DAYS OF HEAVEN (1978)

The 70's Rivers, Day 6

Days of Heaven (1978)
I had never seen a Terrence Mallick movie before this viewing and can understand why many love his vision and camera, even if it may be at the expense of characterization.

The Mallick River, Part I
One of the most beautiful waterways of the 70’s. But you have to look fast for this river-it only resurfaces about every ten years or so.

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FIVE EASY PIECES (1970)

The 70's Rivers, Day 5

Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Another small film about the inner conflicts of a prodigy adjusting to…well, life. My favorite Nicholson movie of the decade, which is saying something.

The Rafelson River
A river of the decade that raged strong but quickly ran dry, perhaps unfairly. But, hey,-thanks for The Monkees, Bob.

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THE CONVERSATION (1974)

The 70's Rivers,Day 4

The Conversation (1974)
That small, personal film about a wiretapper that exemplified the kind of film that seemed so fresh during the decade.

The Coppola River, Part III
Not as deep as the first parts of the Coppola river, yet it ran just as strong in its on way. But alas, such a river as this just couldn’t run so freely forever.

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THE GODFATHER PART II (1974)

The 70's Rivers, Day 3

The Godfather, Part II (1974)
I often wondered why other filmmakers never used the device of parallel stories in different time periods tied cohesively and relating back to the original film…and as I ask the question I realize that I don’t think it could ever be done as well as it is in The Godfather, Part II. Is it superior to the first one? Let’s just say, both would be in my top five, but I still can’t figure out which would come first.

The Coppola River, Part III
The second part of the Coppola River proved to be just as mighty as the first. It was a truly a sight to behold. But how long could it last?

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THE GODFATHER (1972)

The 70's River, Day 2

The Godfather (1972)
No film has ever influenced this moviegoer’s life like Coppola’s epic saga of The Corleone family. A lot of praise has been heaped on its director and actors, but it’s the great storytelling that rules the day. Easily in my top ten of favorite films.

The Coppola River, Part II
The beginning of the Coppola river, a waterway that ran deep and mighty and controlled the flow of other rivers of the 70’s for years to come.

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APOCALYPSE, NOW (1979), HEARTS OF DARKNESS: A FILMMAKER'S APOCALYPSE (1991)

I just finished reading Peter Biskind’s book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls and watching the Hollywood documentary, A Decade Under the Influence. It made me nostalgic to revisit he American films of the 70’s that I grew up with. Ah…the films I grew up with. When Hollywood finally began to show the courage and made the kind of films that Europeans had been making for years. When a personal film like Five Easy Pieces could actually be a hit! Those were the days…The American movie Renaissance. But they weren’t all masterpieces, were they? I admit to being a huge fan of cheesy disaster movies during this era. But for every Towering Inferno or Love Story, there was a Lenny or The Deer Hunter or The Godfather or Midnight Express. Perhaps I’m romanticizing it a bit. As I said, they weren’t all masterpieces.

No film typifies the 70’s more to me than Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam epic Apocalypse, Now. There is so much in it that is brilliant (the great bombing sequences, Colonel Jessup’s scenes, the entry into the Kurtz compound) and some in it that is overdone (the crew’s massacre of civilians making them totally unsympathetic from that point on!). But I’ll tell you what-don’t miss it! People died and went crazy in the making of it (See the documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse). All you-the viewer have to do is watch it! You aren’t in any real danger!

The story deals with Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) being sent on a mission down the Dugong River with his crew during the Vietnam War to assassinate the rogue Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando). I had never seen the Redux version that I just finished watching which included a twenty minute or so scene with a group of Frenchmen that was completely removed from the films original release. This made Apocalypse, Now not only an interesting revisitation but a partially new experience as well.

During the scenes where Willard’s crew was going down the river, I had a thought…a daydream. These films from the 70’s were from a time long ago now and viewing them again, I feel as if I too am going down a river, albeit a less dangerous and metaphorical one. A river of dreams. A river of hope. A river of disappointment. But I feel the need to go down this river all month. What will I find at the end? I don’t know, but I certainly want to go down the 70’s rivers and soak in all its components. But am I an assassin? I guess I’ll find out.

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TITANIC : THE MUSICAL (1997); JAMES CAMERON'S TITANIC (1997) vs A NIGHT TO REMEMBER (1997)

Benjamin Guggenheim from Titanic: The Musical:
Is it possible, do you think, that we have this coming? I can’t help remembering something Balzac wrote. He said, “Behind every great fortune lies a great crime. So let’s confess it. Who wants to start?”

I was not very familiar with Titanic: the Musical until our community theater put on a production in the Spring of 2012. When I was approached about appearing in it, in my hubris I agreed and thought I could handle this with no problem. Equipped with a set of song and dance skills that are a bit below professional standards, I soon found myself a bit over my head.

I quickly found myself like Sam Beckett from an episode of Quantum Leap where I leaped into the body of (some Broadway actor, I don’t know, Tommy Tune maybe?) a song and dance man with the pressure to perform at a high level.

I was playing the millionaire “playboy” Benjamin Guggenheim who (spoiler alert!) goes down with the ship after getting his French mistress safely on the lifeboat.

These are the songs I had to learn. (All the music throughout the show is very good, much of it quite inspiring.)

Act I
“Godspeed Titanic”
The opening. The words to this one came fairly easily, but I found it really hard to sing in spots. I hear people around me singing it so beautifully. I just hope I don’t mess it up too much.

“What a Remarkable Age This Is.”
A very fun song. I do enjoy a lot of the lyrics in this one.

“A fellas invented see through film, he calls it cellophane, another has built a parachute for jumping out of an airplane. Remarkable things flow endlessly throughout the human brain. Indeed and what a remarkable age this is.”

It was just a question of learning blocking on this one…and also how to properly put on a cummerbund.

“Ladies Maid”
The easiest part to learn, but did point out another problem. In this scene, I am not playing Benjamin Guggenheim, I am playing a third class passenger who is an aspiring millionaire. The problem is changing into a third class outfit after wearing a tuxedo after changing out my boarding outfit from the first scene. After this, I put back on my boarding outfit…not to mention wearing pajamas in scene two before once again putting on my boarding outfit. It’s not the lines or even the music I was most worried about-It’s the damn changing of clothes!

“Ladies Maid” is my favorite scene that I’m in the whole show. I have my only solo bit here.

“I want to be a millionaire! Millionaire in America strike it rich and spend the fortune I amass!”

Just hope my voice holds out as I don’t have a spare.

“The Latest Rag”
This song has the frightening possibility that I may have to dance. Yes, I’m dancing or something approximating dancing. This went from being my favorite song in the show to the one I dread the most. I had a friend who saw the show who said it was so great how you were pretending you couldn’t dance and your partner kept telling you what to do. Note to friend-I wasn’t pretending!

No Moon #2
Well there’s an iceberg dead ahead. Mr. Guggenheim and friends are playing a friendly game of cards and everyone is on the stage singing dramatically until we strike it. A wonderfully staged scene among many wonderfully staged scenes from our production.

Act II

Opening of Act II
Not a song…but I have to begin Act II by banging on John Jacob Astor’s door. So essentially if I forget my first line, we can’t do act 2. No pressure!

“Dressed in Your Pyjamas in the Grand Salon”
This has become about my favorite song in the whole show and not just because I get to sing it wearing pajamas! I wanted to do the scene carrying a teddy bear, but had to remind myself that I was playing Benjamin Guggenheim, not Thurston Howell the Third! I have some fun lines from a brief duet.

“Dressed in your pyjamas in the grand salon, looks to be bizarre to the extreme. Things would improve if the steward opens the bar!”

“Getting Into the Lifeboats”
Act frantic! The ship is going down! Don’t forget your cues. There is one part where I’m the only one singing. Of course, we’re high up on deck and in my one song line I’m basically going to just scream so the audience can hear.

Mr. Guggenheim then gets to repeat the quote from Balzac from the top of this page before going down with the ship.

“Finale”
Will be singing as one of the dead. (Alas, poor Benjamin did not survive the journey)

This has been an amazing experience. The musical talent around me has been inspiring (and a little intimidating) The sets were amazing (How’d they do that!). And the director’s vision for this project was titanic in every way.

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Benjamin Guggenheim from James Cameron’s Titanic: “We are dressed in our best and are prepared to go down as gentlemen-but we would like a brandy.”

Since this is a 1001 movie blog, I do have to mention James Cameron’s Titanic. Of course, it won countless awards, set box office records and had the now famous Jack and Rose love story, so any criticism I have of it will fall upon deaf ears, I’m sure. Not that I don’t find it a very worthwhile movie, with a pretty amazing recreation of the Titanic disaster. That being said, I found that there were so many stories going from the ship, the relentless focus on the Jack/Rose love story kept me asking what about the other stories from the ship? I mean the film is over three hours long! What about the millionaires? What about more from Mr. Andrews or the Captain? Where is the second class during all this? I would have preferred more of an ensemble piece, sort of like Nashville. That’s it! Robert Altman’s Titanic. Keep Jack and Rose, but just as one of many stories.
Favorite character not named Guggenheim: David Warner as Cal Hockley’s evil ex-policeman bodyguard.


Benjamin Guggenheim from A Night to Remember: “We have dressed now in our best and are prepared to go down like gentlemen…If anything should happen to me I would like my wife to know that I behaved decently.”

The 1958 film, A Night to Remember, based on the book by Walter Lord is more of an ensemble piece. The closest thing the film has to a main character is Mr. Lightoller, played by Kenneth More. The funny thing is that one of the criticism distributors in the United States had with this movie is that there wasn’t really a star, (James Cameron made sure with his film that this wouldn’t be an issue) but I agree with the assessment that the ship is the star. Yes, they get some of the technical points wrong, as they didn’t know the boat split in half until years later. That didn’t bother me too much, as the stories on board were still moving.
Favorite character not named Guggenheim: The drunk cook who casually floats to safety on deck chairs and survives none the worse for wear.

And the winner is: A Night to Remember. Yes, you should still see the James Cameron film, but let us remember A Night to Remember.

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