Items of Interest












































































Isamu Noguchi / My Name Florence Tee / Buoy Rope Bag / Ngaio Marsh / Lady Michael Balcon as Minerva by Madame Yevonde / Danger Man

Some recent items of interest and things that have caught my eye: portrait of Isamu Noguchi in one of his elegant chairs - one thing I would like to do with my life is make chairs; recently I bought this tee shirt from the Swedish shop weekday - ironically (or fatally) it was named the 'My Name Florence Tee', and after that there was no looking back; have started another art project knitting fishing line whilst probably diminishing my already failing eye sight, the main inspiration for this stems from various rope covers for buoys; I also recently completed reading Ngaio Marsh's autobiography, she will always stand as one of my favourite authors alongside Raymond Chandler, Haruki Murakami, Joseph Heller and Herge; Lady Michael Balcon as Minerva looking rather similar to a cover of a Chandler/James Bond novel, with shades of Twin Peaks thrown in for good measure; Danger Man, perhaps the precursor to 'The Prisoner' - I swoon every time John Drake says his token catchphrase 'I'm obliged' and wish I could incorporate this into my everyday parlance except no one else would understand what I meant by it. I also appreciate Danger Man's relatively realistic fight scenes, at least compared to other spy programmes of the time.

Lamb to the Slaughter

My task in today's Swedish class was a close reading of the Swedish translation of Roald Dahl's darkly comedic short story 'Lamb to the Slaughter' (1953), known in Swedish as 'Mysteriet med det Försvunna Mordvapnet' (The Mystery of the Vanished Murder Weapon).

The tale concerns a wife who bludgeons her policeman husband to death with a frozen leg of lamb, puts the lamb in the oven, establishes an alibi going to the grocery store to buy vegetables to accompany her roast, and proceeds to serve the murder weapon to the investigating officers.

After a fruitless search, the policemen bandy about possible locations of the murder weapon, while waiting to be served their dinner.

"It's probably right under our very noses."





Lamb to the Slaughter was adapted for television twice, first in 1958 as part of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, directed by the master of suspense himself, and starring Barbara Bel Geddes (Midge in Vertigo).

Another adaptation was included in Tales of the Unexpected, in 1979. Tales of the Unexpected was a collection of tales based on the short stories of Roald Dahl.

CLUES

"ALL SOLUTIONS AND NO CLUES, THAT'S WHAT THE DUMBHEADS WANT. THAT'S WHAT THE BLOODY NOVEL IS: ALL 'HE SAID, SHE SAID', DESCRIPTIONS OF THE SKY...I'D RATHER IT WAS THE OTHER WAY ROUND, ALL CLUES, NO SOLUTIONS, THAT'S THE WAY THINGS REALLY ARE. PLENTY OF CLUES, NO SOLUTIONS."


Philip E. Marlow, writer of detective stories

The Singing Detective (1986)
Episode 4: 'Clues'

Behind the Silver Screen


aerial views of a quintessential fictitious american town, and a plywood and papier mache Tara in disrepair.

"40 Acres", the back lot of RKO Studios from 1927-1976. It was Atlanta and 'Tara' in Gone with the Wind, the town of Mayberry in The Andy Griffiths Show, a jungle for Tarzan, the backdrop for episodes of The Adventures of Superman and Star Trek.

"Nothing in Hollywood is permanent. Once photographed, life here is ended. It is almost symbolic of Hollywood. Tara had no rooms inside. It was just a façade. So much of Hollywood is a façade." - David O. Selznick.

Thinking about an embroidered and fabricated 40 Acres facade, to accompany Sherlock Holmes' abode, The Village, and the Overlook Hotel Maze. Also, about an overhead projector in the second hand shop around the corner.

CLIMAX! The Long Goodbye

CASE SOLVED

Corpse Walks Away During Drama on TV

And the dead man got up and slowly walked away...

No doubt about it. Thousands of televiewers were talking about it yesterday.
It seems that on the new high-budgeted CBS dramatic series, Climax, which had its debut on KNXT (2) Thursday night, actor Tristam Coffin was lying under a blanket and Detective Dick Powell was talking about having the body removed when the actor arose from the dead and strolled off scene.
Powell and the other actors went right on talking as if nothing had happened. And the show went on and the private eye finally solved the murder, leaving televiewers a little perplexed.
CBS blushingly explained yesterday that Coffin thought the scene was over and that he was off-camera when he took his macabre stroll.

 - Los Angeles Times (October 1954)


SLAIN GUY CRAWLS OFF VIDEO SET

CLIMAX! On its premier from Hollywood last night the new Climax series reached a totally unexpected climax. For it's opener, the series presented a tight, taut Raymond Chandler murder thriller titled, "The Long Goodbye", starring Dick Powell as a private eye.
The action had moved to it's moment of greatest impact. An alcoholic author had just been mysteriously shot. A blanket was drawn over the body and while the viewers sought to figure out who killed the victim, the body got up and crawled off-stage on all fours, dragging the blanket atop him.
We haven't seen a camera booboo so ludicrous since the early days of tv when WBKB put on "Arsenic and [Old] Lace", and the corpse in the window seat suddenly came to life.
Despite this bobble, this was a great show with Powell turning in a top-grade performance as a casual, cool detective, who unraveled a complicated case, but I'll be he will always insist on a filmed show in the future to avoid such boners, even though he had no part in causing this one.

- Chicago Daily Tribune (October 1954)


Late Night at the Circus











Last night whilst idly watching tv I stumbled across a documentary about sculptor Alexander Calder. Though never been particularly interested in his work, watching his fragile mobiles tremble and glide as silently as a kite high in the sky was mesmerising, and his sculpted wire 3d 'portraits' created a similar feeling as to peeking from behind a closed door whilst trying not to step on a creeking floorboard - as though you were at the point of being discovered, as the floating heads slowly revolve around.
Perhaps what made this documentary so fascinating was because it was in French with Swedish subtitles, and my inability to comprehend the dialogue made the visuals all the more captivating.
His early performance piece "Cirque Calder" created a similar feeling to watching Fischli & Weiss' "The Way Things Go". Cirque Calder was performed in France during the 20's & 30's to avant-garde Parisians tired of having to be so serious and obscure all the time.
The 1961 film version of Le Cirque de Calder by Carlos Vilardebó can be viewed at UBUWEB, and is strongly advised.

SENSING MURDER RETURNS!


Kelvin Cruickshank: connecting with spirits, man-to-man.

Sensing Murder returns to your box tonight at half 8 on TV2 with your favourite resident psychic frauds, Kelvin, Deb and Sue. Greatest reality show on tv? Perhaps.