dirac

When someone dies at an advanced age, especially after a long illness, of course it is sad, but think of the many people who never enjoy that kind of success and never reach 86. It’s an occasion for mourning but also for celebrating a life. I must disagree, respectfully, with you and your friend about Hepburn’s range; she had, IMO, one of the narrowest ranges of any of the great stars who were also distinguished actors. That’s not necessarily a Bad Thing, of course. (Kind of surprised that Bette Davis’ name didn’t come up in your discussion – not many superstars who can play queens, whores, society girls, Southern belles, and barmaids with equal conviction.) She is indeed amazing, in spite of the fact that she’s all wrong for the part - Katharine Hepburn as lace curtain Irish? - but finally it doesn’t matter (and Richardson is not right for Tyrone, either, he could never have been a great matinee idol, but he’s wonderful anyway). She was an okay actress. I thought it was a bad mistake putting her into the old Hepburn part in High Society, although it was a great success - showed her limitations horribly. Kerr did indeed have a wide range butalso she was born into the right generation to display it, I think. Is she necessarily better than, say, Irene Dunne or Myrna Loy, who sometimes played similar parts? I could argue either way. I also can’t recall a role offhand where Kerr played tough or bitchy, unless you count her role in A Woman of Substance on television. She almost manages it in From Here to Eternity, a part originally pegged for Joan Crawford, but even there she has no real rough edges, although she is very good. (This may be part of the reason why she was generally a co-star and not a stand- alone star – not forceful enough.) Thank you to all who’ve commented so far.

Thank you for posting that, Anthony_NYC. (I always forget you can get those things online now, not that I want to, it's bad enough being assaulted with half a dozen of them in the theatre.)

When last I heard, Olivia and Joan still weren’t getting along. I imagine each is determined to outlive the other. Robert Mitchum and Kerr were really good together, weren't they? A long obituary in The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml....xml&page=1

Very likely you're right.

Thank you for posting this sad news, papeetepatrick. I didn’t know she had Parkinson’s, but the last time I saw her in public, at the Oscars quite a few years ago, she already looked frail, so I’m not surprised to hear it. Lovely woman and a fine actor. The roles that stand out for me offhand are the wife in ‘The Sundowners’ and the governess in ‘The Innocents.’ And she lent real feeling to the colorful absurdities of ‘Black Narcissus.’ She appeared in another movie with Ava Gardner, ‘The Hucksters,’ some years earlier at MGM, where they were competing love interests for Clark Gable. A long way from Tennessee Williams. There’s another movie, ‘Perfect Strangers’ aka Vacation from Marriage, with Robert Donat. Not much of a film but they are both charming in it.

Thanks for the link and the update, jllaney. I liked this quote: ‘Actually, we see ourselves more as Bugsy and Virginia,’ Alagna did not clarify. 'They were prettier.'

This article is well worth a look. I guess I’m a little confused. It seems to me that Wheeldon is not ‘upending the ballet establishment.’ He’s the Great White Hope of the ballet establishment. He’s invited everywhere to choreograph, artistic directors talk him up, dancers are lining up to work with him. All of which is great and best of luck to him, but from the tone of articles like this you’d think he was Wheeldon at the Finland Station. Wow. I’m stunned by this visionary approach. On Clement Crisp: And the British were really, really mean to him:

Thank you for telling us about it, YouOverThere. I haven't had that experience in a theatre myself, although I have witnessed performances where the applause, while solid, had a subdued, 'respectful' tone.

GWTW, welcome back to the forum and it’s good to hear from you, but I must disagree, respectfully, about DiCaprio. Before ‘Titanic’ put him over the top, he was a well respected young actor in mostly independent pictures – ‘The Basketball Diaries,’ ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,’ etc. He even played Rimbaud. Not exactly Chris O’Donnell territory. You’re quite right about Jason Priestley, of course. Ashton Kutcher springs to mind. Most of them don't go anywhere once the bloom is off. There may be a successful one I can't think of offhand. She was excellent. And hers is really the crucial role when you think about it. That’s true, people forget how big she was at one point. Sad story.

Greene probably made them too nervous – who knew what he’d say? It’s a pity, too, because usually a writer gets the Nobel when he’s older and past his peak, and Greene improved with the years. Audio links to Lessing reading from her works, below: http://www.dorislessing.org/audio.html

The trailer is now in theaters. A couple of things I noted. Going by this, a viewer who knew nothing about the property wouldn’t necessarily realize that it’s a musical; we’re well into the trailer before anyone sings anything, and Sondheim isn’t mentioned save in the credits, so obviously the fact that it’s a musical is not regarded as a big selling point. Burton’s name is up front, to make it clear that we are seeing Tim’s Vision, I suppose, and Depp too, of course. Everyone looks greyish. I do hope that isn’t the tonal palette for the entire picture.

Well, she has three very young children, a big job even with ample professional help, and also she’s not getting first pick of the best scripts any more – it happens to everyone, even Julia. (She does have a new picture coming out, Charlie Wilson’s War, but it sounds as if it’s chiefly a vehicle for Tom Hanks.)

Yes, but - there is always residual guilt after a loved one dies, especially when the loved one is a suicide, and such admissions should be taken in that context.

Glad to be of service. I have always liked Hughes' poetry, apart from any considerations of Le Mariage. I've seen other letters written by him and he generally comes across as a most attractive personality on the page. In life he seems to have been the same, apart from a chronic inability to keep it in his pants, a not uncommon failing. I've never read Plath's journals except in quoted excerpts -- have tried not to, in fact.....

Newly published letters by Ted Hughes, in The Telegraph, with links to a recording and video. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml...it/boted106.xml

Thanks for posting, Pamela. Well deserved (and about time!) and I don't think there will be any whingeing about this one.

I had to get what was my first and I hope last crown recently, but my dentist offers DVDs instead of television. His DVD playlist tends toward things like The Lion King and Stepmom, but luckily he also offered Godfathers I & II, so I was able to watch Luca Brasi and Sonny Corleone get theirs to the sound of the drill and that thing that vacuums up your blood and drool. This helped, because it allowed me to reflect on how much worse it could be; instead of being garroted while my hand was pinned to a bar by a knife, or plugged full of holes at a toll booth, I was merely sitting in a dentist’s chair benumbed to the ears while various implements were plunged into my gums. I’m sorry, bart, what were you saying..............?

That's true. (Of course, it's also true of Garbo, if you think about it - by the middle-late thirties both Shearer and Garbo were appearing only every other year or so, far less frequently than other stars. But Garbo, too, was a much stronger personality and just, well, better.)

Respectfully, sidwich, I suggest that was what papeetepatrick meant by ‘not known.’ They sure were.

Thanks, Farrell Fan. Apparently similar incidents were regular occurrences in the days of live TV drama. Gore Vidal, who wrote a lot of teleplays in that era, once recalled a young actress, overcome with stage fright, vomiting quietly into the lap of another actor during a scene. The camera didn't pick up her little accident, but Vidal said the actor, I forget who it was, had a very odd look on his face.

Thank you, MakarovaFan. I have never heard that lovely score live and I'm sure it was wonderful.

I had always hoped for a memoir. I think she would have produced a good one. Perhaps she was too private for such a project. If so, naturally one respects that, but it's a considerable loss all the same.

George Grizzard died recently at age 79. I knew his work mostly through his supporting roles, watching him in The Adams Chronicles in the long ago, and my original cast album of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, but that was enough to make me admire him very much. I would be interested to hear from any BTers who saw him on stage. Obituary An appreciation by Richard Corliss in TIME.

I agree with you about the existing books on Balanchine. I thought Shearer had a good suggestion on that particular question, though. John Gruen wrote a book on Bruhn many years ago, but it is seriously lacking and Bruhn definitely deserves a do-over. Keith Money did well by Pavlova, I thought. I agree, Nora Kaye would be an ideal subject, with considerable appeal to a general readership, too, I'd think.

Up to a point. You could argue about Astaire, but Kelly is objectively sexy. He may or may not be to one’s taste, but I don’t understand how anyone, even someone who doesn’t care for him, could say he has no sex appeal. Although interestingly the big romantic duets in Kelly’s movies tend to be washouts; he was best alone, or when he was paired with Judy Garland, a very appealing mover but not a dancer per se. All of which reminds me that I really, really need to see The Pirate again, even if Garland was not in peak shape and Cole Porter was temporarily out to lunch. I’m disposed to agree, personally; Arlene Croce said that Astaire and Rogers together were a powerfully erotic vision or words to that effect, but I don’t see it at all. Rogers did make him into an acceptable romantic leading man in the movies. It might have happened without her; it might not have. I would characterize Powell as a 30s star primarily. Shearer, Garbo and Crawford all had figures that were far from perfect, and Adrian did a masterly job of disguising their bad points and highlighting their good ones. (In fact, I’d say that Powell had a better figure, technically, than any of the above ladies.) I think he dressed Powell a couple of times, I wonder how he did with her.