Today on my YouTube channel I'm sharing my favorite TCM swag. These are TCM branded items that I've collected over the years.
A few years ago I shared two posts about my favorite items in my classic film collection. Not only movies themselves but lots of other stuff too. Some of the TCM items I mention in the video are also in these posts.
Today is Sidney Poitier's birthday! The legendary actor
turns 91. To celebrate I'm taking a look at Poitier's film writing debut from
1968: For Love of Ivy. 1967 was a good year in Poitier's career especially with the
release of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?, In the Heat of the Night and To Sir, With Love. He was in a position to take on a new challenge. Poitier wanted a part
as a romantic lead; something in the same vein as a Cary Grant
movie. In a rush of inspiration Poitier wrote down an outline for a story.
He simply called it Ivy. Poitier later collaborated with Robert Alan Arthur who would be integral in
taking the outline and fleshing it out into a full fledged
movie. The story was a romantic comedy, meant for a mainstream audience,
with two African-American leads. It would be ground breaking. The end
result was For Love of Ivy (1968).
Ivy Moore (Abbey Lincoln) is a 20-something who works full-time for the wealthy Austin household. She's not just their maid, she's like a member of their family. She's an integral part of what holds them together. When Ivy announces to Doris (Nan Martin) and Frank Austin (Caroll O'Connor) that she plans to leave her job for a new life in the city, they panic. The Austin kids, free-spirited hippie Tim (Beau Bridges) and boy-crazy Gena (Lauri Peters) concoct a plan to keep Ivy around. Tim, who does a bit of gambling on the side, enlists his one African-American friend Jack Parks (Sidney Poitier) to go out on a date with Ivy. If Ivy finds a guy and settles down, surely she'll reconsider leaving the Austin household. Tim and Gena try everything to get Jack and Ivy together. Jack is comfortable in his bachelor lifestyle. He runs a shipping company called Par-Tal which is really just a front for his illegal underground casino. Ivy has no idea what she's getting into. Thrust into an awkward situation, she makes the best of it while keeping true to her fiery independent spirit. Will these two fall in love or will Tim and Gena's plan be a total and utter disaster?
More than 300 women tried out for the title role of Ivy. It ultimately went to jazz singer Abbey Lincoln. This was her second film in a very short film career. Both Lincoln and Poitier are charismatic on screen. However I didn't buy them as a couple. Something seemed off. Maybe it was a lack of chemistry with each other, the deliberately slow pace of the story or some other factor. Once something started to happen I was relieved because the waiting was torturous. Intended to be a romantic comedy, For Love of Ivy isn't very funny. With the exception of a few outrageous scenes, it doesn't try very hard to be comedic. According to Poitier biographer Aram Goudsouzian "Daniel
Mann's direction sapped the pungency from the better one-liners. He
rendered the actors excessively mannered, and the picture moves slower
than the light script demands. Thanks to Mann, the romantic comedy had
little comedy." The film is more heavy-handed than it is light-hearted. For Love of Ivy has potential that it does not deliver. The film made a modest profit at the box office and Sidney Poitier received on-screen credit for his original idea.
Race is not intended to be at the forefront of the story but it's always there on the surface. The story juxtaposes a wealthy white family whose antics are always ridiculous with more grounded sensibility of Ivy and even Parks. I thought it was interesting that Parks' underground casino is run by African-American and serves a strictly white clientele only. When Ivy tries to bet, Parks refuses saying that he doesn't allow his people to gamble there.
The performances really save the picture. Poitier is charming and it is so good to see him in a bonafide romantic leading role. Lincoln proves her worth to be the center of the story. Beau Bridges is a delight as scheming hippie son of a wealthy family. Caroll O'Connor is the confused and angry patriarch in an all too short a role. Nan Martin is over-the-top as the flustered matriarch. I also enjoyed Leon Bibb as Billy Talbot, one of Parks' main men who is eager to take over the business.
For Love of Ivy (1968) is available on Blu-Ray and DVD from Kino Lorber.
Have you ever fallen head-over-heels in love with a movie? That's what happened to voice actress Nancy Cartwright when she saw Frederico Fellini’s La Strada (1954). So much so that she wrote letters to Fellini and traveled to Italy to meet him in hopes that he would grant her request to adapt La Strada into a play. She never got to meet the director, who passed away in 1993, but her wild adventure to Italy inspired her one-woman play appropriately titled In Search of Fellini. For years Cartwright, who is best known as the voice of Bart on The Simpson’s, wanted to adapt her story into a film. In 2017, the film In Search of Fellini, loosely based on her own story, came to life. Cartwright produced the story with her production company Spotted Cow Entertainment, co-wrote the screenplay with Peter Kjenaas and even has an on screen role as Cosima, a character very much inspired by La Strada.
“The visionary is the only true realist.” – Frederico Fellini
Lucy (Ksenia Solo) is a naive 20 year old woman. Her over-protective mother Claire (Maria Bello) has sheltered her all her life. Claire used to be an adventurous young woman alongside her no nonsense sister Kerri (Mary Lynn Rjskub). After a series of bad relationships, Claire got pregnant with Lucy and from the moment she gave birth she decided to protect her daughter from all of life’s trials and tribulations. Fast forward to 1993 and Lucy is essentially a 13 year old in a 20 year old’s body. Faced with terminal lung cancer, Claire, with the help of Kerri, wants to help Lucy grow up and get a life. When Lucy has an ill-fated trip to Cleveland for a job opportunity, she stumbles upon a Fellini film festival and is mesmerized by La Strada. She watches all the Fellini she can get her hands on and an obsession begins. Lucy travels to Italy in search for Fellini but discovers many hardships along the way. Her fantastical trip mirrors several Fellini films in the odd occurences and encounters she faces in Verona, Milan, Venice and Rome. She meets two men, Angelo (Lorenzo Balducci), who will unlock her dormant sensuality, and Placido (Paolo Bernardini) who proves to be dangerous temptation. Will Lucy ever find Fellini? Or is this a journey of discovery for something completely different?
"You guys just pretend you're on a cloud and watch movies." - Kerri
I was drawn to In Search of Fellini (2017) because I myself am a cinephile who will travel far to pursue my passion. However, what happens to Lucy in the movie is so fantastical and unbelievable that I had a difficult time relating to the character even though I found so much of myself in her. I had a difficult time believing this was based on a true story. I can't tell you how many times I've been to Europe and wished that something magical or extraordinary would happen to me there. It never did. But in the span of a few days numerous events happen to Lucy. I wasn't buying it. This film is pure fantasy.
In Search of Fellini is a love letter to cinema, to Fellini and to finding your true self. It's about breaking free from what holds you back. There is a lot here for classic film lovers. There are numerous references to It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and Romeo & Juliet (1968), two films both Claire and Lucy watch extensively. It's a Wonderful Life represents how Lucy is stuck in a sheltered life and Romeo & Juliet represents her imminent sexual awakening and her journey to Italy. Lucy attends a Fellini film festival and is so in love with La Strada that she comes home with a stack of Fellini movies on VHS. In addition to La Strada, we see references to La Dolce Vita (1960), Amarcord (1973), 8-1/2 (1963), Roma (1972) and more. I love how Lucy becomes Lucia, or light in Italian and people are drawn to her quiet energy. It was interesting to see how different notable scenes from Fellini films are recreated in Italy circa 1993. Any Fellini fan will find much to savor and enjoy with this film.
The fantastical elements of this movie drove me nuts. Maybe because I once was a sheltered cinephile, I wanted this story to be more realistic. I kept asking questions like "how did she get a passport so quickly?" "why didn't she book a hotel?" and "how did she do so much walking and not get blisters?". The film kept trying to elevate me to another dimension and I kept trying to drag it back down to reality.
In Search of Fellini (2017) is available on DVD and digital.
