dirac

It's not at all uncommon in pop culture and the arts in general for the mainstream to pick up on and celebrate art forms and trends created by marginalized groups such as blacks and gays. This attention is not without its ambiguities and has its negative aspects. I too have read interviews with African-American dancers who mention the importance of children and young people being able to recognize and relate to who's on stage and what's happening up there, and it seems like a very reasonable, indeed obvious, point to me.

Which makes ballet rather obviously not the product of an excluded (and historically degraded) minority. As you say - not the same.

I second Marga's thanks, Krystin. Thanks for posting.

It's a sad bunch, even by DWTS standards. Sorry.....

Just as well, because going by the current list of "stars" they're really scraping the bottom of the barrel this season. The article linked to by miliosr is worth a read.

Gee, I know Alastair Macaulay is not popular in some quarters on this board, but surely we don't want to conflate him with The Great Beast? (Just kidding, ViolinConcerto. )

It's good to be reading you again, sidwich.

Then it is probably best that they have no opinion on the fate of the orchestra..... Thanks for these updates, YouOverThere. It sounds as if there's a lot being left out of these news accounts, but the board plainly has big problems and are apparently trying to deflect blame to the musicians, a management tactic we've seen plenty of recently. But again, it's hard to say.

I don't see any contradiction. McCartney does have a track record in orchestral work even if he is not a true classical composer, and it's not as if the ballet was made to taped music from The Beatles or Wings. The critics have also been kinder than one might have expected, in general.

Thank you for these posts, cubanmiamiboy. I would think the NYT critic was probably Tommasini, but didn't they ask their readers for their opinions as well? That's democracy for you.

I like "Rhapsody" because it seems so evocative of its era, despite its structural flaws. Comparing Gershwin's efforts with McCartney's seems a bit apples-and-oranges to me, although the two have been compared. McCartney came to classical music very late and his ambitions in the form (and the degree of his gift in it) are nothing like Gershwin's IMO. McCartney passed his peak some time ago but he still manages to come up with a good tune or two even on his most dismal efforts in my experience, although I haven't heard his last couple of albums, and one gives him credit for his unflagging energy. I agree.

In defense of Gershwin, he came to long compositions late and still had much to learn when he was composing "Rhapsody in Blue," although I like it anyway. There is no question that writing a good pop song is harder to do than it looks, though.

He's reported to have said that he'd like to have a company half white and half black, so he could play checkers.

Thanks for the link to the Anderson interview and the article, Simon. Interesting.

Beacham was my favorite on the show and a good match for Stanwyck. The show was indeed intermittently nuts but still very enjoyable IMO in spite of Emma Samms. They don't make 'em like that any more.

Quite right. Racism takes many forms,something that could only be fully realized when many (not all by any means) of the more naked and hostile aspects of the phenomenon disappeared, and excluding the term from discussion would only serve to obfuscate. Yes. And in general women particularly are subject to changing fashions in looks and body types.

I didn't mean to suggest you did, miliosr, sorry. I see what you and sandik mean. The Duke of Windsor always had that slightly melancholy look, even when he was partying up a storm as an international idol in the 20s. You can't help liking Stanwyck. She could do almost anything. You are right to say she also made smart choices - although I'd rather have What Ever Happened to Baby Jane on my resume than Roustabout, in all honesty. I understand this was also true offscreen, she was very professional and likable and no one had a bad word to say about her. I remember her in The Colbys. (I always liked that show.) I also liked The Big Valley. Used to watch it in the wee hours of the morning in college when I was working on papers. (From Airplane!: "Nick! Heath! Jarrod! There's a fire in the barn!")

It's an Elsa Maxwell dinner party in the late forties. Nothing dissolute going on. Truly dissolute parties were relatively rare in Hollywood back then, everyone had to be up bright and early on Monday morning. Stanwyck was a far better actor than Shearer and her reputation is higher today among buffs, but she also worked successfully in movies and television for many years as she got older, whereas Shearer's retirement turned out to be permanent and because of her mental decline in her latter years a second career as a grande dame was not in the cards for her. Stanwyck also made classics like Double Indemnity and The Lady Eve. I read that Linda Christian had died. Gorgeous woman. Her ex-husband Power appears to have been genuinely bisexual, with his most serious involvements reserved for women, and not terribly conflicted about the business either way, so good for him. Thanks for the photos, miliosr. Nice color pic of Luis Miguel Dominguin. Gable also slapped Stanwyck in "To Please a Lady," one of his better postwar vehicles. Leslie Caron reflected in her memoir that she got hit a lot over the years.

Well, he got a Best Actor Oscar. That's not so bad in the recognition department. I always thought he should have done better in feature films than he did but perhaps he wasn't quite strong enough as a personality. I like The Best Man too, PeggyR. Very entertaining movie. Other good Robertson titles: Underworld, USA. Obsession. He was also fine in support as Hugh Hefner in Star 80, swanning about in his jammies and wrinkling his nose at declasse Eric Roberts. Also good: his CIA man in Three Days of the Condor. I haven't seen the TV movie A Man Without a Country for a gazillion years, but it made a strong impression on me back when and I remember Robertson as being excellent in it. Charly isn't my cup of tea but I'm pleased he got an Oscar no matter how. Thanks for posting, miliosr. RIP.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on that - I just don't see any dramatic Road Not Taken point in Crawford's career, and from what I've read of the breakup the simple answer is that both parties were young for marriage and went in different directions as they matured. As you say, it was a long time ago..... I see Fairbanks had autographed editions of Douglas Southall Freeman's biographies of Washington and Lee. It also looks as if the family is holding on to most material relating to his distinguished military career, which is nice. Very classic look. Never goes out of style. And he was also unafraid of color when it was called for.

I think Crawford always remembered who she was. The quotes from her on Clark Gable that you linked to earlier, for example, aren't the words of a woman intent on erasing her origins. Transcending them, yes, but pretending they never were, no. If there were issues with the estate I hadn't heard, although there is often some friction with the kids when a rich widower marries again, as Fairbanks did. Good luck bidding. I'm sure it will be an interesting auction. Fairbanks was a spiffy dresser. Cufflinks! Cufflinks! Cufflinks!

The rule of thumb is that the more movies you make that stand up over time, the better your reputation will do in the very long run. Bogart made a lot of superior movies. Westerns never go out of style completely and Wayne features in many of the best. To a limited extent the King transcended that definition and he's an archetype in something like the way Babe Ruth is an archetype, but he would be better known today if he'd made more classics. Also his career went somewhat adrift in the postwar period, while his rival and coeval Gary Cooper continued to do well.

IMO musicians are a trifle overrepresented in general, which I expect has to do with providing live entertainment value for the television broadcast. Maybe Streep will sing, too. She has real pipes, not a wispy actressy voice but a nice strong one. Maybe Ma will invite Condoleezza Rice to accompany him again.

Thank you for posting, Mme. Hermine. If not for that omission, I would be quite pleased with this list:

Thanks for the list. Crawford and Gable were one of the great screen teams but they didn't make many movies of classic quality so they're not remembered that way. MGM paired them seven or eight times, I think.