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Brevity as the Soul of Crit
12 years ago
General
5001 NIGHTS AT THE MOVIES by Pauline Kael (Picador, 960pp, $35)
http://www.amazon.com/5001-Nights-M.....=cm_cr_pr_pb_t
For those who might think that Pauline Kael couldn't write anything of value without a 1,500 word running start, here, in its entirety, is her opinion of the 1936 Hollywood costume drama, THE GORGEOUS HUSSY:
"The title is deceptive. The film is about Andrew Jackson (Lionel Barrymore) and his Presidential problems. Specifically, it deals with his dissolving his Cabinet because the wives of the members had cut a certain Mrs. Eaton (Joan Crawford). Something like this actually happened, though the picture will never convince anyone of it. Beulah Bondi smokes a corncob with the assurance befitting a First Lady, Melvyn Douglas plays a dreary, gentlemanly John Randolph, and Robert Taylor and Franchot Tone are the handsome young men. Clarence Brown directed. M-G-M. b&w"
Consider the wit and skill that went into summarizing and dispatching this long-forgotten piece of A-list fluff in six sentences, and you'll agree that Kael was as insightful (and deadly) within the length of a paragraph as she was within her preferred review length of several pages. That she did most of it from memory is flabbergasting.
The 2,800 or so reviews included here are a mixture of original entries and ruthlessly edited -- or, as she called it, vandalized -- highlights from her ten collections I LOST IT AT THE MOVIES (1965) through MOVIE LOVE (1991). It's interesting that the bad and mediocre movies considered here seem to outnumber the good ones, but it's the various ways in which those movies fail that make this such a rich and instructive volume for browsing. You'll come across such wonderful observations as, "The picture's ponderousness doesn't keep it from affecting some people deeply...Essentially, this is a dating movie...but for darker times, for times of lower expectations." (THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST, 1988) Or better yet, "People hadn't seen anything like it; that didn't mean they needed to." (LITTLE MISS MARKER, 1934)
I won't say that if you care about film you must have this book; that's going too far. On the other hand, if you've ever wondered how sharp your critical focus really is while you're watching a film -- or if you've ever been curious about the merits of THE MODEL AND THE MARRIAGE BROKER (1951) or MR. MOTO TAKES A VACATION (1939) -- you'll find this collection difficult to resist.
http://www.amazon.com/5001-Nights-M.....=cm_cr_pr_pb_t
For those who might think that Pauline Kael couldn't write anything of value without a 1,500 word running start, here, in its entirety, is her opinion of the 1936 Hollywood costume drama, THE GORGEOUS HUSSY:
"The title is deceptive. The film is about Andrew Jackson (Lionel Barrymore) and his Presidential problems. Specifically, it deals with his dissolving his Cabinet because the wives of the members had cut a certain Mrs. Eaton (Joan Crawford). Something like this actually happened, though the picture will never convince anyone of it. Beulah Bondi smokes a corncob with the assurance befitting a First Lady, Melvyn Douglas plays a dreary, gentlemanly John Randolph, and Robert Taylor and Franchot Tone are the handsome young men. Clarence Brown directed. M-G-M. b&w"
Consider the wit and skill that went into summarizing and dispatching this long-forgotten piece of A-list fluff in six sentences, and you'll agree that Kael was as insightful (and deadly) within the length of a paragraph as she was within her preferred review length of several pages. That she did most of it from memory is flabbergasting.
The 2,800 or so reviews included here are a mixture of original entries and ruthlessly edited -- or, as she called it, vandalized -- highlights from her ten collections I LOST IT AT THE MOVIES (1965) through MOVIE LOVE (1991). It's interesting that the bad and mediocre movies considered here seem to outnumber the good ones, but it's the various ways in which those movies fail that make this such a rich and instructive volume for browsing. You'll come across such wonderful observations as, "The picture's ponderousness doesn't keep it from affecting some people deeply...Essentially, this is a dating movie...but for darker times, for times of lower expectations." (THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST, 1988) Or better yet, "People hadn't seen anything like it; that didn't mean they needed to." (LITTLE MISS MARKER, 1934)
I won't say that if you care about film you must have this book; that's going too far. On the other hand, if you've ever wondered how sharp your critical focus really is while you're watching a film -- or if you've ever been curious about the merits of THE MODEL AND THE MARRIAGE BROKER (1951) or MR. MOTO TAKES A VACATION (1939) -- you'll find this collection difficult to resist.
