. Why?

He practically acted like a socialist -- like Jesus. He helped people. What many right-wingers, who call themselves 'Christian', hate like the plague: goodness, kindness, sharing, being unselfish &ct. ....

The big, fat, red dwarf is an abuse of this holy man. You won't see this bizarre figure here on occupied sweet&hot. I would rather load up Easter bunnies for Christmas. For they're cute at least. But this caricature is nothing but ugly. To Christmas belong Mary and Joseph, being homeless right at that night when Jesus was born. So they occupied that famous shed. Got it? This is a message for occupiers! Jesus is one of us!

We're still in Advent -- not yet in the Christmas season. That means, waiting for the Messiah, being prepared for his coming. So stop the stupid party -- or I click you off and zap you away. I do it all the time. Let's go back to the good old ancestors, who came during the 1600s to this innocent land. For we're not innocent anymore, we're awfully decadent. The so-called "American Christmas" is no Christian institution -- it is a dance around the golden calf. And it's even worse than that: terribly stupid and ugly.

Somebody take a non-amplified guitar, others their flutes, clarinets, violins, whatever. The rest please sing. In classical style, or the gospel kind -- both is fine. Then somebody read one of the Bible texts about what happened about 2000 years ago. Even if you don't believe in Christian resurrection: This is the birth of a man who changed the world. He preached love, tolerance, mercy. This man was a progressive, a liberal, a lefty. So this is a message for progressives, for socialists, for occupiers.

We could need some more of all that. And less of the stupid party idiocy.

My 20s Piano Accompaniment

2011-12-12T17:02:00.005-05:00

For all those who play a little piano, wondering how the 20s' jazz stuff would go -- this is how I did it for my last minor-cornet post. In the first video you see a typical kind of four-beat blues accompaniment from the 1920s (left hand plays 4-beat octaves/ right hand 4-beat chords). It is based on the keep-it-simple philosophy: you can't express classical blues phrases on a cornet, if the piano dares a crossover to modern jazz styles. Don't try walking bass here, for its swing character would destroy the 20s character!

In the middle of the first video I show a more nuanced variation as well, but still in a 20s style. Here the bass does a constant octave-change-jump, from pinky to thumb, while the right is a little improvising. Then I demonstrate the two-beat variation -- first played with two hands. Finally I show how to do the whole two-beat with the left hand (the pinky is the bass-finger here), which is the base for stride piano playing. You can play a solo in this style, or at times do an accompaniment as well.

In the second video I show the chords I used for my cornet accompaniment: First a change between D minor (dm) and the seventh chord of A major (A7) -- then a change between dm and B♭7 -- and then the final cadence dm/ B♭7 / A7/ dm. Finally a very typical 20s rhythm, with a four-beat kind of jumping octaves in the bass.

Frankly I'd absolutely prefer a non-electrical acoustic piano. But piano isn't my main instrument; my keyboard is just for arranging and tryouts. I even prefer 100% unplugged singing. Let a skilled person with a loud voice do it. There's always a solution that makes it possible to make music without electricity. During the 20s they always managed it without sound system. How about a speaking trumpet? I tried it -- works fine. I made a big card-board speaking trumpet, about three foot long: It makes a big noise, without any electricity.

It isn't just the environment thought. I find the sound of an amplified string bass ugly. A plain acoustically played, unplugged bass sounds always warmer and more beautifully -- simply natural. The same goes for the good old acoustic piano. The digital piano will always be colder. It is kinda CD quality, but cold. If this wasn't a true statement, live classical music wouldn't sound better than digitalized on CD. In fact the sound of plain strings and plain wood is always warmer. You can mix it over the best mixing console in the world, the result will always make me feel uncomfortable. Of course environment protection is also part of the occupy movement, so it certainly motivates me here on occupied sweet&hot as well.

Here's my decision: I wanna play with banjo players and without piano. Most guitar players come on with amplifiers and I don't accept that anymore. In many clubs they don't have acoustic pianos anymore, so you would need those digital ones. The string bass can actually play without amplifier.... if wind instruments are ready to hold back. Modern dixieland trumpeters feel like playing full blast -- during the 20s they had much more discipline. They always played with non-amplified string bass. It works. Trumpeters/cornetists used mutes very often, so it wasn't too loud anyway. If trumpeters are ready, able and willing, they can always adjust -- even unmuted. Today people feel like they can't live without letting it all hang out in full blast. You can't make 20s music with guys like this. Try to find a soft playing drummer.... extremely rare species in our days. If the drummer makes a hellish noise, the bass and maybe even banjo will need amplifiers. So then I will have to play pretty loud on my cornet (it wouldn't sound old anymore). The clarinet will sure drown in this noise and need a microphone. At least now the banjo needs amplifying too. Even a saxophone will need a microphone and I will have to blow full blast all the time. The overall sound result will be urgh! ....ugly as all amplified music today.

No, no, no! Anybody who isn't ready to adjust, is fired on the spot.

1933 Depression Sound for the 2011 Depression

2011-12-09T07:08:00.005-05:00

Last Sunday I recorded a merciless Great Depression piano rhythm via midi. You can consider this sort of march/tango/blues mixture -- maybe with a klezmer influence too. Don't take these comparisons too literally, for this is an extra style: It comes from 1920s jazz and its roots from the south -- mainly New Orleans. If you try something too tricky (a boogie-woogie bass or something), you won't hit the right character -- keep it simple, just let it stomp! Then you can add that typical muted cornet, desperately moaning, wailing, outcrying*.... Yeah, that's it!

Actually I'm thinking of My Forgotten Man, in the 1933 film musical Gold Diggers of 1933. People in the occupy movement 2011, who'd like to experience how the 30s addressed the same social problems we have today, should see that film! My Forgotten Man was the final number, sung by the great black singer Etta Moten. Etta was really able to express and stage this typical Great Depression desperation. Certainly it originally came out of the pained souls of African-American plantation workers. Don't let the fair Joan Blondell fool you: she was not able to sing that way, it's Etta all the time! At the beginning Joan is speaking the lyrics and it's really great. You hear a muted cornet sound in her background, although it's a little tame. But as soon as Etta Moten starts singing the next chorus, the music turns entirely jazzy and bluesy. So, while blowing my muted cornet, I certainly didn't do it the tame way, but tried to express what Etta presented so amazingly.

I listened to 20s and early 30s original recordings since my

early youth and it became an important part of my nature,

so it's easy to express myself that way.

The forgotten men of 1932/1933 where the veterans of that time: jobless, homeless, starving.... You already feel we know that in 2011 too? Yes, that's the actual reason why I'm going back to the year 1933 right now -- why I occupied my old 30s blog for the occupy movement. Today we have the same Depression problems: People being put out on the streets.... foreclosure..... The Gold Diggers of 1933 actually begin with a Broadway show being foreclosed: premiere supposed to be the next day, but the police come in and take everything away -- girls laid off and nothing to eat. Their director has great ideas, just found an ingenious composer who sings divinely too (Dick Powell), playing the melody of My Forgotten Man on a home piano: "Ain't ya hear it? That waiiiiling....jobs, jobs, jobs!" the director already imagines the final Depression mood for the planed show. All this was on my mind, while recording my minor themes with piano and cornet. I won't play titles from that film musical, because of copyright risks. I'm just aiming at that style and mood.

We have this good old stuff -- the hippies weren't even born then. Those people, 78 years ago, are very much like us! So why not integrate this old Depression culture into the occupy movement of 2011? Why not inspire amateur jazz musicians to join with their instruments? This is our tradition! We aren't just hippies -- we are those 1930s guys as well.

The great advantage of that music is, you can play it 100% unplugged. The musicians can carry their instruments wherever they want, without carrying amplifiers, or having to plug in somewhere. No long-winded sound check -- they just come and start playing at once. Besides, if you're for environment protection, you're likely to appreciate it anyway.

________________

* If the background chords were played too modern, I couldn't play the cornet that way. I would just take out that mute and play swing or bebop phrases. But that's not what we're aiming at here -- we want that stomping and wailing 20s/early 30s sound!

** As I said a few days ago, Thom Hartmann and Steve Keen just began to consider, we're actually having another depression in 2011. Between fall 1929 (the big crash) and fall 1932, were exactly three years -- between our 2008 crash and today are also three years! By the way, President Roosevelt was cooperating with the creators of the musicals 42nd Street and Gold Diggers of 1933. It was about the Depression, but already a way to find out of the Depression: Doing something, creating something, showing something -- it was really a great spirit of optimism accompanying those greatly celebrated premieres in 1933. Read more about it here (this is sort of time travel writing!):

http://sweet&hot/Golddiggers1933/2010-article-in-30s-style

***THE PIANO RHYTHM IN THESE VIDEOS--HOW IT GOES--IN THE NEXT ARTICLE!*** ....in the meantime this piano part is out there:

http://sweet&hot/2011/12/my-20s-piano-accompaniment.html

Japanese Air Strike Ends 30s Protest

2011-12-07T12:02:00.007-05:00

The conspiracy theory, President Roosevelt had staged Pearl Harbor's devastation himself, in order to start the war against Japan, is nonsense. True is, he had foreseen this war, after all there had been a cold war for years. Yet, the average American of the 1930s refused to see these facts, since the 30s had been very pacifist. The central topic had been the forgotten man -- the partly even crippled veteran, being abandoned and betrayed. Pearl Harbor awoke revolting America, which helped Roosevelt to give them an understanding of the impending war.

Nevertheless the change of mood had already started during the months before Pearl Harbor. In my articles on the Jean Arthur film The Devil and Miss Jones you can see, how this pro union comedy flopped. This movie still breathed 30s mood of a revolting divided country. Now, in the presence of Japanese threat, America felt like uniting. Strikes, even unions, became unpopular. It was the begin of the uncritical and unpolitical 40s and 50s, culminating in the McCarthy era. America switched from revolutionary to conservative -- from meaningful to superficial -- from sophisticated to ignorant. Hollywood switched from the smart Jean Arthur type, to the stupid Marilyn Monroe type. It was the initial spark of American materialism and 'American way of life'.

Can the occupy movement switch us back -- out of ignorance and stupidity? I am very much convinced, we can learn a lot from the protesting movement in the 30s....

Occupied sweet&hot

2011-12-01T13:22:00.006-05:00

sweet&hot is occupied. That means, I occupied my own blog right now.

You think I'm nuts? Well, if you're 'Rockefeller'....I mean: if you're one of the one-percent-ers, you probably need to think that way. But if you're not, you should actually like what I'm doing right now. I am communicating a change on sweet&hot -- from now on this blog will show the parallels between 30s' social unrest and modern occupy movement. There are plenty of parallels....

Occupy 30s culture and tradition--do away with the hippy prejudice!

Since the last two days I heard Thom Hartmann talking about "depression" 2011, which really made me sit up. Yesterday he had Professor Steve Keen on Chicago's Progressive Talk Radio, and even he was like, "Yes, we are in a depression." This doesn't give any reasons to start dreaming of the 30s Great Depression. Those who post, "I wanna be a depression housewife," are ridiculous. The Great Depression wasn't neat. A depression is always a reason to be concerned. And it is a signal, to change sweet&hot right away, and do it the way you already see in the header. I had planed something like this anyway -- otherwise I wouldn't have reopened sweet&hot.

People who prefer nothing but unpolitical movies, should think that over. The unpolitical attitude is irresponsible and selfish. We have to reorganize our society and nobody should feel like this wasn't of his or her business! And this is not alone an American matter. No, this depression affects all people in this world. Everybody who is interested in the new ideas of occupied sweet&hot is welcome to share. Above all those, who are active in the occupy movement.

If you can tap, occupy your tap shoes for the occupy movement!

I'm going to show, the social unrest in 2011 is not just a hippie thing. Protest, occupation has a much longer history and tradition, as the hippie generation. A little nostalgia could make this movement a wee bit shiner: I'll show you the critical and political aspects in 30s movies. Maybe this helps some occupiers to feel a bit more human, since the one-percent-ers are trying to dehumanize you....

Thom Hartmann always ends his radio show:

"Go and occupy something!"

Clarissa Smith

The Devil and Miss Jones—Reissue

2011-12-01T01:01:00.007-05:00

I was quite bold to count The Devil and Miss Jones into the wartime film issue. In fact it was released eight months before the Japanese strike against Pearl Harbour. But nonetheless the common thinking already changed during the months before December 7, 1941, and that was probably no good for a pro-union film.

„Unfortunately the film's pro-union message did not serve it particularly well at the box office ...“, wrote Jean Arthur's biographer John Oller. After all there had been a cold war going on before the hot one. And labour-rebellion wasn't any longer popular, because Americans did feel quite threatened in those days. But on the other hand unions had been useful to still the „wildcat strikes“ of the 30s, which had been pretty successful for factory-workers during the depression. Employers never liked unions, but since 1935 unions were rather welcome, to prevent wild sit-down strikes. „From the government's point of view it was an aid to stability of commerce“, wrote Howard Zinn.*

Rebellious wildcat strike in "The Devil and Miss Jones"

So I'm still unaware of the reason why The Devil and Miss Jones didn't sell so well. All those who saw it yesterday on TCM, might guess it: Was it perhaps because of a radical pro-labor viewpoint anyhow? Did the film proclaim strikes much to emphatically? Well, this might have irritated a few people. As Zinn says, „... the war did something else: patriotism, the push for unity of all classes against enemies overseas, made it harder to mobilize anger corporations. During the war, the CIO** and AFL*** pledged to call no strikes.“

To have it not too academical here, I add a few more quotations as footnote. It's a fine thing to speculate a bit, until I will have seen the film ...****

By Clarissa Smith—first issued July 10, 2010

_________________

* Howard Zinn, „A People's History of the United States“ - sometimes Zinn seems to bee a bit 'radical' himself, but it's rather interesting to read.

** CIO, the Congress of Industrial Organizations

*** AFL, the American Federation of Labor

**** Howard Zinn about the change in American minds: „The coming of World War II weakened the old labor militancy of the thirties because the war economy created millions of new jobs at higher wages.“ Zinn ends his chapter about „Self-Help in Hard Times“, before beginning with chapter 16 „A People's War?“ this way: „Many Americans began to change their thinking in those days of crisis and rebellion. In Europe, Hitler was on the march. Across the Pacific, Japan was invading China. The Western empires were being threatened by new ones. For the United States, war was not far off.“ - All those quotations I inserted here, come from chapter 15, about the years before the war.

The Veteran and Miss Arthur—Reissue

2011-12-01T01:00:00.009-05:00

The great actress Jean Arthur was an extremely sophisticated and critical progressive. This is why she will continue being patroness on occupied sweet&hot. I love Jean Arthur like a sister, so this is a happy decision anyway to me. The following excerpt was issued in July 2010:

In this moment I consider The Devil and Miss Jones the best of all Jean Arthur films. Well, this might change again, as soon as I will have seen Mr. Smith Goes to Washington again. Whatever, I'm ranking The Devil and Miss Jones at the same level.

Jean and her husband Frank Ross (m), the producer of "The Devil and Miss Jones", at the set.

This film is a social comedy-drama. Its content was politically quite explosive in 1941, because spontaneous strikes were absolutely illegal. If departement store owner Merrick (Charles Coburn) wouldn't have given order not to call the police, it might have turned out quite dramatically -- as in reality: At the Memorial Day Massacre 1937, the police killed ten strikers in Chicago. „Autopsies showed the bullets had hit the workers in the back as they were running away“.*

Jean Arthur and Charles Coburn in "The Devil and Miss Jones"

Yes, The Devil and Miss Jones is quite radical, it contains rebellious scenes and justifies so-called "wildcat strikes". But I adore this film, showing social conscience in a very human and hearty way. Here Jean Arthur's character is just a store clerk, selling shoes. But a sophisticated activist for employees' rights as well. And this is very typical Jean.

During the 30s, rebellion was quite popular -- in the 40s not any longer. Producer Frank Ross (at this time still Jean's husband) was disappointed because the film didn't sell as well as expected. Jean had even sacrificed her conviction, not to do any cheesecake posing: To help this film-project, she did pose in a bathing suit. But what for? Once more we discover a reason to quit film-business for Jean (as she did three years later).** Again Hollywood missed a chance to appreciate her with an Oscar. Charles Coburn got one as best supporting actor.

It's obvious: Hollywood lost Jean, because this institution didn't appreciate her. No use to cry crocodile tears.

________________

* From Howard Zinn's „A People's History of the United States“

** The „why?“s of so many of her fans considering, I might compose all those reasons later. To me there is no „why?“ It's too obvious.

The Crazy Chicago 'Band' in My Last Post

2011-11-19T05:09:00.026-05:00

The rather peculiar music clip in my last post, began with a rather peculiar solo instrument. It sounds pretty much like a clarinet, but with different fingering. Although it has an ordinary clarinet mouthpiece. If you turn this 'clarinet' around, it looks pretty much like a recorder -- and indeed the fingering is exactly the same like on recorders with baroque fingering. I ordered this clarinet-recorder hybrid, because I'm an experience improviser on recorder. So, having a clarinet sound, without having to learn another fingering, makes sense for me. Funnily I was able to play blues, after trying a couple minutes. The day after the evening I got this instrument, I already recorded/filmed Shrunk Clarinet Blues, for the video in my last post.

Occupied sweet&hot occupies the depression sound: I used recorder-clarinet, pocket cornet, trombone and before this digital piano.

My main instrument in jazz is the trumpet. But right now I prefer the cornet you see below. In a way you might say, trumpet and cornet is the same instrument -- same tuning and same fingering. The difference is only a shade in the color of the sound. This here is 'only' a little pocket cornet, but I love its sound very much. It sounds great! I used a very special wa-wa mute for this little cornet: WA-WAH DU ALL is the precise name of this mute -- being crafted in East Chicago since the 1930s. Chicago suits well anyway: The music I played in the video was 20s Chicago style absolutely. And this WA-WAH DU ALL is my favorite mute, although it looks a little like taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Whatever, this relatively heavy mute makes a great sound for 20s music in this little cornet.

The third solo instrument I play in the crazy video, is a trombone. It doesn't sound quite convincing alright. But to be totally frank, in fact I was struggling much more with the brand-new clarinet-hybrid. Nevertheless, I somehow managed to improvise two nice bluesy clarinet choruses. Whereas trombone has been my main instrument for many years -- I made quite some money as semi-professional jazz trombonist, before I changed to trumpet in November 2004. The problem was, I kinda unmothballed my old trombone and skipped the warming up. After an hour practicing I would get my old skills back. But as you can hear in the video: my second trombone chorus already got better than the first one.

Well, the whole thing I played in my last post, was a joke. I like to tease my readers with unusual things. Anyway, how can you warm up on three wind instruments for one tune? It's always better to concentrate on one instrument at one time. After a warming up on cornet, I might have played a better cornet solo. But I practice cornet daily and can compensate technical problems like this. When I recorded Shrunk Clarinet Blues, I could only play loud clarinet notes -- unable to play low. I just screamed the blues out. LOL .... Well, the fingering was no problem, but I had never tried a clarinet or saxophone before! In the meantime, I'm able to play so very soft and tender -- I might move you to tears.

Screen shot from last yesterday's raw video. As you can see,

I put the mute on the keyboard during the filming. Of course

I had played the piano accompaniment on this keyboard,

recording it via midi sequencer.

________________________

Watch and listen to the Shrunk Clarinet Blues video, as recorded the day before this article:

http://Shrunk_Clarinet_Blues.HOTml

Link to one of my wa-wa trumpet mutes, that isn't WA-WAH DU ALL, just to compare:

http://this_is_how_an_ordinary_trumpet_wa-wa_looks_like

Shrunk Clarinet Blues

2011-11-18T13:16:00.003-05:00

Since C.K. Dexter communicated a 20s revival, I've been thinking about a very special post, designed in a 20s mood. Here is a little film clip with 1920s jazz. We hear the typical New Orleans Jazz instrumentation, but all these instruments seem to have been played by just one person.

We even have an original photo of the recording session!

The first two choruses are being presented by sort of clarinet. We don't see much of this instrument, but it obviously has no bell, as it is much shorter (shrunk?) than an ordinary clarinet is supposed to be. Then we hear a cornet solo, with a wa-wa mute. The last solo is being played by a trombone.

When has Shrunk Clarinet Blues been recorded/ filmed?

The question to this video today is: When might it have been filmed.... or when has this blues been recorded, as above to hear and see? There is a little poll on the sidebar, were all you people can the age of Shrunk Clarinet Blues.

Final solving in following post:

http://about_the_ShrunkClarinetBlues_session_band....

Ginger-like Gal and 1%er

2011-11-07T03:52:00.009-05:00

Years ago I already saw a film with John Wayne and Claire Trevor and already thought: Claire is quite a bit like Ginger Rogers. Good, she isn't funny -- actually not a comedian. But somehow she's got kinda Ginger's looks and charms. Did Claire actually learn via watching Ginger for years? Maybe.... not sure.

Finally Wayne shoots the bad guy, Claire's very much afraid it might have killed her future bride-groom. I tell ya, this love story isn't too mushy: two outsiders slowly fall in love with each other in a stage coach and at stage coach stations. They go through tough Apache attacks, acting that bravely and noble-minded, that their travelling companions have to stop despising them. Another real bad guy is a real nasty 1%er, my dear fellow 99%ers of the occupy movement! He's obviously a bankster too -- at least a rich man. Well, he is real nasty....

My brand-new high-definition 'screen shot' technology

Funnily enough, I recognized the landscape of Arizona at once -- only cuz I've 'been' there with my beloved Jean Arthur in the great western ARIZONA (lol). By the way Jean was a lefty, I am too and these days I'm so very politicized..... I've got hardly time to see movies. But well, yesterday I saw STAGECOACH. Another film I bought months ago and didn't see it yet: BROADWAY MELODY OF 1940. Since last night its cover is smiling at me from the shelf, while STAGECOACH went back into the closet. But only God knows when I will have the doggoned time to see Eleanor Powell with Fred Astaire....

Lonesome rider in the desert of Arizona? Nope, lady bug on my bed.

What else am I doing right now? I'm having a little winter guest. A lady bug was sitting on the curtain the other day. Years ago I got one over the winter and finally let it fly into the spring air. Let's see whether it'll work out this year.....

More on lady bugs as winter guests and what they need? Read here:

http://What-ladybugs-really-need-in-winter!!!

Who's the Nut in "Morning Glory"?

2011-10-11T12:31:00.009-04:00

The other day I bought Morning Glory, and last night I actually saw it the first time.

I've never been Katharine Hepburn's fan, though didn't despise her. I just adore Mary Duncan in this movie, as actress -- as I admire her character Rita. She is real, forceful, smart -- and she's actually right! Speaking for herself, fighting for her interest.

Screen before Morning Glory starts--we don't show movie stills

Hepburn's whiny character simply cannot please me. Should that ridiculously naïve and nutty girl be my idol -- constantly denying reality?! I do not eat this same old mushy Julia-whimpering. It was already dated in 1933 and today it's a laugh. I know why I prefer Jean Arthur and her leading characters -- especially after this film.

By the way: marriage is not 'the solution' -- a girl can be happy on stage, or unhappy in a marriage. Or the other way round. Hepburn's message is for VSP -- very silly people. Those who online search nothing but images (I saw them here on the stats), hardly reading a line. No screenshots on this blog. This is for readers.

_______________________

P.S.: Just to make it clearer: Women who endorse weak women types, are political opponents. Men who find weak women attractive, are my natural enemy. Whoever wants to see us weak is potentially harmful to women. This film endorses the weak type of a woman, and that's the reason for my hard critic. Same goes especially for most of Marilyn Monroe's films. As I heard, Kate Hepburn was pretty revolting, and I like that. So I guess, she would be fine with this article.

Jean Arthur — If You Could Only Cook

2011-06-18T05:42:00.010-04:00

Whenever I'm being asked to tell my favorite Jean Arthur picture, I begin with Easy Living and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington — then after a little while I add, "Oh, there's actually If You Could Only Cook too."

Well, it was the first DVD I ordered, after not being able to find any more Jean Arthur films in the store.

Want the plot? Get it on the Times Square Observer, my other blog:

Link: If_You_Could_Only_Cook---read_about_the_lot_here....

The Depression Is Over!

2011-05-27T17:54:00.005-04:00

Sorry, I have to dedicate this article to the young man, who has constantly been annoying me since June (1935). His name is Muzzy Marcellino, and he sings that silly "You Saved My Life", with Ted Fio Rito and His Orchestra. Obviously one of those depressed individuals, temporarily lifted into a pink cloud of happiness.

His crush — probably an unexperienced brat from some highly neurotic family — cannot foresee it yet (he actually needs a psychiatrist, before trying with girls). Whatever, after a couple weeks that poor gal will begin to feel, she's chosen to help him, for he'll slowly be drifting back to depression.....

No, we don't want that old long underwear stuff anymore!

I always loved "You Are My Lucky Star", and that brand-new, sweet "Moon Over Miami" is very romantic. But after all it's getting a little bit too much, and I think it's high time for a fresh breeze.

People don't speak about THE "Swing" yet (well, you already hear the phrase "swing it!"), but it's already there. Benny Goodman's mixture of jazz and really hot dance stuff gets more and more popular. Soon the doors will burst and the fresh breeze changes everything.....

The Depression is over! I very much hope so.......

Link: Read_some_more_about_what's_musically_in_the_air......

I Gotta Unfreeze This Project Again!

2011-05-27T06:45:00.007-04:00

Here's my final decision: I have to take my 30s DVDs and CDs out of the icebox again and wait until July 1936. Why???

Well, on July 13, 2011 it'll be July 1936. So I'll switch my 30s calendar to July 13, 1936 on that day. That means 100% real-time in my 30s calendar --- absolutely synchronized to 2011 time.

Big advantage: We won't get to the 40s so soon, for I don't like them so very.

Quite revealing: I'll stop growing older four times faster than normal time, which has been really-really scary!

Very practical: No more Christmas in summer --- that had been most confusing indeed.

C h e e r s !

Clarissa

Scientists Figured New 30s Time-Spin!

2011-05-26T15:54:00.019-04:00

Our astronomers figured out it works! By stopping the spin of all planets, it is possible to freeze time until May 31, 2011 -- of course only within our 1935 time.

This is how our scientists figured out the new 30s blogger-time-spin

So what will happen after May 31? Another big bang??? .... How about a band instead of the bang? "Big band" will be so much more fitting in upcoming 1936....

Here's my solution: I freeze the present 30s time of this blog's calendar until July, and change our 30s time to real-time. After all that, a year will really last a whole year, I'll have much more time and it won't be so stressing anymore.

Ouch, My Back!

2011-05-14T15:24:00.006-04:00

I'd like to know whether Eleanor Powell later suffered from chronic back pain. Whatever, in Broadway Melody of 1936 (released in 1935) you hear her lumbar vertebrae downright crack, while she is bending down backwards. Poor little intervertebral discs! I get backache myself while watching this.

Of course Eleanor is immensely important to me. Ruby Keeler 's tap specialty numbers are rather short and Ginger Roger's very rare. So Eleanor is really the ideal female model, to improve my own tap style.

This was my personal motivation, why Broadway Melody of 1936 is so very important. A more objective article on this film musical is available on my WordPress blog:

Link: "Broadway Melody of 1935" on WordPress............

What Did Jean Arthur Do to 'Diamond Jim'?

2011-05-11T17:43:00.010-04:00

The poor man looks like having seen a ghost! Well, it was no one else than Jean Arthur's character Jane Matthews, with her striking charm. She just came in, their eyes met and Edward Arnold's character, Diamond Jim, is heart-stricken deeply.

I didn't know Jean could embody that quality of colossal temptation! Well, the quality on Youtube is rather blurry, but it's great, that this film is available anyway.

Wanna look at a still of 'the temptation'? Just get it on my WorldPress blog. But don't you complain, if you end up heart-stricken....

Link: Edward_Arnold_&_Jean_Arthur:_"Diamond_Jim"...

Jean Arthur — Public Hero #1

2011-04-17T18:09:00.003-04:00

This 1935 picture has a lot of drive, in a typical 30s mixture: It is a mystery, at times even a bit tending to be a thriller. But it's also a very funny comedy, as a melodrama, suddenly turning into happy end.

Chester Morris, as public hero, seems to have two charming girlfriends: Jean Arthur and the 'tommy gun' — they never appear on screen together, but quite often. While Jean 'shoots' with her mouth most charmingly, diverse serious shootouts leave bloody trails. At times it's really getting that tough.

Before seeing the Public Hero #1, I would never have believed, Jean Arthur and Chester Morris could make such lovely and cute couple. But in fact they do make a most beautiful couple. Jean, beautiful as ever, is extraordinarily funny.

Get the plot, as many other informations, on my WordPress blog:

Link: Jean Arthur Hilarious in Public Hero #1..................

Jean Arthur — Party Wire

2011-04-06T16:13:00.003-04:00

The fact that this actually lovely film plays in a 'hick town', is probably the reason why it never got to fame. Jean Arthur, as Madge Oliver, plays the nice, natural girl you might know in your neighborhood. Not sensational, but very beautiful.

Her leading man, Victor Jory, touched me very much. His character Matthew is awfully kind, understanding and sophisticated. And of course Jory is a most imposing and charming man. I saw him the first time here in Party Wire — and from now on he is ranking as one of my five favorite actors.

To me Jean and Victor are the ideal couple — very cute. I'd like to hear Jean's opinion, but this pairing leaves me very happy. If you love to cry over happy ends, this picture may suit you very well......

And in case you're dying to know how a "party wire" can disturb love, just look it up on my other blog. There you get more informations about the plot — as lots of pictures.....

Link: Jean_Arthur_Touches_in_Party_Wire..........

Jean Arthur's First Screwball Comedy

2011-03-22T16:00:00.005-04:00

Was It Happened One Night really the begin of Screwball Comedy? It had been released February 22, 1934 and seems more nice than screwball to me. For exactly 365 days later (February 22, 1935) The Whole Town's Talking comes out. And these days I'm really asking myself: Was this crazy mystery-comedy the very first Screwball Comedy ever?

The Whole Town's Talking seems almost forgotten today, and many people feel like Mr. Deeds Goes to Town was Jean Arthur's actual start as great comedienne. It is really necessary to re-release The Whole Town's Talking! Why isn't this Screwball Comedy a bestseller in the DVD silver screen branch of the early 2000s?

The Whole Town's Talking is hilarious, full of wonderfully crazy ideas. There is so much screwball stuff going on in this film — I didn't know where to begin reviewing it on my WordPress blog. And when this film came out in February 1935 it impressed and inspired a lot of people. Because Jean is so fresh, so sassy and witty as never seen before.

This was the start of something completely new in the 30s. As was to read in Variety: "She's gone blonde and fresh. Effect on her personality is to produce a new girl." Edward G. Robinson hit the bullseye, characterizing this new girl "fresh like peppermint" in his autobiography. He was supposed to know — he was her first film lover since Jean Arthur became a star a year ago. Whirlpool was great too, but there her leading film 'lover' played the character of her father. Now we have this extremely screwball love story with Edward G. Robinson, in The Whole Town's Talking. And it's mighty cute.

Here is my yesterday's review in the Time Square Observer:

Link: "The Whole Town's Talking" review....

Jean Arthur in Silents and on Stage

2011-02-16T17:42:00.011-05:00

Jean Arthur and Gary Cooper where old fellows, since those days they made silent westerns. Her first silent film was Somebody Lied, released in October 1923 ... did you figure age 22? ... right.

For some reason she couldn't finish high school and had to work as stenographer. Seems she had to earn money for the family, for father didn't/ couldn't work. At about the same time she began to model a bit. That was all in New York Town. Fox Film liked her and so she got the chance to go to Hollywood in summer 1923. So let me say: She came from high-school to modeling and from modeling to film. The stage came later too.

Jean Arthur as Peter Pan -- 1950/1951

Her first stage play opened December 1930, in Pasadena CA. Then she continued with films, but not quite successful. In late 1931 she went back to New York, wanted to see Hollywood no more.
Bad time, but she was lucky enough to have a rich sweetheart. Like her mother he was a member of Christian Science Church (astonished truly Ginger loving fellows?) -- it fit pretty well. They married and then she tried to find work as stenographer. But no chance in 1932: Almost all companies broke, no work. Broadway wanted her. She didn't want to go back to showbiz, they just had seen some of her films.
The first play in New York opened in January 1932, the last in October 1933 -- let me count the plays: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 -- pretty thorough school -- later she said herself, she learned a lot.

After all this we are exactly at that point in late 1933, when she was in California over the holidays and there talked into Whirlpool. That was a hit and thus the Jean as we know her was born.

Jean Arthur, siting at the far right, in Peter Pan

Jean was quite a smart showgirl. She insisted on timeout in her contracts with Columbia, so she could do a stage play on Broadway from time to time. And after quitting Columbia she did more stage plays. The most successful of course was Peter Pan, opening in April 1950 -- huge success. She did the choreographing and danced her own stuff. But her long blond hair was gone since then, because Peter Pan, certainly has short hair. So that's the reason why Jean had to wear that ugly wig in Shane. One thing I have to criticize: Those unnaturally curls, most accurate at any day- and nighttime -- as a homesteader's wife -- pshaw! (Looks like they gave her another wig later, because it looks better in the middle).

Peter Pan, a big success, opened Apr. 1950 and closed Jan. 1951

So let's find an end with Saint Joan: Since the twenties she had always dreamed to do Peter Pan and Saint Joan. In September 1954 Saint Joan opened, but the director was an idiot and the producer obviously a heel. They didn't let her act as she was used to -- the director disliked the typical Jean Arthur catch in her voice. Soon after the opening her nerves were gone and she got physically sick. Saint Joan -- her lifetime dream -- had to close and they blamed it on her (that's the point where I'm supposed to come in with the shot-gun!). It took her a long time to get well after that....

Thanks Pinkie, for inspiring me to write all this! It was actually a comment, or let me say: an out-of-place comment. :)

Jean Arthur in Whirlpool

2011-02-13T12:31:00.013-05:00

Whirlpool is the first big hit, Jean Arthur appeared in — released in May 1934. A masterly motion picture with lots of drama. And Jean already plays academy-award-worthy.

What's right, what wrong? By this film we can discuss endlessly and deeply. Should a husband fake his suicide, so she is free to marry again? Not even if a couple has to bear twenty years prison? We shouldn't forget, there was unborn Sandy on the way....

Twenty four years later Sandy (Jean Arthur) and her father (Jack Holt) find each other. At once it is great love, as should be between father and daughter. But unfortunately it has to be secret love. And even more unfortunately a gang of gangsters and their criminal lawyer have no charity for this wonderfully innocent love story.

Link: Read_more_about_"Whirlpool".......

Suddenly Jean Showed up

2011-02-06T11:44:00.010-05:00

September 1934 began as a Dames month, as scheduled on my calendar. Yesterday Pinkie gave me a tip, how to find In Person (1935, with Ginger Rogers) on YouTube. This got me into a place full of early Jean Arthur movies — all missing links in my archive. My first realization: Jean was in 1929 and 1930 not the modestly talented actress I was told. It seems she ate this judgement herself, but I don't any longer.

My private 30s 'Movie Theatre' in action

Dames is off my daily movie program from now on, although it was supposed to run the whole week until next Tuesday. But I've got to work on Jean now. At first I'll write my Dames article as quickly as possible. Then I start a second article on Whirlpool. This film is really darling. Something about the perhaps greatest love on earth: between father and daughter.

http://Read-article-on-DAMES-right-here-now.....

What a Sunday!

2011-01-31T17:13:00.014-05:00

It was really tough yesterday, after having slept rotten the night before. I tried to catch up a little sleep in the morning, but it didn't work. So I got up and tried to prepare for my usual WordPress Sunday article. Unfortunately this didn't work either, although I had printed six pages with plenty of information the day before.

'Cozy' Sunday with lots of paper -- The four pages in the middle are FDR's June 1934 address

No wonder I kind of chatted all over the Sunday with other Bloggers. It was pretty swell though, until I finally remembered my 'job in the 30s'..... My idea had been another article on hit songs of 1934. On June 28th had been President Roosevelt's "Address to the Critics" and I had hoped to involve a few of his thoughts. The third point was to question the future of jazz after the depression. But it all didn't fit together and so my six pages turned out absolutely useless.

So what did I finally do? I just wrote sometn' on the last point. It is an issue in summer 1934 indeed. This was published yesterday on WordPress, but I was too tired and fed up to get me to work here on Blogspot too.

You miss the word "swing"? Well, it actually doesn't exist in 1934 -- not yet as term for a style of music. Here's the WordPress article:

http://sweetandhot.wordpress.com/todays-popular.......

Wa-Wa

2011-01-22T18:41:00.017-05:00

Sorry, I'm quite ridiculous tonight. I'm going in a big way for Dames. The record was made on June 15 and I just decided: "Okay, give it a pass and put it in the 1934 mix!" But the funny melody and the banging rhythm drove me crazy. So it ran on repeat all day. I'm still so excited, it's hard to sit here and type.... in the next minute I might jump of my seat and dance again (although I'm fairly tired already). That's what this song does to me. I'm actually not nuts about the lyrics, but drop it.

I reckon it's not a bad idea to publish that record already in June, because if the film will start in August, people will already know its title song. While Dames is still ringing out in the background, I have to think of tomorrow's issue: A film that actually was released in May, after "Born to Be Bad", but I had decided to write my WordPress issue on it in June (which is now). "Born to Be Bad" is so deep, it was just not possible to work on a second film. I had to concentrate on that one. But tomorrow's film will go together with the Hay's Office issue. And it fits -- you'll see how....

Now, what is this? Actually I just wiped off the dust, but I still see some.

My favorite scene in this film is when the camera goes under the dance orchestra's grand piano, you hear the bass boom-booming and see what?.... Oh, a trombone wa-wa mute! I actually had crushed on a different trumpet wa-wa type, but this scene here made me re-crush on this shape (of course the smaller one for trumpet).

Wa-wah mutes make the sound kinda frog-like while you can generate that "wa-wa" with your hand. Maybe I'll do a mute demonstration someday via video -- might be interesting to a few people. Well, mutes are quite important during the 30s: The music was not so noisy as today. They even used bowler hats to soften the noise of brass instruments. Today people are used to great big noise in jazz, but they never get that whenever I play.

Well-well-well, here goes the WordPress article:

http://sweetandhot.wordpress.com/2011/01/23/thin-stew/

"You're Just a Beautiful, Bad Girl"

2011-01-16T18:13:00.013-05:00

These were Cary Grant's rather hard words to Loretta Young's character Letty. Finally he loves her and tries to make her stay. But this time she pretends to agree on being a "bad girl":

"What do you care anyway? I'm bad. You said it yourself. I was born that way, see...."

But you can darn well see how she suffers, certainly loves him as well....

And I suffered with her, all the May 1934 through.... or at least the week since Wednesday. Were did my marital moral go all of a sudden? After all Cary Grant's character Malcolm has a wife named Alice. Or is this perhaps a special case?

Maybe it is. See, the juvenile authorities took away Letty's seven years old son. If Cary now goes and adopts that boy, it can happen faster than we might have guessed: First he loves the boy and then his mother too. But can this really be? And what is the best for the boy??

Well, I've spilled an awful lot of tears, seeing this every evening. But meanwhile I see a silver lining. They can't keep Letty away forever. A seven years old boy will never forget his mother....

Get the story on my WordPress blog:

http://sweetandhot.wordpress.com/nothing-hurts-like..../

Bunch of Hooey

2011-01-09T11:56:00.018-05:00

A man, with nothing but a knife, wrestling with a lioness — finally throwing this big cat into the water. This is impossible. These animals are so insanely strong and quick! In reality Tarzan would at least be gravely wounded. You can’t compare a lion’s teeth and claws to those of dogs — they’re very much sharper. The only true fact in this scene: Lion’s dislike water indeed (tigers don’t). That’s why this cat-actress finally flew. But this lioness obviously was tame and didn't mean to hurt Mr. Weissmuller. Nevertheless she certainly could hurt him gravely. A leopard is less stronger than a lion. But look what this one is doing to a hunter. The cat is actually brushing this big strong man…. just notice the injuries it caused in this YouTube film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kuypQYeBmo

Whew, that’s reality! We humans are really clumsy, compared to those cats. That mad leopard runs faster than you can point with your gun! A knife is a joke — it would be hit out of your fist! Just imagine what a lion could cause — less aggressive but much stronger….

My nice bedroom-tiger — safe alternative to a living cat

What might this lion have done to him, if the hunter wasn’t a pretty cool (and lucky) shot?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEIGqD80N6U&NR=1

Many humans get killed by hippopotamuses. In fact these animals are more dangerous than lions. Normally a lion wouldn’t attack a human being. But hippopotamuses often do. Very-very dangerous! Well, Tarzan always kills those relatively peaceful cats, using a hippopotamus as sort of ferryboat. But why is he killing that rhinoceros? It can be pretty dangerous alright. But why didn’t they just climb a tree? Lions can climb trees alright, but rhinoceroses can’t. So does that film really show a sound natural jungle life? If that mug kills animals without reason?!

Finally, a huge 'army' of lions appear. The film tells us, they all go for human meat. At first lions live in small groups — just families with one male leader who never tolerates rivals. Secondly lions actually don’t eat humans. It happens more often that a tiger specializes on hunting human beings. Lions do that rather seldom, mostly if an old one is lonesome and unable to hunt animals. Well, if unarmed, we humans are easy to get, because we’re weak, clumsy and slow. But honestly all those big cats can be nice pets like dogs, if you bring them up from an early age.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQj5IZBce6A

Baroque angel — how much nudity can our civilization take?

My WordPress article tries to find an answer to the debate Tarzan and His Mate causes in 1934. Is nudity really the great moral danger, or isn’t rather the film’s philosophy the actual threat to civilization? Get it right here:

http://sweetandhot.wordpress.com/decline-of-civilization

Kong Won't Dance

2011-01-09T09:12:00.010-05:00

Finally all you guys have a right to know the truth: In 1934 Easter Sunday falls on April 1st. That means, the last article was on account of April Fool's Day. King Kong never had a grandson in the 30s and there was no such thing as a tap-dancing Kong.

This was nothing but a montage, made in ms.paint.

Link: Read_more_about_reasons_why_Kong_won't_dance.........

Of course today's article will be rather serious....

HAPPY EASTER 1934!

2011-01-05T16:49:00.007-05:00

RKO is planing a new King Kong comedy, after the success of The Son of Kong. This time with Kong's grandson. Kind of dancing ape....

Get the sensational story right here:

http://sweetandhot.wordpress.com/kong-comedy-in-october/

Little Tap Interlude, Until Today's Article Will Finally Come Over

2010-12-19T08:16:00.023-05:00

Yesterday my neighbor below me went out with his dog, since the sun was shining. So I was free to tap. And as the sun shone through my balcony door, there was plenty of light to film the whole thing.

The background music belonged to one of my compositions years ago. The funny thing about it: I played all the instruments myself. You hear two 'trumpets' and one trombone. But the trumpets weren't really trumpets - they are pitched trombones. So I actually played three trombone parts. The rest comes from a synthesizer: piano, tuba, accordion and strings. The whole thing was an experiment, to create the sound of an early-30s dance orchestra.

Well, this was just an orchestra accompaniment and the melody is supposed to be sung. Whatever, it is no copyright problem and so I prefer to use it here. And it's alright with my tap rhythm-style, because my kind of phrasing is different from modern tap or the swing kind. It's just my beloved pre-swing style. Not cool, not swingy - just hot.

What Today's New Issue Is Going to Be About:

Now, in January 1934, I'm looking back to 1933, having a little musical revue. Various hit melodies of 1933 musical films have been released on records - mostly sung by different artists. Some of them have been No.1 hits.

Now you can read about this on my WordPress blog - just click here:

http://sweetandhot.wordpress.com/These-Were-the-Hits-in-1933/

110 Years Jean

2010-10-17T09:55:00.011-04:00

Jean Arthur has many attitudes that surprised me, for I always had them too. Her love of animals included bugs too and that's the reason why I decided to present Florian on her birthday. Florian came to me on a sunny and mild January day. And since it got much colder the following days, I decided to keep him.

Jean, I hope it makes you a little happy, if I present Florian on your birthday...

Bugs are not as dumb as many people think. They can even get tame, if fed regularly. Florian sat up and begged whenever my finger came near to him, since he knew there would be a little honey at the tip. It was just like feeding a little rabbit with a bottle. Finally it was darn hard to let him fly away in April.

Back to 1933 -- the actual year when Jean started as skilled movie actress. She had given up her Hollywood career in late 1931 and returned to New York. But though being a skilled secretary, she couldn't get a job during those Depression years. All she could do was acting in Broadway plays. So having returned to Hollywood in 1934 she turned out to be a much better actress than she had been before.

During her time on Broadway Jean appeared in two movies though: Her 1933 films are THE PAST OF MARY HOLMES (shot in Hollywood, over her Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays) and GET THAT VENUS (shot it Fort Lee, New Jersey). But I have no idea how to get those...
______________________

A little further information on lady bugs as our winter guests:
Lady bugs eat a lot before they go to winter sleep, in order to get through the winter. But in winter they really have to sleep. If they don't, running around instead, they use up their storage and starve. All bugs must have it cool in order to sleep. I had Florian at the bathroom window, near to a wireless thermometer device: 40/50°F (5-10°C) was actually low enough. But if he started running around, I fed him and opened the window a little more after that. I covered his case with a towel, for he slept even better in the dark. Lady bugs love honey, but I'm not sure whether this is an ideal nutrition on the long run. So I guess they better not use up all their summer storage and live just on honey. In our heated apartments lady bugs feel like in summer. And so they start running, to find something to eat. They run and run, until they starve. This is the reason why we often find dead lady bugs when doing our spring cleaning. So if I'll find one alive this winter, he'll get the same treatment as Florian...
Another question: When is the right time to set a lady bug free? Well, I kept Florian a little longer, for the March was pretty cold that year. He stopped moving on my hand at once, when I went out with him. It was really too cold. Outside he would have slept anyway, so I kept him at his safe place. But actually March may be the right time.

Internet's Down Because of the Depression

2010-09-29T10:48:00.007-04:00

Some fellow-bloggers might ask themselves: „What's the matter with Clarissa?“ Did she finally starve in the Great Depression?! Well, I said it before in my latest comments here on sweet&hot: I've got internet-problems, no working flat rate at present, since my UMTS-flat-rate was gone last week.

Now, this post goes via UMTS standard-tariff – that means 18 cents per megabyte. You see, I can't afford much surfing, for that way my bucks go faster than I can look out and soon the whole cellphone-card is gone and I gotta pay again.

My new flat rate (regular fast internet, that means I'll be able to work much faster and much more effectively in future) was supposed to work since yesterday, but it doesn't. I hope it will tomorrow, after the technician will have been here. Some of these days it will work, because I really have a top provider now, with good service. So I don't blame it on the provider. Just blame it on the depression – above all on President Herbert Hoover.

So long!

Clarissa

October 29, 1932
___________________________

GREAT NEWS -- S T O P -- MY DSL FLAT RATE IS WORKING NOW -- S T O P -- NEW DEAL IS COMING TOO SOON IN COMPUTER THINGS -- S T O P -- OFFICIAL 1932 POST ON SUNDAY -- S T O P -- ON THE SUNDAY AFTER THAT WILL BE JANUARY 1933 -- S T O P -- I DECIDED THIS -- S T O P -- EVERY SUNDAY WILL BEGIN A NEW MONTH -- S T O P -- THAT MEANS MONTHS WILL CHANGE WEEKLY -- S T O P -- PLEASE VOTE FOR F.D.R.!!!

A R I Z O N A

2010-09-20T09:18:00.012-04:00

A prairie-wagon train arrives in Tuscon in the year 1860. The first dwellings belong to Papago Indians. Then we see Mexican townspeople, partly building houses. Peter Muncie (William Holden) and a wood-gnome-like scout are riding ahead, commenting Tuscon's history and present-day. Then we reach the center, were we meet American men. But Tuscon still looks like a bunch of rubble in the desert. The only considerable things are huge cactuses - we saw them outside all over the desert, we see them inside the town. Frankly I felt like leaving, when notifying all this the first time. I think this film is very realistic and authentic. To me ARIZONA goes deeper than any other classic western I know.

Peter is talking to a few townsmen, when suddenly Phoebe Titus crosses the street with a muzzle-loader rifle -- probably caliber 58. Believe it or not, this sour-faced woman was really Jean Arthur, who just vanished in the bar: Wild curls, instead of fancy hairdo, under a somewhat battered black hat -- Worn-out jeans, vest and a light-weight revolver in her holster.

"Stop that music! ... Timmins, Longstreet – stand up and reach! ... Now listen: I've got no quarrels with anybody but these two here, so the rest of you better clear out."

Believe it or not, Jean acts really as sort of 'female John Wayne' in this 1940 western. We already learn something about Phoebe's character: Very brave, quite daring but at times pretty careless. Peter and a few townsmen join and back the angry lady up. She finally gets her stolen money back – in Peter's hat. So he has a good reason to visit the charming gun-woman at her pie-stand. After Peter has gotten his hat back and a free pie, he wants to know whether she would „always wear them jeans?“. Carrying a banjo at his sattle, he would like to serenade her.

„You serenade me the way I am!“

Besides, she's busy anyway tonight. Whatever, Peter goes to the ecstatically fiddling barber, who shakes out his wrap for him, causing an exorbitant dust-cloud. Then they talk about Phoebe:

"Figurin' on doin' a little courtin'? ... must fix you up sweet then ... vanilla extract on you hair. Yes Sir, plenty of vanilla!"

Now, isn't that cute? Peter is really going to serenade Phoebe, singing „I Dream of Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair“ and they obviously crash on each other. What I like about this love-story is it's slow, careful and tender growing. Peter kisses her cheeks several times and it takes over a year until they really start to kiss. The ideal vacation from the unromancing post-sexual-revolution!

Phoebe is a very interesting character. It seems she's just reasoning on her business ideas, taking awful chances and risking the lives of herself as her freighting drivers. Her career is quite fascinating: Beginning with a pie-stand, then investing in wagons for a freighting enterprise. Her final goal is "the biggest ranch in Arizona". Since she has met Peter, Phoebe instinctively recognizes her future husband, "to raise cattle and a family". The snag about Peter is his „gallivant fever“ and this makes him go to California for a year. Phoebe is struggling during that year, and so she can't understand his yearning "to lie under a shade-tree" in California. But it seems, the lad still needs to grow up a little in his head. One year later he comes back as sergeant of the Union troops – meanwhile grown up in his head.

„The gallivant fever is gone for good.“

The relationship between Phoebe and Peter gets deeper slowly, but it takes several months until they talk about marriage and kiss each other. I said it before, it is like I would always like to see. Yes, Phoebe and Peter are my favorite couple all over the movie history. I just love them.

During Peter's absence Phoebe had been riding ahead of her train with eight wagons. One day they had been attacked by Apaches – hired and armed by Phoebe's evil competitor. She dismounted the horse, grabbed her rifle and went behind one of her wagons to blow several Indians off their horses – just the right way to handle her plain muzzle-loader. The problem was, the Apaches had superior Sharps breech-loaders now. To see those historic rifles under authentic conditions is great. My father was always obsessed with muzzle-loading and shot with Sharps rifle and an early repeating-rifle as well. And he talked a lot about that all. So I can really tell, the guns showed in ARIZONA are authentic. On longer terms Phoebe's freighting enterprise is a success and so she can afford a repeating Henry rifle - a sixteen-shooter. While ARIZONA takes place at the beginning of the civil war, THE PLAINSMAN (1937) shows the improved Henry rifle after the civil-war, already a side-loader. Last week I called up my father, who confirmed these specifications: Phoebe's rifle is being loaded under the muzzle, by pouring the sixteen cartridges out of tubes. Gary Cooper uses the side-loader in THE PLAINSMAN, which could be reloaded in a still lying position – a great advantage. Whatever, Phoebe hands her - during the early 1860s ultramodern - Henry repeater to Peter, before he's going to leave again. This time to buy cattle in Nebraska. For their future ranch of course.

Now we're coming to a point where Phoebe had already started to change: She behaves more and more female. This film is not a comedy, but Jean Arthur uses her comedian skills most amusingly to play the embarrassed Phoebe: Her fatherly friend Solomon Warner (Paul Harvey), who runs the big store in Tuscon, talks about her future husband. And he asks Phoebe how about giving birth to the first American baby in Arizona. Phoebe's resulting embarrassment is super-cute: Fidgeting with her jeans on the seat, she seems to vanish under her big hat, then her face appears again and she's rubbing her nose: „Why not?“ Maybe the cutest scene in this western!

Phoebe's most dangerous enemy is actually not her clumsy competitor Ward (Porter Hall), but his undercover 'partner' Carteret (Warren William). He had forced Ward into this partnership and would later kill him. Ward is just a monkey who wouldn't get support by decent citizens and this makes him helpless. Carteret is fearless, ruthless and highly intelligent. Phoebe is too busy and too honest to stand up to his bluffing and cheating, while Peter is on the way to Nebraska. It had been Carteret's idea, to rob Phoebe's $ 15,000 and lend this money back to her. While Peter uses this money in Nebraska, to get 500 piece eastern-bred cattle, Carteret threatens to collect and as Phoebe is unable to pay, he wants to overtake all her properties. But Peter manages to get the cattle to Arizona. Somewhere in the plain Phoebe joins him and his cowhands – just in time to ward off Carteret's 100 Apaches, by driving their cattle into them.

This was the last time we saw Phoebe in male clothes, covered with dust and black-powder smoke. From now on we'll see her in a bridal dress, with long veil. And for the first time she wears a female make-up. ARIZONA shows so many colors and it's always interesting and heartrending. The marriage ceremony (Edgar Buchanan as judge) is very beautiful. But everybody in Tuscon knows, Carteret had threatened to start gunning at Peter as soon as they're married. And suddenly Phoebe is afraid to loose everything. While Peter goes after Carteret, his wife Phoebe has to wait in her friends store. Ordering flavor and sugar bravely, you can watch her trying not to cry. All her good friends are present. From outside we hear gunfire, then it gets awfully quiet – I could hardly stand it the first time. Suddenly we notice nearing footsteps ... Phoebe's fear is growing unbearable, until we hear Peter's warm voice: „I'm ready Phoebe.“

Let's suppose, Carteret had killed Peter in the final duel - what would have happened then? Well, I figured Phoebe would have shot that dude after all - maybe with her Henry rifle. But Jean would have cried again like hell though and I couldn't take that again after the tragic ending of THE PLAINSMAN. Jean's mourning Calamity Jane, not ending to cry and finally spreading her sadness all over the plains, makes me so doggoned depressive, that I nearly die each time. I prayed for a darn happy end in ARIZONA like crazy and I am so relieved that I finally got it! Nonetheless my favorite Jean is the one in jeans, with hat, vest, revolver and rifle.
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Critic: The fact that ARIZONA never became a great hit, is incomprehensible to me. There has been some unfounded critic, beginning with a New York Times article from February 7, 1941. The writer pretends, Jean hadn't „the strength or the vision to stand as a typical pioneer-woman.“ Finally he resumes, the film „sags under the weight of its own pretensions.“ - Well I'd say this article sags under the weight of its writer's clichés. Yes, Phoebe's just a cute little girl in the west, with a sweet little face. How do pioneer-girls look in our newspaperman's imagination? Like old German goddesses, with buffalo-horns? Phoebe and her father were from Indiana, then her father died and she stayed in Tuscon. Just a little girl from Indiana and she makes her way. We all know petite persons, with cute little faces, who are tougher than others yet and therefore make their way. Sorry Mr. newspaperman, but I like that, and I dislike your negative killjoy-attitude! -- What else did he write: William Holden not „far from knee-pants to seem credible as her protective knight in armor.“ Was that so? Young men at age 22 (Holden's age in 1940) weren't grown-up enough to defend their girl? I must say, our newspaperman doesn't sound quite precociously. What did a 16 year old boy do, when there was an Indian attack? Just reload the guns? And to the „protective knight“ - our writer must have seen the wrong film. Or all his doggoned clichés were a bit messed up in his wondrous imagination. Finally he misses „the crisp action of straight Western hokum.“ - Maybe he didn't see enough corpses and therefore he was disappointed. But as he wasn't ready to fight for a girl himself at age 22: Wasn't his ideal place finally the safe store and not outside where the shooting took place and a corps fell to the ground? I preferred to be with Phoebe and her friends in that store, anxious waiting for her sweet husband. This is just another kind of western-duel. Why in tarnation must we always see the shooting? We already saw enough of that stuff. This again is a reason why I love this wonderful western: It's different, it's intelligent, it's sensitive, it's lively. And very authentic. This is what I have to say - just a little woman. But I know how to handle a gun too. Do you think I'm unable to defend myself and make my way?

I like the book of Jean's biographer John Oller very much. Above all, if he quotes her, which he did quite often. But sometimes, when he expresses his own opinions, I get such an unpleasant feeling in my stomach. On our western ARIZONA Oller writes: „Arizona had an authentic look and feel...“ - Well spoken, Mr. Oller! But then he overtakes the old prejudices from that old NY Times article. What a pity! He even ads: „Arthur's performance as the pioneering Phoebe Titus, while charming at times, lacks the conviction she brought to the role of Calamity Jane in THE PLAINSMAN“. - Why, Jean Arthur's Calamity Jane was pretty entertaining, but it wasn't a convincing Calamity Jane at all. The historical Calamity Jane was pretty nasty. I'm afraid Jean is much to nice, to play the authentic Calamity Jane (that's one reason why I love her so much). I like Jean's Calamity, scaring big strong men with her bull-whip and lashing off their hats – but somehow this is an exaggerated cliché. THE PLAINSMAN uses a lot of historical facts, persons and places indeed, but the particularities aren't always true. Gary Cooper's Bill Hickok is kind of superman: He knocks out two Indians, breaks with their horses and guns through their lines and seems to hold off hundreds of Cheyenne. He and his Calamity Jane are like the purest novel-heros. Phoebe and Peter had stepped out of the real novel ARIZONA, but they are much more lively and realistic than I saw in any other western.

To me ARIZONA is still the best western I ever saw. And it's my favorite movie of all the films made in Hollywood.

Mental 1929 Depression

2010-09-12T16:46:00.014-04:00

There are some screwy things going on in 1928. Men suddenly most yearningly singing with thin voices. Several tunes have outlandish titles like "Oriental" (Paul Whiteman Orchestra) or "Hindustan" (Ben Bernie Orchestra). It seems people feel some yearning for far away places. No wonder the song "Borneo" was a success. Is this kind of mental depression, which might lead to an economical depression later?

Just remember Carole Lombard's character in HIGH VOLTAGE (1929): Mentally depressed, already before the great depression?

I never realized it so starkly before, while hearing complete CDs with 20s jazz and dance music. Now I hear only the original recordings of the year I'm in. I've spent months in 1926 and 1927 lately. And if I pick out only 1928 recordings after that, I really get the change. Meanwhile it's 1929 and I must admit, I don't like it too much. I had enjoyed the hot Charleston years 1925 and 1926 - the year 1927 was nice too. Was that too much and now we have the hangover or what?

"Button Up Your Overcoat" (lyrics full of neurotic fear); "I Want to Be Bad" (negative self-reflection/ sleeping after ten every day?); "I've Got the Feeling I'm Falling" (in love, but sub-conscience hears just "falling"); "Ain't Misbehavin'" (someone pathologically withdrawing to his radio); "Somebody "Loves Me" (the patient seems to be lost, speaking familiarly to strangers); "Makin' Whoopee" (very negative view on marriage, absolutely pessimistic); "Turn On the Heat" (nobody in 1929 has an idea how cold the depression year 1932 will turn out to be, but it seems they feel it's getting colder)

Therapy: New Deal, next possible treatment 1933...

Let me say something about SHOW BOAT: This show was a great success in 1927 and in 1928 they played the songs over and over. I didn't realize that in 1927, but now I see OLD MEN RIVER fits perfectly to the present mood - all over blue and hopeless.

'Cause I'm tired of livin' but I'm scared of dyin'...

Don't tell me this is only because white people suddenly have mercy with black people. Can't wait to get into the great depression to get it all over with. This all makes me sick too! - But wait a minute ... we still have HIGH VOLTAGE (1929) - the only 20s film I have. Well, I saw that one once: Bus stranded in snowdrifts, passengers living in a church somewhere in the Sierra Nevada. After being depressed by music I can even see other depressed people from 1929.

Maybe I'll have to go to a couch doctor after that and tell him I've got the 1929 depression ...
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P.S.: In 1928 you hear the title "Though Swell" almost everywhere. This might sound a bit sweller than the 1928/29 melancholy, but don't overlook the word "though". We're really trying hard to see something nice in our 1928/29 lifes! But it hardly works 'sniff'.

What a Woman!

2010-09-03T18:36:00.009-04:00

"Keep your men away from my place, or I'll double-load this gun and blow a hole in you that they can drive a team of mules through!"

You can read it in Jean's face, her character Phoebe Titus really means it. Threatening the "skunk" of Tuscon with her riffle - Jean in Jeans, with hat, vest and handgun. In the great 1940 Western ARIZONA you can see, that Jean Arthur was much tougher than later presented in SHANE. Today we saw SHANE on TCM, but honestly I would be much happier if they would have shown ARIZONA instead.

Don't worry, Jean is a real woman in ARIZONA and finally she shows quite womanly feelings. But firstly her character Phoebe Titus has to fight for that. The only American woman of Tuscon, living on baking pies, then driving a freighting business to finance her dream-ranch. When her Peter shows up the first time in Tuscon, Phoebe feels:

"Teresa, I think I picked myself a man."

And what a fine man! I must confess, to be quite fond of William Holden from now on. Jean was quite worried at first. She was 40 and he 22! What impression would she make at the side of such a leading man - a newcomer in addition? But she looks great as his leading lady. After Phoebe has gone to bed, Peter appears with his banjo at her window and starts to sing. Jean looks beautiful as ever in her nightgown and her character is proud and happy:

"I'm being serenaded!"

At daytime she mostly wears men's clothing. But for Peter she begins to wear pretty dresses in the evening, having fixed a dinner for him -- and after all to kiss him goodbye: Peter is riding to Nebraska, to buy cattle for their future ranch and he won't be around for half a year. Finally they plan to marry ...
Even in her prettiest dress Phoebe is an extraordinary woman: She hands Peter her Henry rifle, explaining exactly how to handle this gun:

"It shoots 16 cartridges without reloading ... All you have to do is empty one of these (cartridge-tubes) into your gun and start shooting."

When Peter finally is nearing with about 500 longhorns, Phoebe bestrides her horse to meet him. At the moment they meet out in the plain they're suddenly being attacked by 100 Apaches - hired by their competitor. Peter decides to drive the longhorns into the Apaches. In this scene we can see, what an excellent rider Jean was - it is simply breathtaking!

Arriving with their cattle in Tuscon, the day of their marriage soon is set. But their evil competitor demands revenge, because Phoebe had blamed him for having cheated her. Now she's afraid, Peter might be gunned down on their wedding day. The bride can't help crying:

"I started this trouble for you, started by talking like a darned old woman."
He: "Straighten up, you're supposed to be the man around here."
She: "Not any more."

In ARIZONA we see Jean mostly before the marriage. Until the happy end, we watch her fighting to make her marriage with Peter possible. An ideal part for Jean Arthur. But what happens in SHANE is the exact opposite: Everyday-life after marriage - just a common housewife on a farm. Anyone who knows Jean and her feelings, understands that this humiliated her.

So what is Jean actually saying in SHANE: "Ready for pie?" - And to her little son: "Joey, go on to bed!" - To her husband: "Did you ask him to stay the night?" - She is sold that cheaply all the time. Oh, what a sad, sad role: "Joey, be quiet, the men want to talk!" Being quiet and let the men talk and do. This is exactly what happens in SHANE. Jean is hardly speaking, hardly doing - what a disgrace of an ex-Calamity Jane and Phoebe Titus! I've got to admit: This hurts me too. - SHANE might be a very good western indeed, but not a film for people who really love Jean Arthur. So I change the DVDs again to go on with ARIZONA:

After Phoebe's wedding with Peter, they have to stand his duel with their evil competitor. All we hear is five shots, then silence, then four shots and we look into Phoebe's eyes full of fear. Suddenly Peter appears with just an injured hand. Oh my God! - Together they go to their new ranch and their friends have to confess:

"What a woman, nothing but iron from topknot to gizzan*!"
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* "Gizzan?" What the hell is that?! Never heard before.

Choreography or Kick in the Head?

2010-08-30T11:28:00.012-04:00

I did a 'great' job yesterday, in missing most interesting points.

What makes DANCING LADY actually so swell? Well, Joan Crawford is really dancing – partly interacting with chorus-men. She passes in front of them, charming each one. Then she goes through the men, they lift her up and carry her. This is beautiful choreographing. Eleanor Powell's machine-gun tapping is most spectacular, but not really beautiful. Her backwards bending down to the floor, kicking in her own head and doing splits, prevent her machine-gun from getting dull. But isn't this tricking instead of art? Of course Eleanor is a great dancer – much better than Joan Crawford. But it seems, a dancer with less technical abilities is better for the show.

Machine-gun tap and kick in the head makes the majority storm the movie houses. So this pays – not beautiful dancing. - Somewhere in her autobiography Ginger Rogers says, there was a ballerina in one of her films, who kicked herself in the head. Ginger found this ridiculous, but she kept still, in order not to be accused of criticizing „sour grapes“. I'd be happy, if there were more tap-solos by Ginger. But maybe director Sandrich felt she couldn't dance, because she never kicked in the head.

DANCING LADY is so great, because the film is full of the swellest creativity. The Crawford-Astaire duo was actually ridiculous - even impossible. In high heels she was as tall as Fred. Joan is opposite to Ginger Rogers: In the opening striptease scene she has the mightiest curves on stage. Even her neck is quite solid. Nevertheless they gave her a white dress, while the skinny Fred was all black, which made her even huger. But that wasn't all: Joan's mighty feather-staffage around her shoulders made her most solid still. No wonder Fred Astaire looked like a dwarf under his top-hat. How wonderfully surreal! In this manner they did a journey on a magic carpet - simply genial.

The final scene is a true miracle: Rococo-style people passing a gate to 1933, changing into modern 30s people. Even a horse-drawn carriage becomes an automobile. Joan Crawford gets out of that car and taps about eight bars. Then she gets into another car. Of course we all would like to see more tapping here, but this is the actual way tap-dancing should be presented - in smaller doses. It won't get dull, so it won't be necessary to kick in the head. Besides Joan had a few single triplets in that tap-solo (no!=>foot*), which were as fast as Eleanor's machine-gun. Yes, Eleanor's uninterrupted machine-gun is much more difficult, but Joan doesn't need this and it doesn't wow me. Eleanor's great art shows in her independently floating footwork. With the rest of her body she is free to do anything. I'm sure she is able to do most beautiful choreographing. But why should she do that, if people rather pay for machine-gun and kick in the head?

DANCING LADY shows even more wonders: The tenor, singing the title song, is simply heavenly - as the most impressive baritone in the final scene. The show in the film ends with a magic horse-carousel, with riding girls, casting shadows and multiplying by mirrors. I can't really describe it - it's gorgeous. The happy end between Joan and Clark Gable is great too. - He: "Say, what is this you're dishing up?" She: "Can't you take it?" Then kiss/ fadeout/ the end - WOW!

After all I like the moral of this film very much. The leading lady first in distress, forced to do burlesque, but then showing great character and a heart of gold. Clark Gable plays the kind of boss almost every woman would like to have and then marry on the spot. Life could be so easy, if we all would act that fairly.
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* I was mixing two scenes up: The triplets were in the try-out scene, but it's the same thing.

1920s' Reset

2010-08-14T09:09:00.014-04:00

During the years 1925 and 1926 happens the actual Charleston hype. Here it is part of young and crazy fashion - while in the 21st century it has become a refuge of stiffs. Don't trust those stiffs, they will tell you an awful lot of silly clichés, but they don't know anything about original recordings of the 1920s. All what they need is a 1920s' Reset.

Charleston is part of HOT DANCE and HOT DANCE gotta be hot and crazy. Well, it can't be, if musicians of the 21st century not even get this well-known Charleston phrase:I heard it again and again on Youtube - they play the second note long. Why, this is awfully tame, it doesn't crack any longer and it isn't hot at all. So don't trust modern recordings, above all those played by professionals of our times. There are a few amateurs, wonderful crazy people who play the original style of the 20s. It sounds totally different to so-called revival-Dixieland, recorded since the 50s and 60s. So why do they present pictures of the 20s on Youtube and add modern recordings which never represent the original Charleston? I wouldn't trust any dance teacher, if he tried to show me how to dance the Charleston: It would be wrong anyway, because they twist everything nowadays. I wait until I'll see it in an original film of the 20s ...

On my list with 1926 recordings I have reached March. That means I listen to recordings of January, February and March 1926. Any modern music I switch off at once, or use earplugs. It's a crazy experiment indeed and very interesting. All this is influencing me. Human musicians play what they hear. I hear myself playing trumpet every day and I can say, it already shows. Besides this procedure is erasing all the junk that was in my brain before: bebop, revival-swing, the ordinary modern stew where everything sounds the same. I'm 'overwriting' it all. Can't take that flat stuff any longer. It's a fine thing that one can forget.

I'm planing something really swell: As soon as I've reached the year 1933 I will involve the films of that year. Such 1933 festival might last half a year or even longer, so it will shape this blog too quite thoroughly. Sadly I'm still waiting for the movie "Dancing Lady" (1933), with Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Fred Astaire. Until it'll come in, I spend a wonderful crazy time, reseting myself to the 1920s.

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To help people who try to orientate in HOT DANCE music, I list a few bands of the 20s now: Husk O'Hare & His Footwarmers, Seatle Harmony Kings, Ben Bernie & his Orchestra, The Marigold Entertainers, Philip Straight & his Orchestra, Harris Brother's Texans, Ted Brownagle & his Orchestra, Howard Lanin's Ben Franklin Dance Orchestra, George Olsen & His Music, Fred Hamm & his Orchestra, Busse's Buzzards, Art Landry & his Orchestra, Jack Crawford & his Orchestra, Paul Specht & his Orchestra, Cass Hagan & His Central Hotel Orchestra, Tracy Brown's Orchestra , Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians, Merle Johnston & His Ceco Courirs, Joe Cumin & his Orchestra, Coon-Sanders Original Nighthawk Orchestra, Jean Goldkette's Orchestra, Charly Straight & his Orchestra, Cline's Collegians, Slatz Randall & his Orchestra, Moe Baer & His Wardman Park Orchestra, George Belshaw & His KFAB Orchestra, Herman Waldman & his Orchestra, Henry Lange & His Baker Hotel, Orchestra Julian Fuhs Orchestra ...

The Veteran and Miss Arthur—Potted Original Version

2010-07-15T16:22:00.010-04:00

The Devil and Miss Jones is the best of all Jean Arthur films! Well, I might change my mind, as soon as I will have seen „Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" again.... Jean? ... would you actually accept this? I know, you've always been proud of that other film. But what did you think of your role as Miss Mary Jones? And how do you feel about it now?

If she's going to visit me tonight, to answer my question right away, this won't scare me at all. We saw her playing an angel already in the opening credits of „The Devil and Miss Jones“. What wonderful humor! What rich and colorful facial expression! I never saw a movie with such extraordinary opening before. When the first scene then begins, you suddenly might feel being in the wrong film: Jeepers, is this going to be creepy?!

Finally we have the rare joy, to watch Jean Arthur and veteran Charles Coburn dancing a waltz, which comes out extremely cute. Jean's biographer John Oller writes about „The More the Merrier“ (1943): „The vage sexual undertone to the Coburn/Arthur relationship helps keep the movie from being overly cloying ...“ I wouldn't call this „sexual“, but some sparks are crackling between Jean and the veteran: Whenever they meet, there is an indescribable mood in the air. Because of this, the film is full of deep moments: Their dialog about Mary's lover Joe is one of those moments. It's a pity, that the cutter inserted another shot when Mary begins to express sadness, admitting her fears to loose Joe. She would have mastered the change in her expression brilliantly, as we later see in the subway-scene. I would've liked to watch this. Another great, downright clownesque scene, is Jean's trial to overwhelm Coburn, by knocking him down with a shoe. Accidentally he gets suddenly knocked out by a falling boot and Jean's acting panic-stricken is really great art. Again (like in many other films) Jean shows her talent as orator as well. This speech for worker's rights, at a secret meeting, is so moving, because it's related to Coburn.

This movie fits perfectly into the era of our occupy movement! Get the wonderful message of this meaningful and intelligent film in my latest two articles on The Devil and Miss Jones:
http://sweet&hot/The-Veteran-and-Miss-Arthur--Reissue2011

http://The-Devil-and-Miss-Jones--Reissue2011

The Devil and Miss Jones—Condensed Original Article

2010-07-10T10:45:00.012-04:00

The Devil and Miss Jones might be Jean Arthur's best film ever. This film is funny, but it contains a political message -- pro worker's rights. As all films directed by Frank Capra it stands for goodness and righteousness.

Get the wonderful message of this beautiful film in my latest articles (not only the article I now link to, within this blog, but please read the next following article about this film over there too!):

http://The-Devil-and-Miss-Jones--Reissue2011

These new articles on The Devil and Miss Jones are very much improved reissues.

The Ex-Mrs. Bradford

2010-07-05T17:15:00.009-04:00

This comical mystery is about murder with black widow spiders. I'm a little afraid of spiders myself, but nevertheless like this charming film very much. It's currently running on my private Movie Theatre program (which means: just me and my little movies at home) - as you see below at the sidebar.

The film begins with Dr. Bradford (William Powell), opening a champagne bottle. The cork hits his little gong and so introduces ... Well, the door-buzzer buzzes and suddenly there is his Ex-Mrs. ..... Jean Arthur. At her side an attorney, to enforce alimony. - Why, the truth is, she still loves him and wants him to marry her again. But he reminds her of her crazy obsession with murder mysteries - not only writing, but even living them. This had made their marriage a perfect chaos. Thus, Dr. Bradford is enjoying his peaceful life without her. But now his keen Ex-Mrs. is around again, he certainly gets into another murder-case ...
Two times he gets socked on his head, while trying to overwhelm a gunman. It's always his charming Ex-Mrs., nearing with one of his expensive vases: „Hold him Darling, I sock him!“ ... CRASH!The murderer uses capsules, made of gelatine. They melt and release the black widows, to kill favorable jockeys. Our sassy little Ex-Mrs. wants to find out, whether this gelatine contains poison. So she fixes a nice little supper for a charming evening of the Ex-Bradfords. While they're both eating she asks him: „You still feel alright ... not sleepy?“ Finally she explains: „Well, that's very funny ... we ought'a be dead!“

Whatever, her charm changes his mind, she promises to give up mysteries (after the murderer has been caught) and they decide to marry again. But having been socked on his head again and wearing a bandage with big bow-'propeller' (he looks a bit like a bunny), he is unwilling to leave the sofa. Though, he has to: His charmingly crazy Ex-Mrs. advices their buttler (Eric Blore) to start their private movie-projector, presenting the pastor, who asks the famous questions to bride and bride-groom. And Dr. Bradford answers in the shine of the projector (just remember his funny 'bunny'-outfit!): „I do ... and may heaven have mercy on my soul“ - THE END.

Again we have one of those problematic couples. Only, this time she is the problem. But very adorable.

Too Many Husbands!

2010-06-26T18:59:00.014-04:00

A disillusioned widow marries a second time and looses her husband again. This time not to wanderlust, but to business. The shock is indescribable, when suddenly her first husband appears not to be drowned, coming back from an island. But then she realizes, it's pretty nice to have two husbands, rivaling in trying to keep her.

When I saw this film the first time, I was quite amused, though asking myself whether it was nothing but moral degeneration. I won't tell the pretty uncommon 'happy' ending, but to me this looked like an anachronistic 1960s' sexual revolution. And I wondered how this film did pass the Hays Office in the year 1940.

The author of this screenplay, Claude Binyon, must have been sympathizing with wifes' bitter fates and tragedies. Maybe he was kind of male feminist? Producer and director Wesley Ruggles must have convinced even Columbia mogul Harry Cohn. How did he manage that, in face of the fact that Cohn was known as being the worst sexist in Hollywood?

Whatever - both husbands in this film didn't please me: They're neither kind nor pretty. Men like Fred MacMurray and Melvyn Douglas you can have at any street corner - I just wouldn't say "wow". So why not banish them both and send them packing? I would've appreciated this as a decent and swell happy ending. She is attractive enough to find a really beautiful and thoughtful man ...

Personally Jean Arthur didn't feel she was attractive. She always said she wasn't. While shooting this film, she constantly doubted, that she was attractive enough to cause such a rivalry. MacMurray then proposed, she might put an Indian blanket over her head, while shooting the next scene. To Jean this joke wasn't funny at all. Maybe she disliked the whole story. Jean has always been kind of suffragette - an early feminist, anachronistically spoken once again. But she was an idealist anyway and I can't imagine, that she liked the idea of a husband-harem.

I can forgive Claude Binyon, Wesley Ruggles and their most peculiar story, because it's obviously a grotesque. In fact it's extremely amusing. So now that you're morally prepared for this naughty little story, you might see it next Tuesday on TCM. - But maybe you better consult your father confessor after that.

Nineteen Years Ago Jean Passed Over ...

2010-06-19T06:20:00.006-04:00

... at the blessed age of 90 - on June 19th, 1991, in Carmel, at 3:20 a.m. - Her friend Ellen Mastroianni scattered her ashes at sea, near to Carmel. [PHOTOLINK#1] - [PHOTOLINK#2] What remains is love. There is plenty of love in her films. She always refused negative roles. So what can we do for an angel? - Actually it isn't much ...

Jean Arthur loved nature very much.

She spent many hours, being alone in nature.

Jean didn't like picked or cut flowers; she wanted people ...

... just to leave them, where they could grow.

The time in Carmel, California, is now:

Charleston, Charleston!

2010-06-14T13:30:00.006-04:00

As an early-30s mind I always knew where my roots are - in the 20s of course. And I need to get back to the ground there from time to time. The Charleston is actually the begin of hot show-music and therefore important to understand musical-films of the early and mid-30s. In fact all our favorite actors and actresses made their first experiences in the 20s.

Ginger Rogers was a little Charleston queen at age of 14. In that year 1925, when she joined the Texas Charleston contest, "the Charleston was the Race" indeed, as Ginger wrote in her book. The song CHARLESTON was released 1923, in the Broadway musical "Running Wild". The peak of the Charleston hype must have been in 1925, continuing in 1926. On CDs with 20s' original hot-dance and jazz, Charleston recordings are mostly dated 1925 or 1926 - not only by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, but also by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five. Armstrong produced "race records" at that time - especially for an Afro-American audience. In fact Charleston was black music and black dancing, basing on the Black Bottom. And Charleston was very hot music in those roaring 20s.
Even the black Fletcher Henderson Orchestra sounded quite tame until 1924. When young Louis Armstrong joined this jazz-orchestra, he played much hotter than anybody else. It was a brand-new kind of playing jazz and it was sensational! Even common dance-orchestras began to play hot from now on. And the Charleston became the most popular dance of hot-dance music. Young Ginger Rogers' career began with that Charleston dancing-mania:

"The music had an exciting and compelling beat, and once you'd started, you never wanted to stop. You just couldn't resist the pull of its rhythm."

Well, Ginger won the Charleston contest of Fort Worth and after that she became the Texas Charleston champion in Dallas. And suddenly she got engagements at the age of 14. So a youthful 'crazy' Charleston dance-mania can be pretty helpful. No wonder Ginger remained to be hot and crazy as singer during the early 30s: Songs like "We're in the Money"(1) and "Music Always Makes Me"(2) are hot and sultry. Mae West is even more frivolous in her 1933 film "I'm No Angel". She reminded me of a 20s Charleston-queen indeed - and I was very astonished to hear a mighty strong blues-influence in her singing. In fact Mae's role TIRA is the reason why I'm having a Charleston revival presently. Well, I already had CDs with Charleston recordings of 1925/26, but I went to my favorite shop to get some more. So if you're interested in real' hot Charleston (not the tame dancing-school stuff today!), I might help you to orientate. Let me name a few examples:

James P. Johnson was the composer of the original song CHARLESTON, as he wrote the music for the show "Running Wild". You might find CDs with piano-recordings of CHARLESTON - perhaps even modern recordings of his old piano-rolls.

Paul Whiteman recorded CHARLESTON on May 7, 1925. You hear even kind of imitation of 'hutu-language'. This is perhaps a bit ridiculous on a Whiteman record, but it's a pretty good example to show how popular Afro-American culture was during the 20s and that Charleston was part of this.

Coon-Sanders Original Nighthawk Orchestra plays Charleston tunes especially hot. This is no wonder, because bandleader Coon was influenced by black dock-workers, although he was white. Recordings like "I'm Gonna Charleston Back to Charleston" (July 13, 1925) and "Flamin' Mamie" (December 21, 1925) are among the hottest music I ever heard! Here you will hear, that there was absolutely blues-feeling in original Charleston.

Louis Armstrong sang his own little Charleston tune in 1925 or 1926. I think it was with his "Hot Five", probably not "Hot Seven". I listened to that early Armstrong stuff many years ago, so I can't recall it so well.

Julian Fuhs was an American, who had emigrated from Germany in 1910. In 1924 he was invited to Berlin Germany as a "musical director". He stayed there, because his American dance-music was a great success. No German was able to play Charleston as hot as Mr. Fuhs did. His Charleston (August 26, 1926) and Black Bottom (November 19, 1926) are really explosive. When he returned to the States in 1933, because of the Nazis, he sadly wasn't successful any more.

Fred and Adele Astaire recorded their little "I'd Rather Charleston", with George Gershwin at the piano on April 20, 1926. It's a pretty funny song - Fred tries to teach her dancing, but she always answers with the phrase: "I'd rather Charleston, Charleston, Charleston with you", while the master himself is quite shocked, singing Charleston was just a dance for "silly people".

Ben Bernie's Orchestra played at Hotel Roosevelt, Madison Avenue/ 45th Avenue, in New York. I wonder how their guests were able to sleep after listening to that mighty hot music, because it makes so jumpy! Admittedly I have no real Charleston titles from that Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra, but they certainly played the typical phrasing of the Charleston style. (3) Modern revival Dixieland bands aren't really hot. And mostly they play an awful mix. Swing sounds like bebop, Dixieland like Swing and New Orleans like common revival Dixie. It's impossible to play authentic 20s and early-30s music with that awfully mixed stew in your ear. So I don't listen to that stuff any more. I switch off the radio, use ear-plugs, or simply go away. Jazz musicians need to listen and they just play the music they always listen to. You can't hit the old style precisely, if you play swing too. Nobody can live in two worlds. At the best you will be able to represent something somewhere in between. Music of the Charleston years has it's own kind of phrases. You got to get them in your ear, in your finger-technique and you need to recall the feeling and embody it all in your mind.

I feel Charleston is a pretty good cure to break with modern listening habits.
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(1) From the film-musical "The Gold Diggers of 1933"
(2) From "Flying Down to Rio" Ginger's first film with Fred Astaire, in 1933
(3) Ben Bernie's Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra played hot since January 1926 - and may be a few month earlier too. Until August 1925 I heard nothing but corny stuff from Bernie - kind of old-fashioned Ragtime rhythm-phrasing, that means not really hot.

Fred's Shoes Better Than Ginger's?

2010-06-08T01:53:00.026-04:00

Ginger Rogers wore mainly tap shoes with high heels -- Comfort or handicap?
"Sure he was great, but don't forget that Ginger Rogers did everything he did, .. backwards and in high heels."

This line is being quoted everywhere on the www and I can't take it any longer. So let's see whether I'll be able to disprove it ...
__________

§ 1 - A high heel is better than no heel at all.

Several nights ago I got a terrible cramp in my left calf. The day before the dog under my apartment had been barking, so I knew its master was out. And that was the reason why I got the cramp in my left calf.

You can't practise Tap-Dance, while your neighbor is probably trying to listen to a tv-program, you know. So you might understand, that I took the opportunity. And as his dog barked quite a long time, I did fairly much tapping. But it certainly was too much for my left calf.

A hurting muscle is not supposed to be stretched. But if you walk in shoes without heels you will feel a painful stretching after a calf-cramp. So I helped myself with plain pumps the next morning, to walk painless and rather comfortable. Thus, if I had danced with higher heels the day before, maybe I wouldn't have got that terrible cramp. - Why? - Well, tap-dancers use the heel as sort of hammer (neighbors sure do like that!) and if you hit the floor with a very flat heel, the muscle suffers a sudden stretching. Actually I wore ballerinas, while the certain dog was barking. You see them on the left and my new tap-shoes on the right:

I assure you, that my new high-heel tap-shoes are much more comfortable, than those old ballerinas. - The heel, Ginger used in "Follow the Fleet", dancing for Mr. Nolen, looks quite good to me too. I guess these shoes were pretty comfortable for Tap-Dancing. The heels were high, but not too high.
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§ 2 - Ginger Didn't Always Dance backwards.

I would fire the choreographer, if I always had to dance backwards. Years ago I was my own choreographer, now I'm too lazy to do anything else but improvising. But if a choreographer probably didn't suffer an awful heelbeat on his choreography-brain, he wouldn't make the dame go backwards all the time.

Sometimes Ginger and Fred dance side by side (going in the same direction, partly even backwards). Sometimes Ginger dances backwards and Fred dances backwards too (then they part, with a little yearning, until they meet again). Sometimes Ginger dances backwards and Fred follows her (maybe a trap and she's acting like a spider, to get him into the marriage-web!): When she suddenly attacks, he might be scared for a while (then he goes backwards and she goes forwards).

That's what I call decent choreographing.
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§ 3 - It was just a cartoon!

"Sure he was great, but don't forget that Ginger Rogers did everything he did, .. backwards and in high heels."

This was just a joke, made-up by the cartoonist Bob Thaves. You'll find this cartoon in Ginger's book too. Ginger's comment: "One of my favorite cartoons." - It's a mighty funny joke, but I can't laugh now, because so many people take it for real.

Isn't this a pity? They spoil the whole gag by taking it serious.

Fun and Intelligence

2010-05-29T12:36:00.020-04:00

How did Jean Arthur's biographer come to the conclusion, the film "More Than a Secretary" (1936) was "a modestly amusing farce". My amusement couldn't be greater. Yes, I enjoyed this film very much.

Carol (Jean Arthur) is running a secretary-school with her girl-friend. The editor of the health-magazine "Brain and Body" is constantly complaining about the abilities of their trained secretaries. So Carol goes to see this man and speak her mind. The editor (George Brent) thinks, she's just applying for the job as his secretary. Carol, suffering from spring-fever, crushes spontaneously on him and accepts the job. But she doesn't know yet, that this man is influenced by an extreme health-fanatic. Soon, Carol is quite shocked and confused about sort of militaristic gymnastic-breaks and uncommon nutrition. Kissing a raw steak at home and explaining sarcastically to her friend, "it's slow death", Jean is too funny: "Come steak, kill mama!"

Unfortunately the next edition of "Body and Brain" happens to be a flop, so the president of the publishing company is very upset. Carol wants to pep up the magazine with pictures of beautiful women. But her editor - Fred - insists on muscular men as usual. Though, during his absence, she inserts beautiful actresses. "Body and Brain" becomes a great success - and Fred suddenly becomes "human".

But there's new trouble ahead: Mary's incompetent ex-pupil Maizie is about to loose her 'job' and her 'boss' persuades the editor to employ that squeaky girl. Soon Maizie starts to flirt with Carol's Fred, while her typing-results look "like a Chinese laundry-tickent" (Carol):

"Dear Mr. Hotkiss (Hotchkiss, Maizie's mind was wandering!):
Your learned article on the value of a milk-duett (diet!), will be published in our next tissue (oh darn: issue!!) ..."

Fred is not tough enough to fire Maizie and Carol resigns frustrated, to vanish with her friend and their camper-trailer. Fred provokes her coming back by publishing Carol's picture in a quite ridiculous way. In Fred's office she bumps in Maizie, who's now working for the president(!). The silly little 'pain in the neck' dares to comment Carol's blaming Fred - and so Carol takes her by the hand: "Maizie, the time is come!"

After having put Mazie over her knee and Maizie (thanks God!) did scram, Fred asks the still upset Carol: "Are you insane...?" Carol: "What?!" Fred continues "...not to marry me?" And this is the happy end: Carol and Fred are embracing* each other.
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* Why is plain embracing healthier for actors and actresses? Because limitless kissing spreads (1.) herpes, (2.) stomach ulcers (caused by a bacterium called "helicobacter pylori", as we know today) and can end with stomach cancer. This is one reason why I prefer this kind of 30s' decency (should have been so in all 30s films).

Let 'em Kiss in Our Imagination

2010-05-20T11:56:00.014-04:00

A love-letter, sent by Senate page-boy - that's really something. Miss Saunders is the most fascinating secretary I ever saw. She is simply genius - and who else should play a female genius, but Jean Arthur?

Her love-story with her Senator Jefferson Smith is deeply heartfelt - though we didn't see any kisses. Yet it was crackling and sparking between them, when they met at the Lincoln Memorial at night. Finally Jean took him by the hand and they went to her apartment. What might they have done there? There is a lot of room for our imagination ... - Well, I guess they did work quite hard - no time for love-talk or kisses. But how did they look at each other? Did they try to touch each other? Or maybe they tried to talk about their feelings ... - Of course they both yearned for each other.

At the beginning he had acted rather clumsy, arriving in Saunders office, without introducing himself at all. His behavior in the car was quite childish. So Saunders, his secretary, called him a "dope". Yet, when they started to work out his first bill, she felt that her Senator was just a bit naive, but absolutely thrilling. It's sweet to watch Saunders slowly falling for her dictating Senator. But then suddenly the phone rang and he was acting like a "dope" again. He was too naive, to consider his jealous secretary leaving him with a broken heart. - Tears also on this side of the screen ...

Jefferson Smith stumbled in the Senate like a helpless child. Without his experienced secretary he had to fail. The young Senator had already given up, when suddenly his guardian angel came back. Like an old Generalissimus she directed the battle of decision from the Senate guests-gallery, leading him to victory. - In our last edition we talked enough about politics. Today lets listen to the language of hearts.

The final love scene happens between Jean Arthur's place - up in the gallery - and James Steward's desk - down on the floor. She proposes to him by love letter and the joy in his eyes says everything: Happy ending - without any kiss, without even an embrace. But after all she rings up his mother, who called Saunders by her first name Clarissa. And Clarissa answers "yes, ma". - This film is anticipating, what Jean later would say about love-scenes during the 60s: "There's too much of that on the screen, anyway." - The film we're talking about, is a relief.

I appreciate this kind of love-scenes. We all know what happens, after Senator Smith fainted, having filibustered a day and a night. Let Jean and Jimmy kiss and hug each other in our imagination.

Sweet-and-Hot Goes to Washington

2010-05-17T09:47:00.011-04:00

„How many times have you heard me say: I'm fed up with politics ...“

This statement corresponds with our present mood in the United States. Miss Saunders (Jean Arthur) said it almost at the beginning of „Mr. Smith Goes to Washington“ (1939). And this is the result of a poll – about 70 years later: Only one American in five trusts Washington. And among all those political institutions there, people above all mistrust Congress. On the other hand they don't think that badly of their own representative in Congress. They want him to „force everyone to compromise with their point of view", said Washington correspondent Andrea Seabrook on NPR.

Human beings – mostly – are like that: „No-no, I don't wanna' pay those taxes – let other people pay that!“ Some people think, it's necessary to spend more money on public health-care and they want to lower spendings on defense. Others disagree, they don't want to pay for pour people's health at all, being ready to pay more for the Armed Forces. Employers „need“ to pay less wages; employees „need“ higher wages. And then there is still the abortion-item. ... Well, people could battle all that out with guns, knifes and axes and in former times they did exactly this. Therefore we have those democratic institutions in Washington, to battle it out there – relatively peacefully. Human beings are quite selfish and scheming and so are the voters of those Congress men and women. After all we get what we deserve. It isn't pleasant at all, but all those crazy things in Washington are much better than a civil war. On the other hand it certainly is human as well, if most people think: „Those guys in Congress never do what I want them to do – I just hate them!“ Over 300 million Americans think that way and almost every single of them feels, his personal standpoint is just right. How can they all be happy with Congress?

Frank Capra's „Mr. Smith Goes to Washington“ shows us the value of those democratic institutions. Jean Arthur and James Steward overcome their pessimistic view on the „the whole rotten show“. Finally they defeat corruption successfully. Jimmy Steward's filibustering shows us, how useful this option can be – the option to prevent a certain party from marching through, without any resistance. It's a constant wrestling, lurking and tricking. Sometimes „the whole rotten show“ even can't get to sleep at night. That is what we all learn from Frank Capra, Jimmy Steward and our beloved Jean Arthur.

Jean was very proud of this film-project – until the end of her life. So let her explain us all about Senate, the House of Representatives, committees, conferences and how to get a bill passed through all those institutions. It isn't boring at all, it's quite entertaining. And the way how Capra presents us American History and it's high ideals, can be much more touching than the tenderest love-scene. I just feel that way.

Let's Do Something

2010-05-11T09:08:00.016-04:00

Yesterday I went downtown to pick up Eleanor Powell in my favored shop. I had ordered the double-DVD „Broadway Melody of 1936/38“. On the way back home I looked for some new tap-shoes. Actually my intent wasn't to buy a pair of them at once, but I did, because I liked them.

My last pair of tap-shoes were just pumps. I sure like the sound of tap-pumps heels. The little metal-tap makes a noise like sort of bass-drum: „BOOM!“ It's to small to produce a loud „CLICK“. But in a life-band you'll always have to stress the heel to get more power (because the bass of the band kills the bass of your heel) and that isn't really good for the knees. Well, I had thrown the pumps away, before I moved to the city were I live now. During the last years I used just lace-up shoes. But now that I'm back in the 30s, I wanna wear skirts again. Well, I always see skirts and dresses in my favorite films and I certainly wanna' live this now. Therefore I bought just these:
Whenever the dog of the guy under my appartement barks like crazy, he's out (not the dog smarty, the guy!). Just remember Fred Astaire taping over Ginger's bedroom in „Tophat“: I think he just danced on plain leather-soles (sounds much better!). If you do it with metal-taps, it's even worse: Actually it sounds like hitting the floor with a hammer. Ginger might have fallen out of her bed! Now you understand, why I have to wait, until the dog is barking.

Unfortunately I'm having a toe-blister now – gotta get something from the drugstore, so I can tap on. Well, the shoes are brand-new and tap-shoes got to fit quite tight. Until the toes convalescence, let's see „Broadway Melody of 1936“ again (rather not „Broadway Melody of 1938“, that exorbitant colored bouquet, with showgirls, horses, jockeys, italian opera-singers and barbers: I asked myself why they didn't add Tarzan, King-Kong, Humphrey Bogart and a few gangsters from the toddling town to this gorgeously mixed stew): Una Merkel is a ducky little girl. I didn't remember her name, but I sure remembered her face and her cute acting. The second film I needed wasn't really the 1938 version: On the internet I found „Born to Dance“. Yes, that was the second Eleanor Powell movie I once loved. Una is in it too. I remember they played with ocarinas, in a quite funny way. And I think Una used kind of secret-language, like Ginger's pig-latin in her last chorus of „We're in the Money“ (it seems, girls liked those funny secret-languages in the early and mid 30s). Well, I certainly got to order „Born to Dance"...

Now I like Eleanors tap-dancing much more than years ago. I don't approve her quite long repetitions, but she's showing many other mighty swell tap steps. On the other hand sequences of repetitions can be very useful, if you have to dance several times in a club, and the audience wants to see more and more. Well, theoretically you can do sort of tap-step-heel-heel-pickup-step-heel-heel until doomsday ... Whatever, you can't always invent new, most interesting steps. If you never use repetitions, you're gonna burn out your own creativity.

Come to think of clubs, I was in one on Sunday evening. There's a new Traditional-Jazz jam-session. I dared it, to use all my 40 curlers: Lots of curls on both sides and a few more edging behind. It looked a bit like Eleanor's hairdo. I certainly wore my clothes that look most 30s-like. Well, I knew a lot of jazz musicians who'd find this nothing but ridiculous. But the people in this club were quite nice and they liked it. I didn't say: „Look, I'm representing the 30s!“ They found it out themselves. Well, this is probably the best way to meet other 30s-loving people. I met a clarinet-player I had met before – rather nice guy. The other musicians were swell fellows too. I liked the piano-player, because he really played old-fashioned stride – kind of Fats Waller style. The piano came rather loud over the PA. No chance to tap loud enough, if you haven't metal-taps under your tap-shoes. In most cases you really need 'em. But playing my trumpet was nice anyway.

So now you know, why I bought tap-shoes yesterday.
_____

P.S.: A few blogger-fellows made me upset a bit. Their lifes must be rather dull, so they had a 'nice' back-yard tiddle-taddle about Ginger having had no kids. You know, that petit-bourgeois kind. How can one be „sad“, if an actor has got no children? Well, I'm a vegetarian – should I be disappointed and „sad“, if Ginger and Jean weren't? I came to the conclusion, that it's rather stupid, just to talk about actresses – above all about their private matters. I've had about enough of that and I'm going to change a few things. I don't wanna' just talk about things, actresses did – I'm used to do things myself. Ginger helped me a lot and that's why I love her. So it seems rather annoying to me, if they even begin to accuse her mother, without knowing anything. ... The fan is the worst enemy of a star. Here you can see it again. Just buy yourselves tap-shoes and go to work, or do something else – but do something, instead of talking about Ginger's private matters!

In Question

2010-05-08T16:09:00.012-04:00

As we are following the TCM tv-schedule, our first Jean Arthur serial ends today. The next tv-feature will be at the 20th of this month. In the meantime I'd like to discuss a quite critical point in Jean's career: Many People claimed – and they still do this today: Jean Arthur being „unmusical“.

I discussed this question already in my edition about „A Foreign Affair“. Singing the „Iowa Corn Song“, she showed a lot of musicality in this 1948 production. Yesterday she sang „Swanee River“ on TCM, in „Mr. Deeds Goes to Town“. In fact her singing wasn't too precisely in this scene. But before we might come to the judgement, that she couldn't sing absolutely, please consider this: Jean was used to do one thing at a time, and usually she tried to do this perfectly. Multi-tasking wasn't her talent at all. When I was younger, I tried to accompany my singing at the piano myself. And if you'd hear that, you might think, I couldn't sing to well, although I'm a classical trained singer. The problem is, I can't concentrate on my voice, while using my two hands on the piano keys.

Yesterday we saw Jean drumming on a garbage can, while singing „Swanee River“. I noticed, how she intuitively used the right technique to hit the high notes in the middle part (in the „bridge“). And I'd like to hear her singing this part again, without drum-sticks in her hands. I'm absolutely sure, she would do it much better then. So there is no way to say: „We knew it before, she isn't musical at all.“ I don't buy this. I don't just doubt it, I know it better, because I noticed her musical feeling and I felt it right in the heart of my own musicality. And I can say, that I'm quite experienced. It wasn't difficult to encourage Jean and when they told her she had no talent, she lost her self-confidence at once. Sometimes I wish, I could have been her voice teacher. After a few weeks you'd be surprised ...

We're supposed to consider, that Jean loved classical music. She must have been quite experienced as a listener of her own record-collection with classical music. So she developed a kind of musicality, that probably wasn't suitable for musical, jazz and hit-songs of the 30s. Even classical skilled and experienced music-professionals have great difficulties to play jazz or popular music. To become a musical-talent, you had to be a fan of popular music and jazz from an early age. In 1950 Jean danced to Leonard Bernstein's music in Peter Pan. And that wasn't all: she made her own choreography for this stage-production. This couldn't have worked without musicality. Yes, you need lots of musicality for such a challenge. In 1950 they felt, Jean couldn't sing Peter Pan, so she just danced. But as I said before, I doubt this, and I even dare to contradict Bernstein in this point. The great composer Puccini himself was supposed to be untalented, so they didn't let him study. This old prejudice prevents people from getting a real chance and makes them feel discouraged. It's not new, that even a genius like Bernstein has this prejudice.

Funny enough, that many people really think, Jean played piano, because they saw her 'playing' in a film or two. I must add, she did this 'playing' (she didn't really play*) with a quite musical feeling. If she wouldn't have been musical, she couldn't have acted even that way.

______________________________

* In Mr. Smith Goes to Washington we can watch her fingers in action on piano keys and it looks absolutely real. In Only Angels Have Wings she 'plays' “Some of These Days“ in the jazzy piano-stride style of the 30s. I play jazz stride-piano myself and what Jean did there convinced me absolutely. On the other hand John Oller didn't write anything about Jean as a pianist: He tells us about the books and kind of music she preferred, as about her other likings and dislikings. Oller even describes her furniture and the color of wallpapers, but I never read about a piano, or that she would have practiced on such instrument. Learning piano is a little bit like getting married: If you want to be a good pianist, you got to stick to the keys truly (certainly from an early age). As long as you want to keep that level you'll have to do so daily. So I think she couldn't play piano. Nevertheless „Some of These Days“ is a true phenomenon: Bing Crosby, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant and many other actors and actresses sat behind pianos, without showing their fingers, so everybody was sure, that they didn't really play. Irene Dunne was well known as a real pianist and we can watch her fingers on the keys. Fred Astaire was a very good accordion- and stride-piano player too. The only explanation for that what Jean was doing, is her sedulous, bustling, industrious rehearsing. Maybe they gave her a piano-role and she learned to follow the moving keys.

Back Home in the 30s

2010-05-01T09:08:00.021-04:00

In the year of „Follow the Fleet“ and „Swingtime“, 1936, one of Frank Capra's greatest films was released: „Mr. Deeds Goes to Town“ is a comedy, social drama, and a touching love-story. And this was the first real Jean Arthur Classic, starting her fame.

The hard-boiled newspaper-woman Louise 'Babe' Bennett (Jean Arthur) is pretty successful, writing stories about the rather naive Longfellow Deeds (Gary Cooper). Realizing that she's crucifying a man, she's more und more fond of, Louise changes her character to the typical 'tender angel', Jean always used to play.

„Some actresses could have played the cynical part, while others could have done the romantic ending. But no one could have done them both as well as Jean,“ said director Frank Capra. But there is even more: The pretty rousing speaker Jean Arthur, defending her lover in the courtroom. Or the amorously confused Gary Cooper, knocking down the garbage cans.

On the same Friday, May 7th 2010, TCM shows „Meet John Doe“ (1941), another Capra Film. This film is quite similar to „Mr. Deeds Goes to Town“ and Jean was supposed to be in it. But she turned it down and so Barbara Stanwyck was casted. Maybe Jean found it superfluous, to do this again with Gary Cooper, although she liked him very much. But as „Meet John Doe“ was released on May 3rd 1941, Jean probably didn't have the time to join this project, because she had to work on „The Devil and Miss Jones“ - a project of her husband Frank Ross.

World and Angel

2010-04-30T18:33:00.022-04:00

In the 40s, Paramount was entitled to make two more films with Jean Arthur. „A Foreign Affair“ – next to the last one (Shane, 1953) – was made 1948, four years after she had quit Hollywood. And it seems, they didn't try to hold her: Billy Wilder, Frederick Hollander and Marlene Dietrich talked German on the set – and they were joking ... ... ... joking about Jean? - Well, John Oller* wrote, she was crying, when she showed up at Wilder's doorstep with her husband. - Director Wilder just convinced her, that she was not made look bad in the film and this was a reason for Jean to stay. But there were still questions...

Congresswoman Phoebe Frost is a persiflage, a very intelligent parody. But somehow Jean was a bit like Phoebe: very cute, funny and sometimes even odd. So in a way, she had to parody herself. Phoebe was the really loving, nice girl. Dietrich had the nasty part – an ex-nazi that now even corrupted American Officers with her charm. It seems, people rather liked the bad girl, than the good one – and I guess, Dietrich thought that way too. It's always like this: the bad girls in this world despise the good girls. Jean later forgave Wilder**, but she never forgave Dietrich's rather „cool or worse“ (says John Oller) treatment. How must Jean have felt during the shooting? Dietrich was supposed to treat her cool in the play, so it was just a continuation of the reality behind the set. Isn't this downright depressing? A few scenes in this film always make me feel pain. The ex-nazigirl*** calls Phoebe „that funny little woman, with a face like a scrubbed kitchen-floor.“ Dietrich and Wilder could easily protest, that this was nothing but a film scene. But was it?

Jean sure was an outsider in Wilder's team – absolutely opposite to Dietrich. The German actress used to present her sex-appeal. Jean has always been reserved. I don't think she was really 'shy'. She just didn't trust anybody – rationally, critically, reasonably hesitating. She wasn't cheap enough to act careless. She even hated to act in movies as a „cool-sexy heroine“, as Howard Hawks**** remembered. During the 30s this had been an advantage; in 1948 public appreciated rather Dietrich. So there wasn't any encouragement for Jean – no reason to make much more films in Hollywood at all. It was just that easy. And today? It's obvious, that the masses like nastiness even more and Jean doesn't really top the hit-lists of classical movies. It's rather „Some Like It Hot“ – isn't it? Come to think of it, the director of „Some Like It Hot“ was Billy Wilder! Could he understand Jean's philosophy?

Later we'll have to talk about heavy beatings, Jean Arthur had suffered long before 1948. They had to do with „Gone With the Wind“ and „Casablanca“. It seems, humanity was much too clumsy, to help a 'wounded angel' to get over this. The 1948 project with Billy Wilder was no help. „A Foreign Affair“ is a very amusing film and absolutely worth seeing. But Jean Arthur payed a rather high price for it. She even got less pay than Dietrich.
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* Biographer John Oller wrote „Jean Arthur – The Actress Nobody Knew“.

** It seems John Oller later interviewed Billy Wilder, because Jeans biographer says Wilder was „amused“ when Jean apologized to him in 1988, after watching „A Foreign Affair“ on TV. She even admitted, that she „absolutely loved it.“ (!) Jean has always been modest, but at that time she could easily afford to show humility, living quite happily – far away from Hollywood. And it's obvious that she was happier than Wilders star of „Some Like It Hot“.

*** Just to be fair: Marlene Dietrich certainly never was a nazi in her real live! On the contrary she was opposed to Hitler and left Germany in the 30s.

**** Director of „Only Angels Have Wings“ (1939)

A Serious, Funny Picture

2010-04-27T10:47:00.029-04:00

„A Foreign Affair“ is great fun. The historical circumstances are serious, sad and terrible, but Jean is acting absolutely crazy in it. After the occupation of Germany, Berlin is nothing but a heap of rubble. Nonetheless you'll be surprised, how funny life in ruins can be.

Congresswoman Phoebe Frost is investigating the moral of American GIs, consorting with „German Fräuleins“ (misses). Visiting the pleasures of Berlin's nightlife, she becomes a „Fräulein“ herself. Marlene Dietrich is acting as a nightclub singer and Jean Arthur is going to take away her lover – of course an American GI. Dietrich is treating her quite mean and that was not just film, because she did treat Jean that way on the set and Jean never forgave her that.

Once Jean's leading man is joking about Eisenhower (as you know, the 34th President of the United States since 1953): He was in fact the leading General of the American occupation-troops in Germany. You'll also hear about certain nazi-greats: Hitler, Goebels and Göring are of course historical facts. But the story about Hans Otto Birgel is made up. This is the typical 'catch-the-evil-nazi' item of the 40s, comparable to Ginger Rogers Austrian Count in „Once Upon a Honeymoon“ (1942), or to the quite serious film „The Stranger“ (1946).

Nightlife in Berlin's ruins is wonderfully crazy in „A Foreign Affair“ – next to American GIs, even joined by Russian soldiers, from the eastern sector. You'll be surprised and pleased! Congresswoman from Iowa, Miss Phoebe Frost, is acting pretty crazy too, singing the refrain of the „Iowa Corn Song“:

We're from I-O-way, I-O-way:
State of all the land,
Joy on ev-'ry hand.
We're from I-O-way, I-O-way:
That's where the tall corn grows.

Here we have an evidence, that many rumors about Jean Arthur were simply not true: Jean wasn't „unmusical“ at all. Of course she wasn't a great singer like Irene Dunne or Eleanor Powell. But in popular music there were many voices not too skilled. Ginger Rogers wasn't a great singer as well, but nevertheless she was a very charming musical singing-talent. If you compare Fred Astaire to Bing Crosby, Fred isn't looking much better than Jean. We're supposed to consider, that Jean always listened to classical music. Therefore she couldn't develop a feeling for swinging, hot and sweet music during the 20s and 30s. So it was better to let her sing traditional melodies, like the Iowa Corn Song.

Iowa Corn: As all Iowans know, the tallest corn certainly grows in Iowa!

All those, who don't know about the habits in United States Senate and House of Representatives, might be interested to hear about filibustering. This is what James Steward did in „Mr. Smith Goes to Washington“: As long he held the floor in the Senate, he was holding up the whole house (today this is practiced by republicans, trying to hold up President Obamas law projects). Phoebe Frost uses filibustering for private matters, reciting a famous piece of American poetry: „Paul Revere's Ride“, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I don't want to anticipate this scene, but it's very funny... - Jean recited a small part of this poem in „Mr. Smith Goes to Washington“ too, just kidding at the telephone (they were looking for James Steward and she proposed to hang a „light into the belfry“):

„... One if by land, and two if by sea ...“

Many people just think, politics would be nothing but annoying. But in fact it's always funny. Movies like „Mr. Smith Goes to Washington“ and „A Foreign Affair“ can help us to take politics not too serious. Like Ron Elving said in the NPR-show „It's All Politics“:

„There was a very large spaceship that landed in the middle of Washington D.C. and 435 people ran out of the machine into the House of Representatives; another 100 ran over to the Senate, but they all came from another planet.“

Miss Phoebe Frost must have 'run into' the House of Representatives, otherwise people should have named her „Senator Frost“ in the film. But she might meet Senator Smith (James Steward) in Congress. And she might even meet herself, by bumping into his wife Clarissa.

So that was early 40s' Jean

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THE DEVIL AND MISS JONES – What was wrong?

I was quite bold to count „The Devil and Miss Jones“ into the wartime film issue. In fact it was released eight months before the Japanese strike against Pearl Harbour. But nonetheless the common thinking already changed during the months before December 7, 1941, and that was probably no good for a pro-union film.

„Unfortunately the film's pro-union message did not serve it particularly well at the box office ...“, wrote Jean Arthur's biographer John Oller. After all there had been a cold war going on before the hot one. And labour-rebellion wasn't any longer popular, because Americans did feel quite threatened in those days. But on the other hand unions had been useful to still the „wildcat strikes“ of the 30s, which had been pretty successful for factory-workers during the depression. Employers never liked unions, but since 1935 unions were rather welcome, to prevent wild sit-down strikes. „From the government's point of view it was an aid to stability of commerce“, wrote Howard Zinn.*

Rebellious wildcat strike in "The Devil and Miss Jones"

So I'm still unaware of the reason why „The Devil and Miss Jones“ didn't sell so well. All those who saw it yesterday on TCM, might guess it: Was it perhaps because of a radical pro-labor viewpoint anyhow? Did the film proclaim strikes much to emphatically? Well, this might have irritated a few people. As Zinn says, „... the war did something else: patriotism, the push for unity of all classes against enemies overseas, made it harder to mobilize anger corporations. During the war, the CIO** and AFL*** pledged to call no strikes.“

To have it not too academical here, I add a few more quotations as footnote. It's a fine thing to speculate a bit, until I will have seen the film ...****
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THE TALK OF THE TOWN – Great film, but ...

... is Cary really the right man for Jean? - Well, having compared that to „The More the Merrier“ about twenty times, I'm pretty sure, he isn't. He's mighty charming and very handsome – no question! But Jean is so very sensitive. And isn't Cary acting a little cold and selfish? As a good friend he was absolute adorable – no question! But to consider the 'happy ending': One hasty kiss and then he rushes away. Then another hasty kiss and he rushes away again. Suddenly he flings himself back and drags her out of the picture. Is that tender love? No-no-no, I object! ... You think I'm much too sentimental now? ... Good, let's get back to history:

Cary Grant plays the part of a rebellious worker. And this time the United States are already involved in the hot World War. As I have learned by studying American History for our first part: Rebellion was quite unpopular during World War II. Our friend had been rebellious since his school days, being an „individual thinker“. This is the great merit of this film: support for all individual thinkers, being disliked anyway and even hated in times of trouble and crisis. Jean must have liked that story, being an individual thinker herself: „If you can hang on to your individuality, hold tight to your freedom, and not get squigged-out as you grow older, then and only then are you mature,“ she said 1950 or 1951.

But have you seen her in the professor's pajamas? And isn't that cute? - But wait a minute: In „The More the Merrier“ she wears her own striped pajamas, aaand pigtales! I can't understand those people who go miles for cheese-cake, but I tell you what: I'd like to frame those pajamas-pictures in big golden frames. I'm quite sure they would help me to get up early in the morning and keep smiling all over the day.

And finally I tell you this: Ronald Colman is a very kind man and they should have changed the story and let him marry Jean. I had that discussion already with my step-mother, when I was a school girl: Cary isn't the right husband for Jean, he would make her unhappy!

But this time my step-mother was right: It's just a film, so he won't make her unhappy.☺
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THE MORE THE MERRIER – Sometimes too much

The first time I was really anxious, they might loose control and derail into adult stuff out on the street. But don't you misunderstand me, I'm not criticising the film. I'm highly impressed, because McCrea shows so very deep emotions: He's the most sensitive and tender man I ever saw in classic movies. And Jean? Well, only a heavenly creature could be able to feel love like this. If angels ever fell in love (I'm quite convinced they never do), they'd suffer just like Jean did in „The More the Merrier“.

Jean surprised me once more. I never saw her acting that snooty. And I never knew that she was able to fling poisoned arrows out of her eyes. Well, she had reasons enough, after two men had moved into her appartement, without asking her. Very funny is her „morning schedule" and how Coburn ist struggling to stick to it. And I'll never forget that certain scene in the cab, where she scolds her ex-fiancé – after his „shhhh!“ – pointing a flower at him:

„Don't shu-shu-sh me! You've been shushing me for 22 months. Now, you shushed your last shush!“

Very funny. But finally history is disturbing it: Connie Carter (she's married now – remember?) pays a terribly bitter price for the war, giving away her very tender and sensitive Joe for Africa. And I'm sitting there in front of my screen, using up dozens and dozens of handkerchiefs ... It's beautiful, it's wonderful, it's awful!

Maybe McCrea felt that way too, because he skipped the coming-home story in 1944: He was replaced then by Lee Bowman, who acted „completely wooden, and totally inadequate as a substitute for McCrea.“ This is what John Oller has written. - Well, Jean did her best, but „The Impatient Years“ flopped. After that her contract with Columbia Pictures ended and she didn't want to sign a new one.

Frankly I'm asking myself, whether Jean liked to present so very deep emotions to the public. As we know her, maybe she didn't.
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* Howard Zinn, „A People's History of the United States“ - sometimes Zinn seems to bee a bit 'radical' himself, but it's rather interesting to read.

** CIO, the Congress of Industrial Organizations

*** AFL, the American Federation of Labor

**** Howard Zinn about the change in American minds: „The coming of World War II weakened the old labor militancy of the thirties because the war economy created millions of new jobs at higher wages.“ Zinn ends his chapter about „Self-Help in Hard Times“, before beginning with chapter 16 „A People's War?“ this way: „Many Americans began to change their thinking in those days of crisis and rebellion. In Europe, Hitler was on the march. Across the Pacific, Japan was invading China. The Western empires were being threatened by new ones. For the United States, war was not far off.“ - All those quotations I inserted here, come from chapter 15, about the years before the war.

Jean - the Early 40s

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On the occasion of TCM presenting three movies with Jean Arthur on next Monday, we're having a nice little trip to the years 1941/42/43, until the following week.

Two of those movies were directed by George Stevens, a director Jean liked to work with, because he did things very thoroughly. This gave her time to work out her parts carefully, as she always wanted.

Just one film is of course missing in this early 40s issue (if we skip the western „Arizona“) and that is „Too Many Husbands“ (1940). On the other hand those three pictures on the TCM schedule belong to the wartime-film issue and that makes it so very interesting to discuss – on next Tuesday, here on sweet&hot.
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THE TALK OF THE TOWN - About Justice, Spirit of Law and ...

... Love? - Despite the love scenes, this film is more about true friendship. And although we can't deny it being a drama, it's a very entertaining comedy as well. The fine tuning of this tasty bouquet is genius and makes this film a remarkable masterpiece of great art.

Jean Arthur is brilliant and witty as ever. Although her name appeared below Cary Grant's, she is playing the central and most present part.

Jean Arthur about actor Bill Colmann: "interesting and understanding"

Released: August 20, 1942

Director: George Stevens

Cast: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Ronald Colman & other

118 minutes

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THE MORE THE MERRIER - The Difficulty to Love in Wartime

A breathtaking tender Air-Force Sergeant and a very goblin-like Jean Arthur.

It is funny, it is touching, it is refreshing. Charles Coburns clumsy accidents will make you laugh.

The heartfelt second half seems to end sadly first, but finally you won't be unhappy.

Released: May 13, 1943

Director: George Stevens

Cast: Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea, Charles Coburn & other

104 minutes

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THE DEVIL AND MISS JONES - Film with Pro-Union Message

This movie is hard to get on DVD!

I haven't seen it yet and I won't have the opportunity to see it on Monday. But as I was told, it is a really wonderful film: Very witty, funny and human.

So don't miss it.

And after that you might perhaps tell us here, how it was ...

Released: April 11, 1941

Director: Sam Wood

Cast: Jean Arthur, Robert Cummings, Charles Coburn & other

92 minutes