We had a small black and white movie festival with E. and R.-
last night watched "Double Indemnity," with Barbara Stanwyck and Fred McMurray
("I wonder if a little rum would help get this on its feet," says the hapless McMurray, over his iced tea).
Tonight, "Twentieth Century," with Carole Lombard and John Barrymore
("I close the iron door on you")-
and the worst old movie I've seen in a long time:
a little 1941 von Sternberg film called "The Shanghai Gesture," starring Gene Tierney, Walter Huston, Ona Munson, and Victor Mature.
It definitely had entertainment value (Ona Munson calls someone a "disabled flamingo"), but maaaan, was it not good. Tierney is a babe (her photo on the cover was what made us rent it), but her role sucks, and her acting is awful. Still, Shanghai at that time must have been quite the interesting and skanky place- I'd like to read about it. I know people whose families lived there in the 30s, though I'm sure they didn't have much to do with casinos and opium dens. There were lots of Russians there, and they were represented in the film, too. The bartender is pretty great.
Damn, E. lent me a book about the history of Australia, and I forgot it. I'm still caught up in the end of "True History of the Kelly Gang," and want to read up on that some more, too.
I need someone to give me a big grant, just so I can stay home and read everything I want to.