Breaking the Code Boxed Set

If you haven't already, please check out my Breaking the Code Boxed Set project I did for Graduate school back '07. I mapped out the whole process from conception to creation. I picked out the movies, designed and created the slipcase for the boxed set, a booklet, naughty promotional postcards and web banner advertisement. I even wrote all the articles for the booklet. A lot of time, effort and love went into the project and although it was a while back, it still holds a very special place in my heart and it hurts me to see it collect dust back in the recesses of my archives. So please check it out!

If you haven't already noticed, the boxed set is not really for sale! It's just a school project. It's not real!

Good Heavens: Heaven Can Wait (1943)

It's funny how over time elements of a movie fade from memory. So much so that most of the particulars are forgotten. When the movie is seen again years later, the film feels brand new and fresh rather than familiar. It's as though those elements were pulled out of the memory vault and not only dusted off put thoroughly cleaned and shined until sparkly.

Watching Ernst Lubitsch' Heaven Can Wait (1943) recently, after a few years hiatus from my last viewing, felt like I had watched the film for the first time. Out of all the 5 heaven movies I'm reviewing (see original list here), this is the only one that actually involves the concept of heaven (and hell) as a place one goes after death. Henry Van Cleeve (Don Ameche) is at the gates of hell, where he expects to be, and his life is being reviewed by Satan, who is reluctant to let him in. What proceeds is a visual journey through the life and times of bad boy Cleeve, from infancy to death. The most moving part of his story is his relationship with his wife Martha (Gene Tierney). He steals her away from his cousin and they elope on his 26th birthday. They continue on to have a passionate and tumultuous marriage that is based on their intense love for one another.

I have to say, this was probably the worst film for me to watch at this stage of my life, as opposed to when I first saw it a few years back. Mortality has been ever-present on my mind lately and the thought of what happens when I die looms around me like a pesky mosquito that won't leave me be. Basically, I'm not in the right place right now to enjoy this film without being depressed by it. Maybe a few years from now, I can watch this film again with a different outlook. I'll put back the elements of this film in my memory vault and leave them there for now.

While most people will look forward to seeing Gene Tierney and Don Ameche in this film, I most enjoyed most of the other actors in the cast. They delighted me immensely when their presence graced the screen for a few or for numerous scenes. Those include Louis Calhern as the doting and befuddled father of Henry, Charles Coburn as the mischevious grandfather of Henry, Dickie Moore as the teenage Henry, Marjorie Main as Martha's stubborn mother and Eugene Pallette as Martha's equally stubborn father. Such a great ensemble of superb actors!

I really hope the title sequence panels for this movie were sewn by hand. Because that would be so cool!

New Books for Classic Film Fans

I found a slew of new (and newish) books out on the market that will be of interest to classic film fans. Not all of them are specifically about classic films but I find many of them tie-in well with related interests. Enjoy!

*To be fair, I'm including a link to Amazon.com as well as to IndieBound.org. IndieBound can direct you to one of your local independent bookstores. Buy local if you can. I'm also including a link to the publisher's page about the book as most bookstore sites don't have much information on these quite yet.
for fans of the great director

Vincente Minnelli
~Hollywood's Dark Dreamer~
by Emanuel Levy
St. Martin's
$35.00
9780312329259
Amazon - IndieBound - Publisher

for department store fans. The store was central to the movie Miracle on 34th Street (1947).

Macy's~The Store. The Star. The Story~
by Robert M. Grippo
SquareOne Publishers
$27.95
9780757003097
Amazon - IndieBound - Publisher

for B movie fans (aren't we all fans?)

The B List
~The National Society of Film Critics on the
Low-Budget Beauties, Genre-Bending Mavericks,
and Cult Classics We Love~
by David Sterritt and John C Anderson
$15.95
Da Capo Press (hi Lissa!!!)
9780306815669
Amazon - IndieBound - Publisher


for fans of the 1920's and flaming youth

Bright Young People
~The Lost Generation of London's Jazz Age~
by DJ Taylor
$27.00
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
9780374116835
Amazon - IndieBound - Publisher

for fans of comedians such as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton

Make 'Em Laugh
~ The Funny Business of America ~
by Michael Kantor and Laurence Maslon
$45.00
Twelve
9780446505314
Amazon - IndieBound - Publisher


fans of the Philo Vance mysteries of the late '20s/early '30s may appreciate this

Death by Water
~A Phryne Fisher Mystery~
by Kerry Greenwood
$24.95
Poisoned Pen Press
9781590582398
Amazon - IndieBound - Publisher

fans of sharp and witty dialogue in classic films who aspire to charm through conversation

The Art of Conversation
~A Guided Tour of a Neglected Pleasure~
by Catherie Blyth
$22.50
Gotham (Penguin)
9781592404193
Amazon - IndieBound - Publisher

Hot Toddy ~ Don Taylor

Name: Don Taylor

Stats: b. 1920- d. 1998. 29 films as actor, 11 films as director. Directed TV in the '80s.

Rating based on level of excellence: 3 out of 5 Humunahs!

Hotness Factors: Tall, gentlemanly stature, great hair and sheepish smile. He's the boy next door who looks innocent enough but will steal your hot daughter away when your back is turned.

Chicks He Digged: Married two actresses. First wife was TV actress Philis Avery and second wife was scream queen Hazel Court, who passed away last year.

For Optimal Hotness Watch:

Father of the Bride (1950) ~ He's the lucky kid who gets to marry virginal Elizabeth Taylor (at least on screen).

The Naked City (1948) ~ He plays a detective who scours the city of New York looking for the man who murdered glamour (see my post about the movie here).

Stalag 17 (1953) ~ He's the WWII Lieutenant who managed to blow up a Nazi train with a hand-made bomb. He's the hero of all the men at the POW camp. (see pictures below)