FILM REVIEW

Beautiful People (1974)

How many of you remember this beautiful film? It's my choice for Overlooked Films, Audio and Video at Todd Mason’s blog Sweet Freedom where you’ll find many other entries.

Some folks call them animals.

I have rarely seen an animal programme on television without humans in it. There is always an intrepid wildlife adventurer or photographer in close pursuit or lurking somewhere. I find this rather annoying. Just “shoot” the animals doing whatever they are doing. Keep the narrator and the music on but, for goat’s sake, keep off the savannah!

That’s why I liked Beautiful People (originally known as Animals Are Beautiful People) made by Jamie Uys, a South African filmmaker. There isn't a soul in sight on the Namib Desert where the animal documentary is shot. Only lots of beautiful animals on a vast and picturesque landscape exposed to the four elements of nature. 

I saw this film a few years after it was released in 1974 and again in the nineties, but I don’t remember much. There are all kinds of animals, small and big, including a tiny dung beetle that doesn't seem tiny when it rolls a ball of dung all the way into its hideout, though not without hilarity.

As I read about Beautiful People on the internet, I rediscovered that it is, in fact, a funny documentary. In one scene around a watering hole animals quench their thirst and end up intoxicated, only to wake up with a hangover the next morning. The water gets fermented every time the fruit from the surrounding trees falls into the water hole. 

Beautiful People, narrated by radio icon Paddy O'Byrne, is largely a one-man show: Jamie Uys not only wrote, directed and produced the film, he also took care of the editing, cinematography, and the music score. The cinematography is quite something as Uys captures the naked beauty of the desert land whose only inhabitants are the animals and the trees. Like the painstakingly shot wildlife scenes you see on television, Uys had to wait long hours to get the right footage of the animals and the way they cope with the harsh and unpredictable conditions of nature. In the end the sun rises, as it always does, and everything is back to normal.

Beautiful People earned Jamie Uys (below) the Hollywood Foreign Press Association award for best documentary. He deserved it. I would have given him another one for The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980), one of the finest slapstick comedies of the 20th century I have seen (my review). He plays the Reverend in a cameo role. He also made The Gods Must Be Crazy II (1989) which didn't hold as well. Sequels rarely do. 

What makes this film extraordinary is the complete absence of special visual and sound effects and human encroachment, not counting Uys behind the camera. He did well to leave the animals alone.

BOOK REVIEW

The Man Without a Country 

by Edward Everett Hale (1863)

Here’s an amazing story for Patti Abbott’s Friday’s Forgotten Books at her blog Pattinase, not to be confused with A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut (2005).

“He cried out, in a fit of frenzy, ‘Damn the United States! I wish I may never hear of the United States again!’” 

And Lieutenant Philip Nolan, the young and intelligent Union army United States Army officer, never does hear a written or spoken word of the country of his birth until his ignominious death.

To be sentenced to spend the rest of your life, a little over a period of fifty years, on the high seas, is a fate worse than life in prison. To spend it without hearing the name of America even once during all those years at sea is doubly cruel.

It was the price Nolan paid for his impulsive outburst against his country before Colonel Morgan, the president of the court, who was trying him and a close acquaintance, Governor Aaron Burr, for treason during the Civil War. In a fit of rage Nolan wished he never heard of America again, a wish Morgan granted him without hesitation, if only to teach him, and other American citizens, the lesson of a lifetime—love and cherish your country. The harsh sentence, we are told, has President Jefferson’s consent. 

The author in 1988. © Project Gutenberg

Edward Everett Hale, American writer and minister, has naval officer Frederic Ingham narrate Philip Nolan’s remarkable story, the 56 years he spent at sea, hopping from one ship to another, boarding up with new commanders and sailors who carry out the judge’s order in letter and spirit.

Nolan’s life aboard the naval ships are filled with many a poignant moment. For example, the “inmate” is treated well and has access to everything that a normal prisoner does except for one thing—the word ‘United States’ or any reference to the country is not to figure anywhere, in writing or in conversations. Thus, just as Nolan is reading an interesting piece of news, he suddenly finds a gaping hole in the paper. The officer assigned to him has cut it out because of a reference to America on the other side of the page. There is no end to the levels of censorship.

The young officer, however, endears himself to the sailing crew by making himself useful on board, by showing them how to handle a gun or use artillery, reading Shakespeare, teaching them dance steps, explaining mathematics, inculcating a love for reading books and, in one instance, serving as a Portuguese interpreter aboard a dirty little schooner filled with slaves.

As Nolan grows old and sick, the magnitude of his sentence begins to sink in and he pines for information about his country, even grows to love the land he once hated so much. Then, one day, he repents in total surrender, crying out aloud before his last commanding officer, Danforth, who takes pity on the sick old man and tells him all that has happened during the course of a half a century.

“Pray, what has become of Texas?” 

As Frederic Ingham, the narrator, tells us: “The reason he had never heard of Texas was that Texas and her affairs had been painfully cut out of his newspapers.”

Nolan dies a hero, his father's badge of the Order of the Cincinnati pressed to his smiling lips. Before he goes, Nolan tells Danforth to bury him at sea for “it has been my home, and I love it” and requests a tombstone either at Fort Adams or at Orleans, his epitaph reading:

“In Memory of PHILIP NOLAN, Lieutenant in the Army of the United States. He loved his country as no other man has loved her; but no man deserved less at her hands.”

I am sorry if I have given away more than I should have. It’s that kind of a story where you say more in spite of saying little. But fear not, there is much more to this 30-odd page account that could pass off as a short story or short fiction. For instance, the speculation whether Edward Everett Hale is telling a true story, whether the inspiration for it was the exiled anti-war pro-Confederate Ohio Democrat, Clement Vallandingham, whether the characters including that of Nolan are real, whether the events immediately preceding Nolan’s trial and sentencing actually happened, whether narrator Frederic Ingham really was a retired officer of the United States Navy, and whether The Levant, the last ship Nolan sailed on, was the same corvette that sailed from the Port of Honolulu in 1860 and was never heard of since. 

Hale keeps you guessing on all these aspects though there are several other interesting elements of the Civil War that you will enjoy reading and as you do, you will learn much about that tumultuous period in American history.

The Man Without a Country, which was first published anonymously in The Atlantic in December 1863, the year Philip Nolan died, has been adapted for films several times including a silent movie in 1917 and a three-act radio play in 1977. The story, now termed as a classic, made a big impact on America, in the sense that it influenced Americans into supporting Abraham Lincoln’s ‘Preserve the Union’ declaration and turned many against the secessionist Southern states. Apparently, Hale intended for the story to swing the tide in favour of the Union.

VINTAGE ADS

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

The Sun Also Rises, the first full novel by Ernest Hemingway, was published in 1926 by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, the pioneers of publishing in America. In the second half of the 20th century, Scribner was taken over by Alfred A. Knopf, Jr's Atheneum Books in 1978, merged into Macmillan in 1984, and was finally bought by Simon & Schuster in 1994. The latter has retained the Scribner imprint.

The advertisement is simple but spot on about Hemingway's literary career. It says: "— and with this book Mr. Hemingway's sun also will rise, for this is a novel able to command the sharpest attention even in a season so crowded with good fiction. The publishers advise you to be very much aware of this book from the start."

According to Wikipedia, the dust jacket of the first edition of The Sun Also Rises was illustrated by Cleonike Damianakes who used a Hellenistic design (characteristic of the classical Greek civilisation) intended to tastefully suggest a quasi-sexual theme. 

The novel is about a group of American and British expatriates who travel from Paris to the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona to watch the bullfights. Hemingway was a keen bullfighter himself and there is a nice black-and-white picture of his fighting one in Pamplona, Spain. The first edition consisted of 5,090 copies and sold at $2.00 per copy.

On Cleonike Damianakes, the illustrator, I have drawn a blank so far. And I haven't read the book yet.

FILM REVIEW

Batman (1989)

Todd Mason has all the links to Tuesday’s Overlooked Films, Audio and Video at his blog Sweet Freedom. Recommended: Movies: The Amazing Spider-Man by James Reasoner

Batman is often not pictured without his costume in comic-books unlike other superheroes like Superman or Spider-Man. The caped crusader is usually lying in wait above the dark and foreboding shadows of Gotham City’s crime-infested streets and buildings. The man behind the mask is a different picture: he is a young handsome and reclusive billionaire with thick wavy hair. This is my image of Bruce Wayne, at least in the Batman comics from the 70s onward.

I, therefore, did a double take when I first saw Bruce Wayne in Tim Burton’s first movie adaptation of Batman. Everything about the big-budget film was right—the bat-suit, the bat-mobile, the bat-cave, the bat-butler, the Joker, except for Wayne himself. As an actor, Michael Keaton did well; as Bruce Wayne, he stood out like a sore thumb. He looked nothing like he did in the comics.

Michael Keaton and Kim Bassinger in Batman

A lot of people liked Keaton (born Michael Douglas) in the first technically brilliant superhero movie since Richard Donner created magic with Superman in 1978. A part of that magic lay in the fact that the twin roles of Clark Kent, the bumbling and bespectacled reporter, and his alter ego, Kal-El or Superman, fit Christopher Reeve perfectly. A more suitable actor has not been born to play the Man of Steel. Brandon Routh was unconvincing in Superman Returns (2006) because, as Clark Kent and Superman, he looked the same. 

But this is about Batman… 

Michael Keaton in Batman

Six years later, in 1995, Joel Schumacher hit the right note by casting Val Kilmer as Bruce Wayne in Batman Forever, a perfect match. Why Schumacher did not persist with Kilmer in Batman & Robin (1997), I have no idea. The role went to George Clooney, of all the people in Hollywood.

The Michael Keaton-Bruce Wayne mismatch can, in fact, be likened to the Tobey Maguire-Spider-Man disconnect. Check out the 70s and 80s Spider-Man comics. 

Fortunately, Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne is not as significant as Michael Keaton the Batman in Tim Burton’s 1989 film. The caped crusader is quite awesome in his snazzy bat-suit and bat-mobile as he takes on Gotham City’s nemesis, the Joker or Jack Napier, essayed brilliantly by Jack Nicholson. The Joker—the result of a chemical accident and looking nothing less than a freak—shoots the crime boss and takes over the crime syndicate, threatening the citizens of Gotham with a dubious chemical called ‘Smilex’ that causes anyone who uses it to die of laughter and a permanent grin on his or her face. 

Val Kilmer in Batman Forever

Jack ‘The Joker’ Nicholson is the redeeming feature in an otherwise ordinary plot revolving around Batman’s fight against injustice and keeping Gotham City and his girlfriend, Vicky Vale (Kim Bassinger), safe from the likes of Jack Napier and his freak show.

Over the years the Batman films have evolved, both artistically and technically, with Christopher Nolan’s 21st century offering of Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), and The Dark Knight Rises (2012) starring Christian Bale who, in my opinion, is second-best to Kilmer’s Batman.

All in all, an enjoyable series but I still like the comics more.

Stamp of a Writer: Louisa May Alcott

Most of the quotes below have been compiled from Louisa May Alcott's books including Little Women, Jo's Boys, Work: A Story of Experience, Moods, and Behind A Mask (or A Woman's Power) which was originally published in 1866 under the pseudonym A.M. Barnard.

"Good books, like good friends, are few and chosen; the more select, the more enjoyable." 

"I am she; come in, friend; I am glad to see thee," said the old lady, smiling placidly, as she led the way into a room whose principal furniture seemed to be books, flowers, and sunshine."

"A pleasant little scene. Bella working busily, and near her in a low chair, with the light falling on her fair hair and delicate profile, sat Miss Muir, reading aloud. "Novels!" thought Sir John, and smiled at them for a pair of romantic girls. But pausing to listen a moment before he spoke, he found it was no novel, but history, read with a fluency which made every fact interesting, every sketch of character memorable, by the dramatic effect given to it. Sir John was fond of history, and failing eyesight often curtailed his favorite amusement. He had tried readers, but none suited him, and he had given up the plan. Now as he listened, he thought how pleasantly the smoothly flowing voice would wile away his evenings, and he envied Bella her new acquisition."

"I like good strong words that mean something."

"I want to do something splendid before I go into my castle, something heroic or wonderful that won't be forgotten after I'm dead. I don't know what, but I'm on the watch for it, and mean to astonish you all some day. I think I shall write books, and get rich and famous, that would suit me, so that is my favorite dream."

"That is a good book it seems to me, which is opened with expectation and closed with profit." 

"If all literary women had such thoughtful angels for husbands, they would live longer and write more. Perhaps that wouldn't be such a blessing to the world though, as most of us write too much now."

"I strolled about, enjoying myself, till I got into the library, and there I rummaged, for it was a charming place, and I was happy as only those are who love books, and feel their influence in the silence of a room whose finest ornaments they are."

"Christie loved books; and the attic next her own was full of them. To this store she found her way by a sort of instinct as sure as that which leads a fly to a honey-pot, and, finding many novels, she read her fill. This amusement lightened many heavy hours, peopled the silent house with troops of friends, and, for a time, was the joy of her life."

"Some stories are so familiar its like going home." 

Note: For 22 previous Celebrity Stamps, look under Labels.

BOOK REVIEW

The Penguin Book of Comics (1967)
by George Perry and Alan Aldrige

For the new year’s first Forgotten Books at Todd Mason's blog Sweet Freedom and Patti Abbott’s blog Pattinase, a glimpse into the magic world of comic books.

“We think in pictures; we dream in pictures.” 

I can recollect every single comic book I have purchased over more than three decades. Some more than others because those are the ones I am especially fond of. I had to wait a long time before acquiring them. Collecting comics is like collecting stamps: you have to be patient. You don’t have to find them, they will find you.

For a long time, I wanted to own The Penguin Book of Comics that I had heard so much about. If I wanted to, I could have arranged for the purchase of the volume. I didn't because I knew it was waiting for me, somewhere, not very far from home. And it was, one day, under a dusty and used pile of books and magazines on a footpath in downtown Mumbai, once famous for secondhand books. I bent down and picked up one of the finest specimens of used comic books I had ever come across. It cost me only Rs.100 ($2). A good number of years had passed between my desire to own the book and the time I actually owned it, but it was worth the long wait.

Published in 1967 by Penguin Books, the 272-page soft volume was the most creative, imaginative, and authoritative chronicle of British and American comic books of its time. Forty-five years and countless number of comics and compendiums later, this Penguin continues to hold its head high. The “slight history” of comic books has been devised by two Englishmen: writer and editor George Perry who wrote the text and artist and graphic designer Alan Aldrige who did the amazing cover art and illustrations.

The Penguin Book of Comics begins with a fine essay on the evolution of comics from the Paleolithic or stone age and what they can give us, looks at the tradition in Britain and the revolution in America, analyses the rise and fall of comics in the mid-20th century in context of Dr. Frederic Wertham’s damning thesis and the comics code, and the influence of comic strips and comic books on other popular culture and entertainment like art, films, and television.

The essays are interspersed with hundreds of images and illustrations starting with the first known pictures by man some 30,000 years ago to all the comic-strips, illustrated newspapers and magazines, and comic-books known to you and me, right up to 1967. I don’t think the authors left out even a single picture or comic-strip between the two extremities of time. Immense study and research has gone into the making of this book.

If I were to mention some of the comic strips and comic books, I wouldn't know where to begin or when to stop. Nonetheless, I will refer to some of the rare and forgotten ones, such as, The Yellow Kid, Katzenjammers, Alphonse and Gaston, Happy Hooligan, The Two Pickles, Chuckles, The Funny Wonder, The Firefly, Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future, Chips, Thunderbirds, Puck, Buster Brown, Pogo, Krazy Kat, Barney Google, Gasoline Alley, Tillie the Toiler, Betty Boop, Prince Valiant, Terry and the Pirates, Steve Canyon, Skippy, Jane’s Journal, Buck Ryan, Flook, Tiffany Jones, and Male Call. Ring bells?

Every one of these comic strips and comic books were created before my time and yet I can identify with many of them, thanks in part to my enthusiasm for this delightful medium and in main to copyright-free content on the internet. The Penguin Book of Comics is an absolute must for any comics buff. You won’t find a better comic book encyclopedia. 

I started this post by recalling how I came to possess a near-mint copy of this book and I will end it by recounting a similar experience with another book—the 256-page hardback DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World's Favourite Comic Book Heroes (Bulfinch, October 1995) by the late Les Daniels, a renowned historian of comic books.

Some years ago, I discovered the DC book in a swanky new bookstore, selling at a discounted price of Rs.450 ($9). I resisted the urge to buy it mainly because I could put the money to better use. Two months later, I bought it from a roadside seller not far from where I had purchased The Penguin Book of Comics, for Rs.125 ($2.5) and in mint condition.

The spooky art of Ronald Clyne 

The first thing that caught my eye about Witch House (1945) was the dust-jacket. I have never read anything by Evangeline Walton (1907-1996), the pen name of Evangeline Wilna Ensley, an American author of fantasy fiction.

The dust-jacket has an illustration by Ronald Clyne (1925-2006), an American freelance designer and graphic artist who earned his reputation by creating more than 500 LP covers for Folkways Records. In fact, Clyne defined the style and look of most of the covers of the music company, which was founded by Moses Asch and which mainly recorded folk, world, and children’s music. In 1987, Folkways Records was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.

Witch House, an occult horror story set in New England, was published by Arkham House, a publishing enterprise founded by American writer and anthologist August Derleth. He popularised several categories of books, especially fantasy and supernatural, horror, and science fiction. He gave good friend H.P. Lovecraft his first big break. 

Evangeline Walton with the first edition of
The Virgin and the Swine, 1936, republished as
The Island of the Mighty by Ballantine's Adult
Fantasy series in 1970. © Wikimedia Commons

Ronald Clyne was a regular at Arkham House and his art is stamped on the covers of a number of books published by the company. Among the many things I learned while compiling this piece is that Witch House was the first full-length novel published by Arkham House and it was one of the earliest books listed in the Library of Arkham House Novels of Fantasy and Terror. 

Evangeline Walton has written many novels and short stories and is best known for her Welsh Mabinogi tales. According to Wikipedia, “The Mabinogion is the title given to a collection of 11 prose stories collated from medieval Welsh manuscripts. The tales draw on pre-Christian Celtic mythology, international folktale motifs, and early medieval historical traditions.” Sounds interesting.

Note: For more book covers, see under Labels.