Day Of The Dead

We paid our annual visit to some local cemeteries.  Usually we go to Woodlawn in Detroit (see last year's post), but this year we visited a few we had last seen on June 21st (see that post), as well as two new (for us) ones along the same Highway #3.  The highway is pretty scenic, as it follows the north shore of Lake Erie.  With a mixture of sun and clouds yesterday the lake looked very dramatic.  However, our mission was cemeteries, so we stayed away from the lake.

First up was the New Glasgow Pioneer Cemetery, which we have driven past many times without stopping.  Virtually all the headstones have Scottish names, with many of the settlers dying in their 30s.  Of course there are always a number of children, between 0 and ten years, also in these old cemeteries.  It was a very cold day, with temperatures averaging what they normally do in early December.  It was also quite breezy, making our stops brief, though very atmospheric. 

 New Glasgow Pioneer Cemetery, along Hwy #3 in Elgin County.

 A broken tomb pinnacle sits under a tree at New Glasgow Pioneer Cemetery.

A second new cemetery for us was the Ford Cemetery.

 Ford Cemetery.

 Abandoned house, autumn.

 Morpeth Cemetery, a personal favourite of ours for many years.

 The Morpeth Cemetery overlooks a steep ravine and creek. 

We also stopped at the Archibald Lampman cemetery, but I didn't use my digital camera there.  The film I was using finally got used up, so I will someday soon have a photo of that cemetery, too.

Back at home we had an evening visit from our young next door neighbours.  They brought over a freshly baked apple crisp.  We supplied beer and coffee!  Amanda was once a music student of mine, both at school and privately.  She was a very decent trombone player.  They also attended my last solo recital here in March.  With everyone leading busy lives, we don't see them all that often, except to wave to out in the yard.

Last weekend was my choice of films for our monthly festival.  I focused on producer Val Lewton.  We watched two of his films, as well as a TCM documentary about him, narrated by Martin Scorsese, as well as one other horror film.  First up was The Leopard Man, directed by Jacques Tourneur in 1943.  An escaped black leopard terrorizes a small New Mexican village, killing young girls.  Or it is really the leopard?  Does the title give anything away?  A suitably creepy tale, with an early, very horrifying scene of a young girl being killed as she bangs on the door of her house, with her mother slow to open it.

This film from 1943 was first up in our mini-festival last weekend. 

Next up was a French film from 1943, and directed by Maurice Tourneur, Jacques son. La Main Du Diable turned out to be an amazing little film, which neither of us had previously seen.  A painter sells his soul to become successful, but ends up fighting against the evil one, played by an amiable (at first) little man in a black suit.  The story is told in flashback, as the desperate man arrives at a secluded hotel in the Alps, searching for a ruined abbey and the grave of the man who started the chain of events in which he now finds him ensnared.  The movie is really quite good, with lots of humourous touches, some very cool surreal scenes, and movie art that isn't too bad to look at.  A sleeper gem.

Also from 1943.  

The 3rd film was called The Curse Of The Cat People, a favourite of ours not seen in a very long while.  All of the prints were pristine that we watched, thanks to the Criterion Channel, which is showing them all.  This movie is a very, very loose sequel to Lewton's Cat People, but is actually based on Robert Louis Stevenson's Aimee and Her Friend.  Lewton wanted to call it that, but the studio forced the current title upon him.  Aimee is in kindergarten and going through some childhood issues.  She invents a friend to be with her and to play with her.  A fascinating look inside the mind of a child, and an overall wonderful picture to view.

A really decent movie about childhood, at least for those of us that never really fit in.

Aimee (right) and her friend.  

Last up was a documentary about Val Lewton, who made some of the greatest b & w films ever.  He never shows the monster, but uses the viewer's imagination to help create suspense and horror.  All of his films are worth watching, and another festival of his works will likely be forthcoming.

 Lastly, we watched this TCM documentary, narrated by Martin Scorsese.  It showed

clips and talked about every film Lewton produced.

We have scheduled a long overdue Detroit day tomorrow, including a visit to the DIA to see the Day of the Dead exhibit.  So I should be reporting again, hopefully Monday evening.  Until then, signing off.

Mapman Mike