dirac

Turner Classic Movies is showing three of her movies tonight - The Band Wagon, Singin' in the Rain, and Silk Stockings. Rather obvious selections, but perhaps they'll follow up with more.

whetherwax, I think another topic was begun in the Dancers forum, with a link to the article in the California Literary Review, which was also posted in our Links some time ago. Sometimes threads on new books don't appear immediately, as it takes some time for people to get to them. My nearby bookstore has a copy on sale for $35, which is not too bad.

Please tell us about it when you do read it, Grissi.

I agree with all of the foregoing. It is remarkable that they were able to put all this behind them years later and dedicate themselves to what seems to have mattered most to both of them, their art. I think Moira Shearer said something similar in her book long ago, and I think you're both on to something. (However, his feelings toward Vera Zorina, as I've heard them described, sound like real desperation.) You know, Balanchine was simple - and then again he wasn't. I suspect he was highly self-protective. I'd like to know more about his earliest years than we'll ever know now. Well.....Balanchine would still be as important without Farrell. As Leigh Witchel and others have observed, he never made a great ballet for her until late in life, and the Balanchine canon would be as impressive, although not as rich, without those ballets. The blunt fact is that if it hadn't been Farrell, it would have been somebody else. He was always good at working with what he had. But thank goodness she was there.

I don't think anyone's trying to accuse her of anything, certainly not here. We're trying to sort out conflicting accounts of her role and influence. In any case, MacMillan seems to be able to defend herself articulately and with vigor. (Thanks very much for contributing, BTW.) It seems as if everyone can agree on that. Well, that's certainly something a star would say. Obviously there were problems with Stretton's directorship, to put it mildly, but as a general principle annoying stars, "butting heads," and pushing young people forward is sometimes part of an AD's job.

Tell us about it if you do, walboi!

I'm sure there are two sides - indeed, probably more than that. Ismene Brown responded quite sharply in today's Telegraph. I didn't think she was quite fair, in all honesty, but plainly feelings are still running high.

Yes, that's how Wiseman has always done it. I see what he's after, but it would be nice to have people like Michael Somes identified. I'm delighted this is available. Thanks for the heads up.

Grissi, I think they all have their strong and weak points. (I confess I didn't have the stamina to read Vaill's book from cover to cover.) If you have to choose only one for an introduction to Robbins, I would definitely say Jowitt.

In today's Telegraph, a rebuttal from Deborah MacMillan. Seems to me the lady is being a trifle lawyerly. In any case, the Board got the message. Thanks for that link, Mashinka. Jennings' tone isn't exactly negative, though. He adds that it's too bad no one is holding the Royal's feet to the fire on Ashton's behalf. There's a case for having works of the second rank preserved and performed along with the very best.

Candor and rancor aren’t necessarily exclusive (and candor and honesty aren’t the same thing, while we’re on the subject). I meant his talking candidly about subjects such as who was getting paid more for doing less, for example. Obviously he wasn’t recollecting in tranquillity with all passion spent, but considering the circumstances that’s not surprising. I suppose nobody ever does tell the whole truth, because they can only know their truth, not the whole truth. This doesn’t excuse dishonesty or egregious omissions, but we can only ask that witnesses they tell it as they saw it, and it’s up to responsible reporters and biographers (and writers of obituaries) to determine as much of the ‘whole truth’ as we can know.

Especially discussed with this degree of candor.

Yes, her figure is lovely, although it looks as if she had too much work done on her face. .Hmm. Now that I think about it, often as not the motive behind such name changes is to make the name more ordinary, not less so. Tula Ellice Finklea and Spangler Arlington Brough certainly stay in the memory banks, and as you note the latter is euphonious in its way. Robert Taylor is indeed a very ordinary name, which is the point – to make his name more like those of other people and less singular. It is pronounced “brew.” I've seen it spelled both ways, don't know which is right. The AP obituary linked to by carbro and Gina notes that Charisse was up for the Caron role in An American in Paris, which I hadn’t heard before. Thank God that didn’t work out. Interesting also that her height is given as five-foot-six - she certainly gave the impression of being even taller.

The samples of her classical dancing that made it to the big screen did not impress. The excerpt in “The Band Wagon” is particularly unfortunate; she’s not awful, but the dancing is terribly wooden with no sense of phrasing. Her acting is better left unmentioned, but she was a gorgeous woman and a fine dancer, although I do recall reading that her numbers had to be shot in very short segments because she couldn’t sustain her energy level. In addition, she rose above having the given name of Tula Ellice Finklea, an impressive feat. She takes an important part of American movie musical history with her. My personal favorites: her “Silk Stockings” solo in the hotel room, the “Dancing in the Dark” duet with Astaire cited by Dale, and “Baby, You Knock Me Out” from “ It’s Always Fair Weather.” There is also “Party Girl,” a non-musical made in 1958 with another star MGM wanted to dispose of, Robert Taylor (who also had one of those names, he was the former Spangler Arlington Brough). It has a confusing story, poor character development, and is in general your basic mess, but it also has striking cinematography and the dialogue won't hurt you. Charisse’s acting is even more hapless than usual but she is at her sexiest in the musical numbers, which are well worth checking out.

The Sydney Morning Herald gets hold of an oral history interview given by Stretton to the National Library of Australia. It’s quite something. Story by Valerie Lawson.

That’s right. Kirkland became the designated screwup, the one that makes everyone else feel normal and healthy in comparison. Because their approaches to their work and art were similar, I think. They liked to analyze and think things through, and Tudor’s merging of dance and drama would be perfect for Kirkland. She was obviously uncommonly clever, with a genuinely inquiring mind. Unlike Balanchine Tudor would have responded to that and not told her diplomatically to shut up and dance. Which doesn’t mean there would be no conflict in the studio, with two such strong and similar personalities, but a fundamental understanding and respect would always be there. One of the most touching lines in Dancing on My Grave is Kirkland saying of Balanchine, “I never knew what to do with my love for him.” She rose in the company during a period when Balanchine was still mostly in his post-Farrell funk, and one wonders if things might have been different for Kirkland and for him (and possibly for the history of ballet) if circumstances had been more propitious. Melissa Hayden told Robert Tracy that “Kirkland got too much too soon without the right kind of support.” The line between ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ single mindedness can be quite difficult to draw at times.

I didn’t see the show last night, although I usually tune in for at least parts of the show as the Tonys usually provide the best entertainment value of any of the awards shows. Thanks for posting the topic, vagansmom.

Everyone got very Britishy in the early days of sound, with Joan Crawford et al. saying “cahhhnt” for “can’t” and so forth under the influence of the diction coaches. Even after sound production became more sophisticated, actors had to project more loudly and clearly than they do nowadays to ensure the mikes picked them up – there was not a lot of mumbling going on in the Golden Age, even from Bogart. That’s not quite fair, I think – Davis could sound perfectly unaffected, especially in her younger days. Hello, klingsor. He was great, so I gave him a pass. And it’s not as if Keith Carradine sounded wildly appropriate, either. Especially because he would lapse back into good old Americanese at unexpected moments. I cherish in particular the moment when he's charging around the gates of Troy yelling "Hectorrrrr!" (You know, like "Stellaaaahhhh!")

Actually, if you watch closely you'll notice that many shots are over Garfield's shoulder. Two professional violinists, one on the fingerboard and one with the bow, kind of slung their arms around the actor from behind, and the camera was positioned so as to give the illusion the arms and hands are Garfield's. Rumor has it the bow arm belonged to none other than Isaac Stern (who plays on the soundtrack). Interesting. I didn't know that. Now that I think about it, he is shot mostly from behind.

I thought “Ray” was entertaining but not much more than that. Many people liked it much, much better than I did. Jamie Foxx was good. “The Piano” did have a score by Nyman, which was a huge seller at the time. The movie was indeed overrated but at the time it was something different and interesting. That’s a good movie. I came across it by accident on cable and wondered why I hadn’t heard of it before. Thandie Newton is good, too. I thought John Garfield sawed away at his violin with reasonable conviction in Humoresque. There’s another movie, “Deception,” with Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains, a nutty melodrama that I liked a lot. It has a memorable Korngold score. Rains is a composer and Henreid is a cellist. I think Davis is a pianist. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen it for years and can’t recall anything about their playing, although I remember Henreid looking pretty good at his cello. I’ll have to track it down and see it again.

It’s Melanie reading from David Copperfield. I also figured the substitution had something to do with choosing a book with a non-foreign title. And in the book Melanie praises Dickens, so the choice isn’t completely out of left field. He was also a highly unlikely Nicky Arnstein in Funny Girl, with the same accent.

Thank you for the heads up. I hope people will go and report back here!

Her skating wasn’t wildly impressive, but then it could hardly be so considering she turned pro so early. I remember seeing her in some of those pro competitions on television and she wasn’t in the same league with the other skaters. I’m sure her dancing was much better.

Too bad. You missed some good music....