Every Day's a Holiday (A. Edward Sutherland, 1937)
Nov
21
National Entrepreneurs Day
Lobbycard. Peaches O'Day (Mae West, dressed by Schiaparelli) hands her business card to yet another sucker. They're on the Brooklyn Bridge, which can be seen in the background. DP: Karl Struss.
In my book, entrepreneur is just a fancy talk for conman. A famous one, the one who may've tried to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge, was George C. Parker. He'd peddle the famous landmark to any hapless rube, immigrant, or sucker who then would promptly erect a little tollbooth to make a fast buck from any hapless rube, immigrant, or sucker.
“Selling the Brooklyn Bridge again, huh?”
– Police captain Jim McCarey
Like Parker, Mae West's Peaches O'Day bamboozles it her way. And boy, does she have a bridge to sell you!
It's just a little game. But then you wonder if Ouija, the Wonderful Talking Board is actually just that. Two neat little ladies playing that quirky 1891 novelty game in Roland West's The Bat Whispers summon the aforementioned bat, black-clad fiend and Batman predecessor.
– Get the Ouija board.
– It's got the Bible on top of it, keeping it quiet.
Who is he? What does he want? And how can he be stopped? Do you know the answer?
Friends Aarón (Rodolfo Chávez Martínez) and Jorge (Armando Martín) having a grownup discussion about the situation. DP: Jorge Stahl Jr..
Two boys skip class to catch a movie – Alexander Mackendrick's thematically similar A High Wind in Jamaica (1965) – and end up as members of a violent gang instead. While Matinée has elements of a typical 70s #ComingOfAge movie, the more fascinating element is the role reversal of the two children and the robbers. As the kids are forced to grow up, fast, the criminals live out their childhood fantasy of never having to listen to anyone ever again. And bicker over comics.
Robert Rodriguez stated that the fearsome criminals in his El Mariachi (1992) never outgrew their childhood nicknames. I start to suspect that once upon a time, a little boy named Robertiño skipped class and went to the matinee.
Orlacs Hände [Die unheimlichen Hände des Doktor Orlac / The Hands of Orlac] (Robert Wiene, 1924)
Sep
25
Paul Orlac (Conrad Veidt) stretched out on a wooden bench in a tavern. A strange man sits on a second bench on the other side of the table. DPs: Hans Androschin & Günther Krampf.
Gimme Shelter (Albert + David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin, 1970)
Sep
13
Uncle Sam Day
Mick Jagger seen from the back wearing an Uncle Sam top hat, in front of an unseen crowd. DPs: Albert Maysles, David Maysles & Gary Weis.
It's December 6, 1969 and just like that, the 60s were over. It started out great, the West Coast edition of Woodstock. Santana, Jefferson Airplane, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, a 300.000 strong crowd and, of course, The Rolling Stones on the final leg of their US tour. And, of course too, Hells Angels armed with motorcycle chains, sawed-off pool cues and $500 worth of beer, hired to stop fans from climbing the stage. And not in the least due to its proximity to Frisco, lots of bad drugs mixing with that crowd.
“Well, The Rolling Stones tour of the United States is over. It wounded up with a free concert at the Altamont Speedway for more than 300,000 people. There were four births, four deaths and an awful lot of scuffles reported.”
– Stefan Ponek, KSN Radio
Even before a single note had come out of Mick's mouth, someone had punched him in the head. More scuffles, Grace Slick begs the audience to keep their bodies off each other unless they intend love. The Grateful Dead, regular deployers of peaceful Angels security, wisely forfeit their performance. The Stones open their set, the final set of the day. By then, the Angels are far into their $500 beer bounty, and the audience far out of their mind. Meredith Hunter, high on drugs, had brought a gun. And the Angels did what they were ordered to: stop anyone from getting close.
0課の女 赤い手錠 [Zeroka no onna: Akai wappa / Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs] (Yukio Noda, 1974)
Sep
12
National Police Woman Day
Rei (Miki Sugimoto) wielding the red chain of her handcuffs. DP: Yoshio Nakajima.
Rei (Miki Sugimoto) is a member of Division Zero, a top secret division of #Tokyo's police department. Hired to investigate a high-profile #kidnapping, she infiltrates the gang and kills them off with her signature blood-red handcuffs.
0課の女 赤い手錠 is the first of no less than 9 instalments. Based on Tōru Shinohara's #manga 0課の女 [Zero-ka no Onna] who may be better known for his さそり [Sasori / Scorpion], which in its turn was adapted into the popular Female Prisoner Scorpion series of WiP films.
A group of vulgar looking people eating outdoors at a very long table in front of an old crumbing wall at a very long table. The scene is a re-enactment of Da Vinci's Il Cenacolo / Last Supper. DP: Mario Mancini.
