"The Snake Pit" with Olivia DeHavilland, Mark Stevens and Celeste Holm (1948)

This is one of the hardest films for me to watch. It is searing. I have planned on reviewing this film for several years, but needed to work up the courage to view the film again. It is that painful in its portrayal of human frailty. I cannot imagine how deeply Ms. De Havilland had to dig within herself in order to play this role. This film was made in the days when actors and actresses had to dig deep within themselves in an effort to bring life to the characters which they portrayed. This film, and Ms. De Havilland's performance, prove the point.

In this film she plays Virginia Cunningham, a woman who finds herself in a mental asylum with people who are seriously afflicted. She cannot recall how she got there. Through a series of flashbacks her husband, Robert, played by Mark Stevens, begins to recount the story of their courtship in Chicago. What follows is the tale of a woman going mad.

As the two continue to date, Virginia becomes more and more shut off, and eventually she leaves for New York with no explanation. When Robert runs into her again, after some time apart, the two are married and all should be well. Instead this is only the beginning of Virginia’s final descent into her own private hell.

While Virginia continues undergoing treatment under the care of Dr. Mark Kik, played by Leo Glenn, she seems to be making progress. But soon she takes a turn for the worse and finds herself back in the most intensive ward of the hospital, known as the “Snake Pit”.

In 1948 a film dealing with a schizophrenic inmate at a mental institution was pretty much cutting edge stuff. Virginia hears voices and is totally out of touch with reality. The scenes of shock therapy and the treatment of the inmates by some of the staff were not yet the stuff of TV dramas and documentaries. The strait jacket scene still sends shivers down my spine; I cannot bear to be restrained.

The film won 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture for 1948. It was directed by Director Anatole Litvak, who was adamant that Ms. De Havilland, as well as other key players in the film, undergo several months of research and training before shooting of the film even began.  In the end though, it all paid off. This is one intense film to watch.

Ms. De Havilland, who is still alive and well; living in Paris; has described this as being her favorite movie among the scores in which she starred. I know this to be true; as about 5 years ago, on her birthday in July; I sent her a birthday greeting along with a review of “Robin Hood” with Errol Flynn. She was kind enough to send a reply and mentioned the fact to me then.

The “Snake Pit” is so painful for me to watch; and her acting so realistic; that it has taken me that long to work up the courage to watch it again! It is no wonder she won the Academy Award for her work in this film.

Strange Days Indeed

These are strange days indeed. A passenger on a West Jet flight left the above note on a napkin for pilot, who has 17 years of flight experience. Obviously the writer knew that this was an insensitive; at best; thing to do. They even admit to the political incorrectness, which doesn't bother me at all. It’s the stupidity of the note, and the writer, which annoys me more.

We are all entitled to opinions. That goes without saying; but when you leave anonymous notes you are no longer expressing your opinion. You have crossed the line into intimidation. If someone wants to disagree with someone else, that is perfectly acceptable. You simply wait to engage them in conversation or correspondence where you both can address the issue at hand.

Of course when dealing with the pilot of an airliner there are certain rules which may keep you from engaging the pilot directly, but you can leave a note with your contact information with the steward/stewardess to give to the pilot.

That is, if you don’t have a problem with the gender of your steward/stewardess. Let’s face it, the guy who wrote this note is not going to be happy with a male steward. And I feel sorry for him. Everywhere he goes he is surrounded by women in jobs he doesn't feel comfortable with them holding.

It must be so sad to exist in a world where everywhere you turn you find yourself in disagreement with half of everyone you see. And, if you have a daughter it must be twice as painful. She may have ambition and want to do something which you feel should be open only to men. Will you stop her?

Here is the reply which the Captain sent via her Facebook account;

To @David in 12E on my flight #463 from Calgary to Victoria today. It was my pleasure flying you safely to your destination. Thank you for the note you discreetly left me on your seat. You made sure to ask the flight attendants before we left if I had enough hours to be the Captain so safety is important to you, too. I have heard many comments from people throughout my 17 year career as a pilot. Most of them positive. Your note is, without a doubt, the funniest. It was a joke, right? RIGHT?? I thought, not. You were more than welcome to deplane when you heard I was a “fair lady.” You have that right. Funny, we all, us humans, have the same rights in this great free country of ours. Now, back to my most important role, being a mother.

The Angry Masses - No Post Today

These people are really angry! And they have just cause to be so. The problem seems to have arisen at the offices of Rooftop Reviews, where there was shock and dismay at the discovery that I had nothing to post today.

With a daily circulation of almost 200 in 59 different countries, word spread quickly and people were upset everywhere! This crowd, in Manchester England, took it out on the local constabulary, who showed great restraint in the face of  overwhelming emotional odds.

But, fear not, by tomorrow there will be a resumption of the usual pithy nonsense you have come to expect of Rooftop Reviews. And thanks to these fans in Manchester, I ended up with something to post today anyway.

To be honest, it really is a very interesting video. I could expound on the reasons why, but then that would be a real post, wouldn't it?

"Leaves of Grass" with Edward Norton and Tim Blake Nelson (2010)

Tim Blake Nelson wrote, directed and stars in this hilarious comic/drama in which he plays Bolger, a friend to Brady Kincaid, played by Edward Norton; who also plays his own twin brother Bill Kincaid. Brady is a local marijuana grower in Oklahoma, while his brother Bill has left home and become a well-known Ivy League Professor of Philosophy, who is clearly headed for bigger things.

When a local drug lord, played by Richard Dreyuss, tries to make Brady start dealing hard drugs, Brady rebels and hatches a scheme with his best friend Bolger to take the drug lord down. Unknown to brother Bill is that he is to be a major player in this scheme. Brady has his brother notified that he has passed away, and when Bill returns for the funeral he discovers that he is being used.

Bill meets a woman named Janet, played by Keri Russell, and he falls for her. Meantime, the boys mother Daisy Kincaid, played by Susan Sarandon, has place herself in an old age home, where Brady delivers fresh pot to her. The town Sheriff is looking to bust Brady but can’t get a handle on anything incriminating to work with.

Brady leaves town for a day or so to conduct some “business” with the local drug lord. He has cut his hair and shaved so that he looks exactly like his brother Bill, who is now the target of the local sheriff, as well as some rival drug dealers who want Brady’s growing operation.

Somehow it all comes together in a most unexpected way, when Philosophy takes a back seat to brotherly love and this comedy becomes a full blown drama with a surprise ending. This film is a triumph for Tim Blake Nelson for writing and direction. Edward Norton shines in his dual role playing his own brother in this highly entertaining and thoughtful film.  An outstanding soundtrack; covering everything from Little Feat to Townes van Zandt and Steve Earle; makes this a sure fired winner.

These are the artists and songs featured in the film;

“Stand Up” by Doug Bossi

“Illegal Smile” by John Prine

“My Wildest Dreams Go Wilder Every Day” by The Flatlanders

“Faithful and True” by Richard Myhill

“Fat Man in the Bathtub” by Little Feat

“Rex's Blues” by Townes van Zandt

“Sailin' Shoes” by Little Feat

“Sweet Revenge” by John Prine

“Shall be Released” by The Band

“Lonely are the Free” by Steve Earle

“Boys from Oklahoma” by Cross Canadian Ragweed

"I Am Malala" by Malala Yousafzai (2013)

What a remarkable book this is! I was expecting; and not looking forward to; a lengthy tome about Malala Yousafzai’s shooting at the hands of the Taliban in Pakistan. Her crime was two- fold; she was a woman, and she wanted to be educated. There are very few people who haven’t heard of this brave young woman with the idealistic father. Her accomplishments in the area of Women’s Rights are already legendary, and she is just barely 18 years old.

What makes this book a standout is that she has written a seamless history of contemporary Pakistan; from its birth as a nation in 1947; through the troubled early years, and the turmoil which has made Pakistan an ally of both the Eastern and Western powers at various times since. Even more remarkable about it all is that she seems to grasp the significance of that history as it relates to the Pakistan in which she was raised. How many Americans, of any age, can make that claim about our own nation?

After a few pages at the beginning, in which she describes the immediate event of being shot on a bus coming home from school, she moves backward in time, describing both her parent’s history as well as the political strife in which they were born. She examines how those times shaped both her parents in different ways.

Her father became an outspoken advocate of education for both boys and girls; which put him in the crosshairs of radical Islamists early on. Her mother, on the other hand, became more concerned with not rocking the boat and keeping all around her happy.

After a few false starts in opening a school in the Swat Valley; that area on the Pakistan/Afghan border which became a hotbed of violence during the American-Iraq War after 9/11; her father manages to found a school which eventually had 3 buildings and 100 students; both boys and girls. He teaches them in a secular way; everything from science to mathematics and even literature. He firmly believes that the future well-being of any society lies in the education of its youngest members.

Malala begins to fall in step with her father from an early age; delighting in pleasing him by winning contests in school for speaking in public. Ate age 11 she was already speaking on issues such as the right of girls to receive an education. By age 12 she was questioning why women were considered to be less than equal to men. She was already disputing the claims of Radical Islamists that the Quran mandated such treatment.

Encouraged by her father she began to amass a collection of prizes; some even monetary; for her work. This was all happening as the war in Iraq was heating up and spilling over to Pakistan, where the Taliban were hiding from our forces in Afghanistan. As the war progressed the Taliban were making more and more incursions into the Swat Valley, disrupting life there. This is the same area as the one where the Taliban were blowing up the ancient statues of Buddha. Malala used to play amongst those statues; a fact which served to make more real something which, for most people, had only been an abstract item in the press. That perception changes when you hear how it affected someone else’s life, especially a child’s.

The author vividly recounts the confusion attendant to living in Pakistan at the time after 9/11. As the Taliban ramped up their efforts against the “Great Satan” of the United States, they used religion as a means to extract money from the Pakistani people. Often these contributions took the form of women donating their precious wedding bangles. Those pieces of gold became bullets used in battles from which many of their own men never returned while fighting Jihad.

Malala was 16 when she was shot. Her story might have ended that day with her death. The fact that it didn’t has a lot to do with politics, as well as people who were committed to not letting this young woman die. She became a symbol of the contempt in which most of the world holds the Taliban.

Her description of life in England, where she was relocated for medical reasons, is interesting in that with all that has happened to her at such a young age, she still wants to go home. She still wants to fight for justice for her fellow Pakistani’s and women in particular. She still considers herself a good Muslim and wants to help Islamic people everywhere reclaim their religion from the fanatics who have; for the most part; hijacked it. 

This is a remarkable book written by a remarkable young woman, caught up in extraordinary circumstances. And, more than that, it is the story of the triumph of the human spirit over the forces of darkness; which would swallow us whole if we let them.

Typical Month at Rooftop Reviews

"Jimi Hendrix - A Brother's Story" by Leon Hendrix... Aug 14, 2012	4397
The Vance Hotel - Statesville, N.C. Sep 19, 2010, 24 comments	3857
The King and Elvis Aug 16, 2010	1136
Birmingham, Alabama - September 15th, 1963 Sep 15, 2011	397
"Ants in the Plants" - Max and Dave Fleischer (1... May 11, 2013	372
Leap Year, George Washington and the Jewish Calend... Feb 28, 2012	146
Popeye Meets Bluebeard - Chivalry Is Not Dead Aug 13, 2013	139
Oleans Street - My Secret Walks Oct 1, 2010	135
Midnight - Cat Napping at Noon Mar 11, 2013	125
Follow up on "Decoding the Lost Symbol" by Simon ... Dec 5, 2009	115

It's been a typical month at Rooftop Reviews. The things I write today won't even "chart" until next year. Sometimes I'm surprised at what gets on there at all! Dismiss the Jimi Hendrix one; it's largely junk mail. I just keep it for the numbers it generates. By next month it will be gone and something else will replace it.

Sometimes it's seasonal. Like in April; my top hit then will be about the Civil War and also about the American Revolution. Surprisingly; overall; the Civil War is the more "popular” of the two. I wonder if that says anything about us as people?

The Vance Hotel is a regular in the top 10. It actually gets comments and also generates e-mails; which I prefer. The Vance is one of those places which attracts people; partly because of its reputation as one of the better hotels of the "old days"; and partly because it has a ghost. Now, that's unique...

Of course; the King and Elvis. I mean, anything about Elvis will get you a hit. I am putting Elvis in the keywords for this. Hey, I may start doing that with all my posts! But seriously, some folks actually do read this stuff. And I'm glad they do.

From cartoons to old films and books and history and stuff that I don't even recall, this is the best value for your buck on the web. Why? A- It’s free. B- There are 7 articles at any given time, as opposed to most other blogs where you can only look at one article at a time. They do that to get the extra hits. I don't need to. That's why I have Elvis and Jimi.

Selma Burke - Got a Dime?

If you've got a dime in your pocket then you are familiar with this women’s work as a sculptress. But there was a lot more to Selma Burke than just the plaque of Franklin Roosevelt which she created in 1945 for another project.  (More about that dime later.) I first became acquainted with Ms. Burke’s contributions to the world of art and education when I entered the old Mooresville Town Library back in the late 1990’s. There was a plaque of her - a portrait on wood – which still hangs there today, right where the old and new libraries are joined together.

Ms. Burke (who shares the same last name as my paternal great-grand parents) was born in Mooresville, North Carolina on the last day of the year 1900. Her father was a farmer and church Minister, while her mother did everything else.

Young Selma was interested in art at a very early age, but her mother was a pragmatic woman and wanted her to learn something which would lead to secure employment. Accordingly, she became a Nurse, graduating from St, Agnes Training School in Raleigh in 1924. From there she moved to Harlem, which was still in the throes of the great Harlem Renaissance. What a change this must have been for a farm girl from Mooresville, North Carolina! It was while in New York that she began her first job as a Nurse.

The Harlem Arts Community Center was an integral part of the Harlem Renaissance, and it was there that Ms. Burke was able to meet with some of artists who would influence her to take that great leap; from the security of nursing to taking a chance on following her dreams. Cautiously, she kept the day job, and sculpted at night.

Her early work was good enough for her to attain 2 grants; The Rosenwald  in 1935, and the Boehler in 1936. She also received money from the Foundation Grants program in the late 1930’s which enabled her to study abroad. Places like Vienna and Paris were now not just a dream; they were her new reality. This period of her life and studies earned her a Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University in 1941.

Contrary to what many believe the bust of Franklin Roosevelt was never a bust at all; rather it started out as a plaque done while the President was still alive and in office. It was part of a project to honor the “Four Freedoms”, which was a cornerstone of FDR’s post war vision of guaranteeing peace and security foe the world.

The plaque was completed in early 1945. On March 10^th Eleanor Roosevelt visited Selma Burke in her studio to view the finished work. She echoed what many people have opined since the Roosevelt Dime was issued in 1946. She thought that Ms. Burke had portrayed him as “too young.” Ms. Burke told the First Lady, "I’ve not done it for today, but for tomorrow and tomorrow."  It measured 3.5’ by 2.5’ and was unveiled in September 1945 at the Recorder of Deeds Building in Washington. It still resides there today. Now the story gets a bit tricky.

John R. Sinnock was the Chief Engraver at the Bureau of Engraving. In 1946, the year after Roosevelt had died in office, he was asked to design a new dime to honor the fallen President. It’s obvious, in my opinion, that he merely lifted the profile from the original work by Ms. Burke, using it as the obverse on the new dime and placing his initials; JS; below the work. Even when confronted with the similarity in the design of the two depictions he vehemently denied it.

Ms. Burke paid it no mind at all, continuing to focus on teaching art to others. She established schools in New York and Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh school is fondly remembered as having contributed greatly to that cities cultural renaissance. The seeds first planted in Harlem were finally bearing fruit. She was also a Public School teacher there for 17 years.

She spent most of her final years at her studio in Buck’s County, Pennsylvania. It was there, while working on a project to honor Rosa Parks that she died. It was August 29, 1995. Her biggest contribution is probably having devoted her life to furthering the education of others while instilling within them a love of art.

There is one quote from Ms. Burke which sums up her philosophy in a nutshell; “Art didn’t start black or white, it just started ... There have been too many labels in this world: Negro, Colored, Black, African-American ... Why do we label people with everything except Children of God?"