Bogie & Bacall revival
I have a big thing for Humphrey Bogart movies (he’s even the mail icon on my ibook), so I am so far beyond excited that the Grand Illusion is playing a series of Bogie and Bacall movies that, frankly, I’m probably a little annoying. The Grand Illusion is a great theatre to see revival movies in because it’s so little and cozy.
They’re starting out with To Have and Have Not, which was 19-year-old Lauren Bacall’s debut movie. It’s only marginally based on the Hemingway book of the same name, which is good because it’s a rotten book but a great movie. And it’s where Lauren Bacall’s famous, “You know how to whistle, don’t you? You just put your lips together, and blow.” came from. It’s playing today through November 23rd.
The 24th-30th will be the week for The Big Sleep, based on Raymond Chandler’s noir detective story. December 1-7th they’ll be playing Dark Passage, based on David Goodis’ book about a man falsely accused of murdering his wife. And the last one, December 8-14, will be Key Largo, adapted from Maxwell Anderson’s play about a bunch of gangsters taking over a tropical hotel during a hurricane.
You know as well as I do that they don’t make movies like this anymore, and between the fashion and the chemistry between the two main actors it would be a shame to miss any of this. I’ll see you there.
ooh, thanks; completely missed hearing about this. it’s easy to touch up a bad novel when you have the talent of faulkner, even when he was just slumming it as a screenwriter ;)
Chandler was what he was. That is, he wrote pretty entertaining novels. The fact they’re still entertaining today speaks volumes. He’s no David Foster Wallace but he’s also no Michael Connelly.
Anyway, The Big Sleep is my favorite movie. By far. No pair come close to Bogart and Bacall. Very pleased w/ the Grand Illusion right now.
i was only alluding to the hemingway, which samantha brought up first :) while ellroy does more for me, chandler was a very good writer. he took pulp to a new level and helped define detective fiction.
Heh.
I won’t defend Hemingway.
I’ll defend Hemingway, but usually only after a couple of drinks. And I draw the line at To Have and Have Not, because it sucks. David Foster Wallace, on the other hand, is on his goddamned own.
I think we can all agree, however, that the Grand Illusion deserves eighteen hugs for this.
agreed on all counts – hemingway had his moments, the 50 pages of “infinite jest” i slogged through is time i will never get back, and the grand illusion once again proves its worth.
Wow. I’m slowly learning that DFW is more divisive than George Bush. I love the guy, personally (DFW, not Bush) and can’t imagine how anyone can’t at least appreciate that he’s one the smartest writers living today (even if his style grates). The guy doggedly pursues the truth of human experience like no other writer I’ve encountered.
That’s a little like saying, “I know eating this gives you a rash, but can’t you appreciate how delicious I think it is?”
I actually say that a lot, mostly about artists–that I appreciate what they’ve done for the medium even if I don’t like them personally. I just haven’t been able to get over the rash enough to appreciate DFW yet, so to speak.