"Annie Christie" - Grets Garbo, Marie Dressler and Charles Bickford (1930)

 

Anna Christie (1930) is a pre-Code film of the Eugene O'Niell play. Starring Greta Garbo, this was her first "talkie". The advertisements all said "Garbo Talks!" Directed by Clarence Brown, it is the story of an alcoholic woman with a past in prostitution who reunites with her long estranged alcoholic father. 

She then falls in love with a sailor, which infuriates her father, who is a sailor himself and deserted his family. He fears for her future based upon his own past. With both men holding her up on a pedestal, and both telling her what to do with her life, she is forced to confront her past. 

The film was a huge success, and was also released in a German-language version with Garbo in both, and is notable for its gritty and powerful performances. Garbo and Marie Dressler were exceptional, as well as Garbo's would be lover, played by Charles Bickford.

The film garnered 3 Academy Award Nominations including Best Actress for Garbo in her riveting performance. All doubts about her ability to act in "talkies" disappeared with this fim.

3 Books: "George Washington", "Charles Sumner" and "Midnight on the Potomac."

 

I don't post as often as I used to. But these 3 books, which Sue picked for me at the library, are the 3 I read this past month. And they are well worth reading. I chose to read them in the order in which the events occurred, beginning with the one about George Washington. An extraordinary book, considering how many books have been written about the Father of Our Country. It deals with Washington's time between the War and his return to Politics, the years when he was a Plantation owner. The Shay's Rebellion is what made his countrymen call him back into service. This was our first Insurrection and the event which highlighted the weaknesses in our Articles of Confederation. And the 10 months which followed were the time in which our Constitution was created. A fascinating time in our early history, as well as a view of what a real Insurrection looks like.

The next was the book on Charles Sumner, which encompasses the years leading up to, and after the Civil War. It includes an illuminating chapter on the Roberts vs Commonwealth of Boston trial (1846) and it's appeal two years later. Roberts was the first African-American attorney in our country. The case involved his daughter being denied admission to an elementary school 900 feet from her home on what was known as "Nigger Hill". She had to pass 5 whites only schools to get an education. 

When Roberts appealed Charles Sumner argued the case for Roberts. He lost, but not before being the first person to use the term "Equality Before the Law." That phrase later became associated with the Emancipation Proclamation. Sumner was a rabid Abolitionist in a town like Boston, which gave much "lip service" to the cause. But in actual practice it was like many other Northern states. You just didn't see the chains.

He later argued for the Defense on the case of a runaway slave named Sims. This had national repercussions in connection to the Fugitive Slave Laws. It also exposed the hypocrisy of the North when Sims was returned to his Masters in a slave state. The Fugitive Slave Laws were an abstract before this trial. But when the citizens in the North saw this miscarriage of Justice acted out in their own Courts, it heightened the Abolitionist cause.

Sumner then became involved in the case of 70 odd slaves who escaped from Washington, D.C. aboad the Pearl in 1850. After quickly being captured, they were found quilty of Violating the same Fugitive Slave Laws as in the Sims case. They were then returned to bondage in Washington, D.C., where slavery was legal. At the time slave trading took place right in the shadow of our Nation's Capitol.

As if this all were not enough he then took on the Trent Affair. The Trent Affair was a major crisis in the opening days of the Civil War. In 1861 the U.S. Navy illegally captured two Confederate diplomats from the RMS Trent, a British vessel. The incident nearly caused war between the Union and the England, as Britain deemed it a violation of it's neutral rights. We lost that case as it was in direct contradiction to our own complaints which caused us to fight the War of 1812. We seized the diplomats, in effect "impressing them", while leaving the documents they carried, which were the actual "contraband" we intended to seize, behind on the vessel. Had Britain declared war on the Union the Civil War would have been lost even as it had just begun.

The Sumner book reads like poetry. Masterfully written and well documented, it was a sheer pleasure.

And the third book was another home run, concerning itself with only one year during the Civil War. We often think of 1863 and Gettysburg as being the turning point of the war for the Union, when in fact it was the Victories in 1864, and the capture of Atlanta which really turned the tide. This book was also a shining example of history in the hands of a skillful author.

And all 3 books had connections to some of today's most pressing issues, as we again battle internally over State's Rights. As such, they are well worth the time to read.

"Roliah Kaliazami" - A Dream

 In my travels across Turkey over 45 years ago, I saw, and experienced, many strange things. Some were good, and some were bad. Perhaps this one is only a dream, but I will state it as the truth. For only something grounded in reality could come back to me with such clarity, as this did early this morning as I slept.

I had lost my passport and was wandering, stateless, and wondering how I was to free myself of this predicament. I came upon a seaside village built upon a cliff, a walled city, very similar to  Dubrovnik, in Yugoslavia, a country which no longer exists, but can be found on old maps and globes of the time.

Much like Dubrovnik, this city was rife with ceramic arts and crafts, pottery and the like. But in contrast to it's Yugoslavian counterpart, there were no sellers hawking these wares. They were merely placed along the inside of the parapets, seemingly for the taking, and with intermittent receptacles where you could leave an offering if you had it.

Some of these artifacts were broken, or in some ways imperfect. But if you looked hard enough you could find some beautiful creations. I was browsing through these things and taking the ones I considered interesting and perhaps even worthy for sale, for I was in need of financial aid to bribe my way out of the country. I was, in fact, praying for deliverance.

It was then that I first heard the music, a light airy melody of guitar and flute that seemed to be playing a melody that sounded like "Roliah Kaliazami", a name I had never heard of before, or even since.

Casting my eyes heavenward I saw colored wisps in the cloudy skies. These quickly morphed into the words I was hearing, which soon revealed the image of a large, rotund man who seemed to be some sort of Turkish Pasha. It was through this appearance that it came to me that I was, indeed, to gather the better of the artifacts and hawk them to raise the funds I desperately needed. And so I did.

Soon, there were people helping me. All I had to do to gain their trust was to mention the Pasha's name and it seemed as if I had been the recipient of a Divine vision. For although all knew his name, no one had ever seen him!

I was guided to the top of the wall, where the sun was shining, and before long word spread of my presence and my Benefactor. I was given sustenance, coin, and even some medicinal help. And all the while, above me in the sky, was Roliah Kaliazami, smiling in Benevolence, revealed for all to see!

I have searched my journals from this period of my travels, and I find no mention of this episode. But even now, hours after the dream, I would swear it to be true. For how else would I have been able to travel from the town of Iskenduran, in the South, through all of Turkey, to Istanbul and then home?

If true; it is a miracle. If not; it is a beautiful dream. In any event, it is a testament to the power of Roliah Kaliazami. Even now I can see Him and hear the melody of His flute.
In my travels across Turkey over 45 years ago, I saw, and experienced, many strange things. Some were good, and some were bad. Perhaps this one is only a dream, but I will state it as the truth. For only something grounded in reality could come back to me with such clarity, as this did early this morning as I slept.

I had lost my passport and was wandering, stateless, and wondering how I was to free myself of this predicament. I came upon a seaside village built upon a cliff, a walled city, very similar to  Dubrovnik, in Yugoslavia, a country which no longer exists, but can be found on old maps and globes of the time.

Much like Dubrovnik, this city was rife with ceramic arts and crafts, pottery and the like. But in contrast to it's Yugoslavian counterpart, there were no sellers hawking these wares. They were merely placed along the inside of the parapets, seemingly for the taking, and with intermittent receptacles where you could leave an offering if you had it.

Some of these artifacts were broken, or in some ways imperfect. But if you looked hard enough you could find some beautiful creations. I was browsing through these things and taking the ones I considered interesting and perhaps even worthy for sale, for I was in need of financial aid to bribe my way out of the country. I was, in fact, praying for deliverance.

It was then that I first heard the music, a light airy melody of guitar and flute that seemed to be playing a melody that sounded like "Roliah Kaliazami", a name I had never heard of before, or even since.

Casting my eyes heavenward I saw colored wisps in the cloudy skies. These quickly morphed into the words I was hearing, which soon revealed the image of a large, rotund man who seemed to be some sort of Turkish Pasha. It was through this appearance that it came to me that I was, indeed, to gather the better of the artifacts and hawk them to raise the funds I desperately needed. And so I did.

Soon, there were people helping me. All I had to do to gain their trust was to mention the Pasha's name and it seemed as if I had been the recipient of a Divine vision. For although all knew his name, no one had ever seen him!

I was guided to the top of the wall, where the sun was shining, and before long word spread of my presence and my Benefactor. I was given sustenance, coin, and even some medicinal help. And all the while, above me in the sky, was Roliah Kaliazami, smiling in Benevolence, revealed for all to see!

I have searched my journals from this period of my travels, and I find no mention of this episode. But even now, hours after the dream, I would swear it to be true. For how else would I have been able to travel from the town of Iskenduran, in the South, through all of Turkey, to Istanbul and then home?

If true; it is a miracle. If not; it is a beautiful dream. In any event, it is a testament to the power of Roliah Kaliazami. Even now I can see Him and hear the melody of His flute.

"Father is a Batchelor" with William Holden (1950)

Johnny Rutledge (Wiliam Holden) is a Minstrel in a traveling Medicine Show but finds himself stranded in small town when the owner is jailed temporarily for fraud. When he meets a group of siblings named January ("Jan"), February ("Feb") along with twins March and April and their little sister May (Jane Saunders). Jan and Feb  are the only ones who knows the truth that their parents have been killed in a Riverboat accident 6 months ago. Little May is still waiting for her Mom and Dad to return. The children are fending for themselves over the summer, but with school approaching things will come to a head.

When Jan tells Johnny the secret he starts to help them out for just a few weeks until the Medicine Show can continue. But somehow he becomes their de-facto  father. This arouses the Mayor's daughter Prudence (Coleen Grey) to wonder where the parents are. Fearing that she will send the children to an orphanage Johnny must pull off several little scams, or miracles, to avoid this. And he gradually warms to the task. There are a few silly songs involved, with William Holden's singing is overdubbed by Buddy Clark, whose voice is almost a dead ringer for Bing Crosby. Unfortunately Buddy Clark passed away just a few months before this film was released.

If you've got about 90 minutes to spare, this film is a forgotten little gem.

"Christmas Must Be Tonight" - The Band

 This is one of the most overlooked Christmas songs of all time. Rick Danko's vocal is excellent and the whole Band is wonderful. First recorded in 1975 it wasn't released until their 7th album, "Island", which was released in 1977. 

Re-recorded several times by Robbie Robertson on solo projects, and though Robertson wrote the song, none of those versions ever quite recreated the beauty of Rick Danko's voice on the original track. Merry Christmas everyone, everywhere......❤

My Great Great Grandmother - Sweet Shop

 My Great, Great Grandmother on my Dad's paternal side had a sweet shop. I believe it was in Rhye, North Wales. As part of he trade she wore a conical black hat, similar to the popular depiction of a pointed Witches hat, but flat at the top. You can see an image of this in the 1948 film "How Green Was My Valley".

These hats, the pointed ones, had been worn for centuries by women who sold ale in busy market places so they could be seen more easily. They were known as "alewives." They brewed their ale in large black cauldrons and kept a broom, made of sticks, outside the door of their shops. It was, for reasons unknown to me, a sign of their trade. The black cats were kept to help ward off the mice who ate the grain meant for the ale. 

As the ale business became more centralized in the 1600's, the larger companies, owned by men, tried to run off their independent, smaller competitors by spreading rumors of witchcraft. At the time sorcery, or witchcraft, was punishable by banishment and even death. Many of these women, particularly in Wales, went into the sweets business. The tools of the trade were similar. The black cauldron now held sugar and water for making rock candy, which made the black cat still indispensable for warding off the mice. 

By the late 19th century the look of the Aleswife and Sweet Seller had been altered for good. Thanks to novels and then film, the history of their trade had been completely co-opted.

"The Last Angry Man" - Paul Muni (1959)

 "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away". This phrase from Thoreau accurately describes Physician Dr. Samuel Abelman of Brooklyn in the film "The Last Angry Man." It is, in fact, the central theme of this extraordinary film.

Dr. Abelman is the polar opposite of his friend and colleague Dr. Vogel, who writes on Dr. Abelman's Death Certificate under "Cause of Death: Coronary Occlusion/ Fighting Other People's Battles." A truly remarkable film and Paul Muni's last.