Elia Kazan

 Kazan directed some 20 movies, many of them some of the biggest Hollywood features ever made.  In Pinky, which we watched recently, he was the first to tackle racism against Blacks in a film.  Before that had come Gentleman's Agreement, which we just saw.  It took on anti-Semitism, in an amazing picture starring Gregory Peck as a successful writer who pretends he is Jewish, to find out what it was like to face prejudice every day.  The acting is always good in a Kazan film, and the dialogue usually flows very naturally.  The director began as a method actor, and he seems to know how to get the most from his talented stars.  Of course the Criterion print is pristine.  Celeste Holm and Dean Stockwell also turn in great performances.

Now showing on Criterion. 

 Panic In The Streets, by Kazan and starring Richard Widmark, is the tale of murder and bubonic plague, an interesting combination for a noir adventure film.  Jack Palance is a feared hoodlum, and when two of his underlings catch the plague, the authorities try to round up the group before it spreads across New York and beyond. It's difficult to imagine Richard Widmark as a public servant doctor, but he is actually okay in the role.  I've read a few similar plots of plague spreading in NYC in my more recent SF readings, one of the better ones being Harry Harrison's futuristic The Jupiter Plague.

Now showing on Criterion. 

Coming up later tonight is Kazan's 1976 feature The Last Tycoon.

I went with Deb to Kingsville yesterday with Deb, though I did not visit Lois.  There is a small outbreak of Covid in one of the pod sections at the LTC facility, the first one ever to hit there.  I dropped off Deb and went down to the waterfront to read.  A snowstorm was approaching, our first little wake-up call of the season.  The storm began on our drive home, around 1 pm, and by 3 pm it was coming down hard.  We ended up with 3" of heavy, wet snow,and though about half of it melted during the day today, a bit more arrives tomorrow.  Anyway, the snowplows and salt trucks had a good practice run, and by the dozens of car accidents that occurred yesterday, it sounds like many drivers got to practice, too.  It would seem that more driving practice might be needed.

Lake Erie gets a short burst of sun.  Photo taken on Deb's phone from Lakeside Park, about an hour before the snow began.

Our creek separates our two back yards.  Note the few remaining yellow leaves, and the snowbank reflection in the water.

This is the location of all our spring, summer, and fall coffee roastings.  In the winter we use the fireplace indoors.  The orange extension cord leads to a heated water basin for the birds and squirrels over the winter. 

Lastly, from the DIA I came across this beautiful and sensitive image by Angelica Kauffman.  It is a striking piece of art, done with a sensitivity that few, if any, male artists could likely achieve. And yet the detail at least reminds me of some of Picasso's pink period works.  The pose is natural, and the lack of lewdness and coy nudity is both refreshing and ideal.  It also reminds me of a few works in Detroit by the American painter Thomas Dewing.  And of course the print harkens back to the ideals set out by ancient Greek sculptors.

 

 Sitting Half Naked Maiden, 1780.  Angelica Kauffman, Swiss (1741-1807.  Etching and aquatint printed on brown ink on laid paper, 9 3/4" x 10 5/8".  Collection Detroit Institute of Arts.

 

Detail of above. 

 

Deb goes for her 3rd Moderna vaccine shot on Tuesday morning.  No word on when I may be eligible, but Canada has 6 million doses of unused vaccine that will expire at the end of the year.  Seriously? 

My next blog will likely be the November reading summary, unless something momentous happens before then.  Hopefully not.

Mapman Mike