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Bell Book and Candle (Richard Quine, 1958)
Mar
12
Gillian Holroyd (Kim Novak) and her Siamese, Pyewacket. DP: James Wong Howe.
“I sit in the subway sometimes, on buses, or the movies, and I look at the people next to me and I think… 'What would you say if I told you I was a witch?'”
– Queenie
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On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan, 1954)
Jul
28
liquor
“You know this city's full of hawks? That's a fact. They hang around on the top of the big hotels. And they spot a pigeon in the park. Right down on him.”
– Terry Malloy
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Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander Mackendrick, 1957)
April 20
20
oysters
J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) pulling Sidney Falco's (Tony Curtis) tie over cocktails and oysters. DP: James Wong Howe.
“I'd hate to take a bite outta you. You're a cookie full of arsenic.”
– J.J. Hunsecker
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Seconds (John Frankenheimer, 1966)
Nov
7
International Merlot Day
Nora (Salome Jens), seen from the back with her dress half unzipped, holds up a glass of red wine while kissing a reluctant Antiochus (Rock Hudson) during the ecstatic Bacchanal scene. DP: James Wong Howe.
At a bacchanalia, Rock Hudson's Antiochus Wilson finally strips down his hesitancy and realises he has a second chance at life, as a member of the new generation. To the Queen of wine! To Bacchus! To Pan!
“Bacchus gives us his blood so we may be born again.”
Director of photography James Wong Howe's very controlled framing of the (initially censored) pre-Woodstock #Bacchanalian scene beautifully frames this pinnacle moment and proved almost too much for American censors.
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The Spider (Kenneth MacKenna + William Cameron Menzies, 1931)
Jan
4
World Hypnotism Day
A masked Alexander (Howard Phillips) seated on a curule on stage. DP: James Wong Howe.