Sunday Salon:French Painter and Caricaturist, Albert Guillaume (1873 - 1942)

source for all of the above - the expressions and attitudes - priceless 

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This week's Sunday Salon has gone away from my recent British trend - just a blip - and gone across the Channel to showcase the charming and witty and keen-eyed caricatures of the French Belle Epoque artist Andre Guillaume (1873 - 1942). I discovered his work only recently - it made me laugh and what could be better than that?

Not to be taken too seriously, though the talent is prodigious, these works by Guillaume are meant to prod and to tickle, but only in that oh so sophisticated French way. I don't think they're mean-spirited at all - at least not the ones I'm show-casing. And that's part of their charm. Besides, no one ever recognizes themselves in carticature. It's our nature to always think it's the other fellow being portrayed.

Guillaume created posters alongside Jules Cheret and Toulouse Lautrec and others, at the height of the Belle Epoque 'poster craze' which helped turn Parisian boulevards into galleries of public art. He also worked for all the top Parisian magazines and newspapers, creating satirical drawings which lampooned the lives of French high society.

To read more about Andre Guillaume, please use this link.

Albert Guillaume - source

Friday Forgotten (or Overlooked) Book: ASSIGNMENT IN BRITTANY (1942) by Helen MacInnes

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ASSIGNMENT IN BRITTANY (1942) is not only the author's second book, it also happens to be my second favorite - after ABOVE SUSPICION which was Helen MacInnes' impressive debut. I'm hoping to track down her other books which, far as I'm concerned, should still be readily available but apparently are not. (I read most of them while in my teens.) MacInnes wrote some terrific low-key thrillers which certainly should not be out of print. She didn't have the noirish capabilities and gift of ambiguous characterization of Eric Ambler, but armed with a keen knack for atmosphere and setting, MacInnes spun her own suspenseful spy thrillers peopled with an attractive assortment of intriguing characters, some of which one wouldn't mind knowing.

Reading ASSIGNMENT IN BRITTANY late into the night, I was completely taken up by this dark tale of WWII intrigue, betrayal and heroism. The good guys are good, the bad guys are vile Nazis - easy to despise. What more could you want? I love this sort of thing when it's done well.

The book's aura and attitude are of a particular moment since the book was written in 1940 and published in 1942. The tale pertains to the behind the scenes activities of a British spy in France as that country is overtaken by the Nazi scourge.

Our hero, Martin Hearne, is a smart, savvy, stalwart Brit; an experienced intelligence agent who speaks French and German fluently, not to mention the language spoken in Brittany which is, I'm given to understand, totally different from regular French. Hearne is resilient and quick to seize opportunity, traits which have made him successful at his trade. Unlikely happenstance has it that he is the spitting image of a certain Bertrand Corlay, a swarthy rugged type who has washed up in England in the tumult of Dunkirk (1940) and is now in hospital where his likeness to a certain British agent has been duly noted.

Hearne then is recruited to step into Corlay's life with the seeming cooperation of the patient who is urged to spill all particulars so that Hearne may successfully impersonate and insinuate himself into a Brittany landscape full of suspicious Bretons and sinister Germans. His task is to make note of the movements of the Germans who, it turns out, are stealthily building air fields and moving munitions into the northern French countryside, cleverly using the Bretons' own jingoistic prejudices and xenophobia against them.

Properly coached and carrying the necessary papers, Hearne is parachuted behind enemy lines and into the desolate outskirts of the isolated village of St. Deodat. At Corlay's farm, Hearns is mystified at first when Corlay's elderly mother treats him with suspicion and dislike. He is also taken aback when Corlay's fiancee Anne, a lovely young woman, breaks 'their' long-term engagement. Complications further arise when Corlay's seductive mistress Elise, a Nazi collaborator, makes her appearance. Obviously Corlay had a secret life which he'd failed to reveal to Hearne and his handlers.

Fulfilling his mission, working with a rudimentary Resistance, allaying the Bretons' suspicions while trying to stay a step ahead of the Gestapo as he unwittingly falls in love with Corlay's ex-fiancee, Anne, professional spy Martin Hearne aka Bertrand Corlay must, in the end, trust his fate to a local school teacher and the village priest, the unlikeliest of heroes.

ASSIGNMENT IN BRITTANY is the sort of book you can't put down and want to read in one gulp. If you can find a copy (I got mine at the library - wonder of wonders), set an evening or two aside and lose yourself in this terrific tale of courage and WWII espionage.

Since it's Friday, don't forget to check in at Patti Abbott's blog, Pattinase, to see what other Forgotten or Overlooked Books other bloggers are talking about today.

Tuesday Forgotten (or Overlooked) Films: Four Favorites

Thanks to youtube, the following four favorites (among others) are available for viewing (at least as of now) at no cost to you and in reasonably good versions.

Well, at least you can still read my review. Sorry about the black out, but that's the chance we take with youtube.



THE SEVEN DIALS MYSTERY (1981) - faithfully based on the book by Agatha Christie. A pleasurable bit of mystery nonsense about secret societies and murder among bright young things, with a wonderful cast including: Sir John Gielgud whom I could watch forever, most especially in these sorts of roles. He is SO wonderfully funny. Also starring the almost as wonderful Cheryl Campbell, Harry Andrews and James Warwick.

Link to my review.



WHY DIDN'T THEY ASK EVANS? (1980) - faithfully based on the book by Agatha Christie. Another engagingly amusing performance by Sir John Gielgud in a mystery featuring a nasty murderer adept at disguises and an inept but stalwart young hero played by James Warwick as only he can. Also starring is the always incredibly beautiful Francesca Annis as a young, take-charge titled lady known as Frankie aka Lady Frances Derwent. (She would later go on to star, along with James Warwick, in more Christie: The Tommy and Tuppence Mysteries.)

Link to my review.



COTTAGE TO LET (1941), a sprightly WWII spy mystery directed by Anthony Asquith starring John Mills, Alastair Sims and a bunch of other delightful Brits. I wrote about it a while back and described it in full - more or less - this is one of those eccentric-inventor-insists-on-working-at-home-on-a-new-bomb-sight stories. Most of it takes place at a Scottish estate and needless to say, spies are after the invention. Unassumingly wonderful and big surprise to me since I'd never heard of it before I stumbled across it a couple of years ago.

Link to my review.



TOPPER RETURNS (1941) Sequel to the first TOPPER which starred Cary Grant and Constance Bennett and took itself just the teensiest bit more seriously than this farcical second caper featuring Roland Young as Topper, but also the inimitable Joan Blondell (she's the ghost this time out), Billie Burke, Carole Landis, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, and two of my sinister favorites, George Zucco and H.B. Warner.

Link to my review.

Fun movies, perfect for a lazy summer afternoon or evening when you've got nothing much on your mind.

Since this is Tuesday, don't forget to check in at Todd Mason's blog, Sweet Freedom, to see what other Forgotten (or Overlooked) Films, Television and/or Audio/Visuals, other bloggers are talking about today.

Saturday Salon: The Paintings of Melissa Scott-Miller

Melissa Scott-Miller / source

Melissa Scott-Miller / source

Melissa Scott-Miller / source

Melissa Scott-Miller / source

Melissa Scott-Miller / Source

Recently I've discovered a congenial bunch of English artists whose paintings and prints have enchanted me in various ways. It's probably coincidence that they're all Brits though I'm wondering if that hasn't also influenced my latest reading material as well. Maybe just synchronicity but whatever it is, I'm enjoying it.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be featuring a few more of these painters whose work - at least for me - could not have originated anywhere but Great Britain, a setting I love. Today it's five of Melissa Scott-Miller's gorgeous-in-detail paintings primarily of London. Scott-Miller is also known for her portraits, but it was her landscapes/cityscapes that captured my attention the moment I stumbled across them online. I'm completely fascinated by the charming warmth and detail of this work.

To read about Melissa Scott-Miller's work and see a few more of her paintings, please use the link to her page at Mall Artists / Federation of British Artists.

Friday's Forgotten (or Overlooked) Book: MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY (1938) by Winifred Watson

The gorgeous Persephone cover. Source

MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY by Winifred Watson (published first in 1938) is a light, frothy Cinderella entertainment perfect for the day or night when too much of the real world encroaches. (I seem to be in that sort of mood lately.) I thoroughly enjoyed reading my beautifully designed Persephone reprint and did so quickly, beguiled by the story's fairy tale charm.

When fate and chance contrive together to change Miss Guinevere Pettigrew's unhappy life they do so quickly and without ado. The sad-sack Miss Pettigrew is a middle-aged impoverished daughter of a vicar, alone and desperately down on her luck in London. She's just been fired (yet again) from her latest governess post. The heretofore timid and easily frazzled Miss Pettigrew is really not cut out for the rigors or strictures of that sort of life.

Enter Miss Delysia LaFosse, a scatter-brained young London lovely living it up in a gorgeous London flat owned by a dangerous night club Lothario named Nick (who is away on business but due back soon). Not one to let opportunity go by, Miss LaFosse is anxious to climb the ladder of show biz success by snaring a part in a new musical being produced by Phil, an impetuous youth who's just spend the night in Delysia's bed. Waiting in the wings is the impatient Michael, the nephew of a corset tycoon who wants to marry Delysia. He is allowing her just one more chance to prove her love by finally accepting his proposal and chucking her life as a kept woman. But Delysia can't make up her mind - she needs a bit of managing. It's now or never - whom will she choose?

Into this complicated imbroglio of the heart enters Miss Pettigrew in the mistaken impression that she's being interviewed for yet another governess position. From the moment the beleaguered spinster rings the door bell and is promptly (if bewilderingly) welcomed into Miss LaFosse's topsy-turvy world, things will never be the same again

The long-lived author, Winifred Watson (1906 - 2002), only wrote six books. MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY is the fourth. This light-as-a-feather tale - more Alice in Wonderland than Cinderella perhaps - practically tells itself. The writing style seems effortless, smooth and unruffled even as the hours of Miss Pettigrew's surprising day tick by. In my view, this sort of sophisticated light-hearted thing is tricky - it can look easy, but in reality is very difficult to do well. The lightness must always be backed up by characters who belie that very lightness in some not very obvious way.

Miss Watson's dialogue is pert, intelligent, and seemingly of the moment. Everything that happens - even when you see it coming from ten miles away - seems fresh and new. It goes without saying that we want Miss Pettigrew to find her happiness and of course, she does.

What a charming and totally unexpected confection of a book. I loved it. I recommend it. I read it straight through, captivated by Miss Pettigrew's unlikely journey of self-discovery and very well deserved happy ending.

A tip: Skip the dreadful 2008 movie which made major changes in the plot for no reason I can think of. Even Ciarin Hinds (swoon) can't save a movie that took an effervescent delight and made it not so delightful, not so funny, not so sparkling, adding a grimness totally unsuited to Winifred Watson's sweetheart of a book. Frances McDormand is miscast as Miss Pettigrew, though perhaps with a better script and a better director she might possibly have managed it. 

Amy Adams is awful in a Carol Lombard sort of role, as she mumbles her way through the part of the bubbly Delysia (technically speaking: the sound on this film is atrocious), not to mention Shirley Henderson as an unrecognizable Edythe Dubarry, supposedly Delysia's best friend. The screenplay inexplicably turns Edythe into a sharp-nosed blackmailing predator. So different from the likable girl in the book. Yegads!, please, just skip the movie. 

P.S. It's Friday so don't forget to check in at Patti Abbott's blog, Pattinase, to see what other Forgotten (or Overlooked) Books other bloggers are talking about today.

Tuesday Forgotten (or Overlooked) Films: Five That Are So Good (in various and sundry ways) They Shouid Be Available for Viewing SOMEWHERE - but aren't.

Artist: Mabel Dwight - source

Terrific movies I haven't seen in many a year simply because, for whatever reason, they are not easily available anywhere.

If I could find a good DVD of each of these, I guess I'd buy them though their rarity makes some of these things a bit expensive. These five are not available on Netflix or anywhere else that I can figure though that may be changing - I hope - as we speak. I will not watch them with commercials so I don't bother with Hulu. (They're probably over at Turner, but I don't have cable so that's out.) And forget about the library.

The late lamented (by me, at least) films are:

1) The Wrong Box (1966) with Michael Caine, Ralph Richardson, John Mills

We learn the meaning of the legal term 'tontine' - hilariously - in this Victorians-run-amok screwball comedy. Wayward British humor, I suppose, is an acquired taste if you're not British to begin with, but I guess I must have been a Brit in another life, because I find these sorts of movies rip-roaringly funny. The expectation of a huge fortune and the peculiarites of an old will drive everyone nuts in this greed for greed's sake story enhanced by a cast that only the Brits could produce.

An oblivious Sir Ralph Richardson blithely unaware that a crazed relation (John Mills) is plotting murder most foul.

Everyone in this movie is eccentric to the nth degree and bonkers - so that adds to the cheery atmosphere. Imagine this cast: Sir Ralph Richardson as a prosy insufferable bore, John Mills as an oh-so-adorable loony plotting murder, plus Wilfred Lawson, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Nanette Newman as a naive, inclined to faint light-headed Victorian virgin tempted by Michael Caine as a fellow hapless innocent, and Peter Sellers as his usual nutso self. (I believe this is the movie in which he lives in a flat full of cats and absent-mindedly uses a kitten as an ink blotter - but don't worry, the kitten is fine.) It's all wonderful lunacy. But if you resist, you won't get it.

A movie that includes an accidental be-heading by Queen Victoria, a train crash, a body in a box and a totally disrespectful funeral to end all funerals, it is long deserving of being seen as often and as much as possible but instead it is all but forgotten by most.

2) Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990) with Alan Rickman and Juliet Stevenson

One of the best romantic comedies that no one's ever seen - except me - or so it seems. It's all about Nina, a disconsolate widow (Juliet Stevenson) who's having trouble getting over the death of her beloved husband Jamie (Alan Rickman), a cellist.

Alan Rickman, Juliet Stevenson and the adorable Michael Maloney

When Jamie refuses to stay dead and his ghost begins haunting Nina at home (to her immediate and touching delight), the film takes that familiar old trope and goes in a much different and unexpected direction. See, here's the thing: Jamie is a very social ghost and thinks nothing of inviting fellow ghosts (most of which refuse to leave) to his and Nina's old flat to watch television or just hang out. Nina is running out of space! What is a bewildered widow to do?

If you get a chance to see this - absolutely grab it!

3) The Blue Lagoon (1949) with Jean Simmons and Donald Houston

Forget the 1980's version with Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins as hormone-tossed teens. THE BLUE LAGOON you want to see is the black and white original with the almost too beautiful to believe, Jean Simmons and the handsome Donald Houston as Edwardian innocents first ship-wrecked as children. Left to grow up alone on a South Pacific island in the middle of nowhere, as teens they fall in love and hardly knowing how it all comes about, they have a baby and must decide what the future holds for the three of them. Jean Simmons and Donald Houston are so very believable as innocents confronted by the natural pull of biology.

The heart-stopping scene when Emmaline (Jean Simmons) and Michael (Donald Houston) discover that they are not children anymore. Beautifully done. The hushed sultry tone is perfect after the wild desperation of Michael having believed Emmaline stolen by a lecherous yacht captain who'd tricked the girl and left the boy behind on the island.


4) Five Came Back (1939) with Chester Morris, Lucille Ball and Wendy Barrie

When a plane crashes in the wilds of a South or Central American jungle, it doesn't take long before the drums of a tribe of headhunters is heard beating a death knell for those aboard who providentially or not, survived the crash. A terrific cast (except for Chester Morris who I've always regarded as an onscreen whimp, but here he acquits himself sort of admirably as a guy who must make life or death decisions as he and a mechanic try to make the plane flyable again before they're all slaughtered) makes this thriller all the more thrilling as the true nature of each and everyone is revealed under extreme duress.

I think this is my favorite airplane crash movie and has been for many years.

Exceptionally good in the cast is Joseph Calleia as a cold-eyed pragmatist, a murderer bound for prison who at one point is unexpectedly called upon to play God. Also wonderful is C. Aubrey Smith.

This film was remade in 1956 with the title changed to Back From Eternity. It starred Robert Ryan, Rod Steiger and Anita Ekberg among others. Almost as good as the original since except for a few minor things, it keeps the same basic plot. And as the original, it is just as hard to find.


5) Making Mr. Right (1987) with John Malkovich and Ann Magnuson

An eccentric scientist builds a robot who looks just like him to take part in an upcoming space mission. The android 'Ulysses' will be taught human emotions (so he will behave like a human might in outer space I guess) but unfortunately the reclusive scientist who built him, has no emotions to speak of (and is well aware of it). Into the improbable plot comes 'Frankie' a perky P.R. consultant (played by the wonderfully quirky Ann Magnuson) hired by the scientist to educate Ulysses. Makes perfect sense right?

What with one  thing and another, Ulysses the android falls in love with Frankie and she, confused, falls in love with someone - is it the nerdy scientist or his doppelganger?

The ending is a delight, though just a teensy bit bittersweet. John Malkovich is never my idea of a leading man but somehow he always manages to pull it off. I think it might be something the camera does to him.

I also think this might be available in DVD now, but I'm not sure I want to buy it since I haven't seen it in MANY years and it might not live up to my hype. It's a quandry.

Since this is Tuesday, it's time for Todd Mason's meme: Forgotten (or Overlooked) Films, etc. So don't forget to check in at Todd's blog, Sweet Freedom to see what other Forgotten (or Overlooked) Films, Television or other Audio Visuals other bloggers are talking about today. We're an eclectic bunch.

Have A Good Memorial Day, Everyone.

James Montgomery Flagg - source

Friday's Forgotten (or Overlooked) Books: A Vintage Assortment.

Scottish Painter Fyffe Christie - The Artist's Wife Reading, 1953 - source

I don't know why but lately I am definitely in a vintage sort of mood. I pick up newer books and put them down, then pick them up again and for whatever reason I put them down again and move on to vintage. (I know this too shall pass, but for now, I am indulging my whims.)

Lately read:

WHILE THE PATIENT SLEPT (1930) by Mignon G. Eberhart - a Nurse Sarah Keate book.
CLOUDS OF WITNESS (1926) by Dorothy Sayers - A Lord Peter Wimsey book.
MURDER IS SUGGESTED (1959) by Frances and Richard Lockridge - A Mr and Mrs North book.
MURDER BY THE BOOK (1963)by Frances and Richard Lockridge - A Mr and Mrs. North book.
THE FINAL DEDUCTION (1961) by Rex Stout - A Nero Wolfe book.
FEAR COMES TO CHALFONT (1942) by Freeman Wills Croft - an Inspector French book.

While I enjoyed all these books, I'm only reviewing two - briefly - since I am falling behind while working on another couple of posts to debut next week. Work. Work. Work. This was NOT supposed to be work. I know it doesn't seem like so much, but you know, occasionally it feels like it is. Whine. Whine. Cringe.

1) WHILE THE PATIENT SLEPT (1930) by Migon G. Eberhart 

This is the second novel by Mignon G. Eberhart featuring private nurse and aging spinster (with gumption) Sarah Keate and boy does the book revel in the achy breaky creaking style of its long ago time. But despite that, I liked it very much. Why? Because it has the murder in a dark and spooky house routine down pat. Truth is, after awhile you don't even care who committed the murder, you're just enjoying all that malevolently mysterious and oh-so-sinister ambience. It's all over the top sinister and creepy and ominous and forbidding, the stuff that makes life worthwhile. Ha! Not to mention the cast of unpleasant characters which greet Nurse Sarah Keate on her arrival at out in the middle of nowhere Federie House on a dark and spooky night.

Sarah's patient is a wealthy old man who remains abed, asleep, for the entire book (well, at least until the very last couple of pages) - that's kind of creepy in itself because the murder takes place in the same room - hence the title of the book. So the murder occurs in full view of the nurse who's half asleep at the time. Commotion ensues, half-dressed suspects pour into the room, shadows jump, curtains move of their own volition, disbelief, suspicion, fainting, trembling, noises in the night. Not to mention a disappearing elephant. Well, a jade elephant carving which holds the secret to the entire thing, but an elephant nonetheless.

This book has everything: dark visages, dark doings, dark rooms, dark halls, dark stairs, (no ELECTRIC LIGHTS only candles of course because the owner of the house - the patient - doesn't believe in new-fangle). There is also a dark storm raging outside - needless to say - plus dark and dire circumstances within, all accompanied by requisite alarming noises. Hey, even the nurse heroine inserts a ghastly scream here and there. She's not immune to atmosphere. Neither was I. A very creepily enjoyable book. Oh, and the cop's name is Lance O'Leary. What more could you want?

2) CLOUDS OF WITNESS (1926) by Dorothy L. Sayer

This is the second book by Dorothy L. Sayers featuring her wonderfully irreverent detective, Lord Peter Wimsey. While his elder brother the stuff-necked Duke of Denver is being held for the murder of a n'er-do-well engaged to the Wimseys' young sister Polly, Lord Peter must rush to find the clues (even going so far as to fly across the Atlantic) which will exonerate Denver who has, so far, refused to speak in his own defense. The why and the wherefore of this are evident fairly soon to the reader, but it takes Lord Peter a rather longer time than one would think to figure things out. Perhaps if he hadn't been so emotionally involved?

Speaking of emotionally involved, this is the book in which Wimsey's policeman friend Parker displays his obvious feelings for said younger sister Polly. They will marry later on. As Wimsey insists, after Polly's misadventures with, first, a Bolshevik twerp and second, a card sharp who keeps a French mistress, his exalted family would welcome a policeman swain with open arms.

The Duke of Denver being a peer of the realm, cannot be tried in regular criminal court like everybody else. He must be tried by his peers (fellow titled gentlemen) in the House of Lords and to read about that august if arcane and fussy body coming together to try one of their own is one of the main pleasures of this book. The ensuing trial with Lord Peter bursting in at the last moment with the final clue clutched in his hand is a joy to read about.

There is also a harrowing to read, but brilliantly written life or death struggle in a fog-enshrouded bog which almost has Lord Peter and the faithful Bunter breathing their last gasp.

The trial and the bog incident make this a not to be missed Peter Wimsey book. I've since ordered a couple more titles from the library and they're waiting for me even as we speak. I'll be heading on down there tomorrow. I read these all many eons ago, but since I don't remember, it's like reading them again for the first time. You know how that goes.

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Additional notes: 

I fully enjoyed the two Mr. and Mrs. North mysteries, MURDER BY THE BOOK and MURDER IS SUGGESTED (perfect warm weather reading) and will be looking for more since I've exhausted my library's pitifully few copies. These are the sorts of books one can read with half an eye on a sandwich and half an eye on the page. I'm also thinking, one of these days, of watching the episodes from the b/w television series starring Richard Denning and Barbara Britton which I think are available on youtube. Watched them when I was a kid and thought them the height of sophistication. Plus I had a crush on Richard Denning.

THE FINAL DEDUCTION was a Nero Wolfe book I'd forgotten completely about. In fact I really thought I hadn't read it until I began reading it. Not my favorite (the murder motive isn't very compelling) and not the best written of the lot. But still, any Nero Wolfe is better than none. I never regret dropping in on Wolfe and Archie, no matter what.

FEAR COMES TO CHALFONT was part of a three novel omnibus (sandwiched between the perfectly awful CASE OF THE DROWNING DUCK by Earl Stanley Gardner and MURDER IN THE WOODSHED, equally awful, by Anthony Gilbert) and because any Freeman Wills Croft is so hard to find these days, I probably enjoyed it more than I would otherwise. The style is pretty ancient and the plot sort of reminded me of Trent's Last Case which had similar characters and a similar kind of crime. I liked it as a curiosity and also because once upon a time my late ex-husband and I had a great deal of fun reading a bunch of Freeman Wills Croft train mysteries. Wouldn't mind getting my hand on some of those again.

Since it's Friday, don't forget to check in at Patti Abbott's blog, Pattinase, to see what other Forgotten (or Overlooked) Books other bloggers are talking about today. Patti has all the links.

FINALLY AVAILABLE: A NEW LEAF (1971) Starring Walter Matthau and Elaine May

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I'm happy to announce that the best romantic comedy of the 1970's, 80's, 90's and on into the 21st century is FINALLY available on Netflix for home viewing. After waiting and waiting, practically growing a beard waiting,  Walter Matthau and Elaine May are now only as far away as your nearest mail box.

THE HEAVENS REJOICE!

(Unless you already own the film which in that case places you in the league of rare and most fortunate of earth creatures.

Look at that body language. Elaine May and Walter Matthau - source

A NEW LEAF, in my un-biased opinion, is a romantic comedy for the ages. Hyperbole? I think not. If this film doesn't make you laugh, then ladies and gents, woe to you.

Yes, I know I've raved about this movie plenty of times before. But when has that ever stopped me from returning to rave some more? 

At some point I got tired of people saying "Huh? I never heard of this movie." HEY - your loss. Not my fault. I told you about the genius of Elaine May. Well, maybe not in exactly those words, but close enough. After all she wrote, directed and stars in A NEW LEAF so we can only assume the film reflects her unique magnificence.

Read Roger Ebert's review if you don't believe me: Roger Ebert reviews A NEW LEAF.

And if you're still not convinced, read: Ferdy on Film's Review which informs us that the film is now available in 'gorgeous blu-ray'. I mean, really, can it get any better?

Now read my previous review if you still don't believe (Jeez are you hard to convince!): My review of A NEW LEAF.

Now is the time to act, movie mavens! Get your hands on A NEW LEAF and not only be prepared to laugh but also to be unexpectedly touched. See how the most obnoxious, reprehensible gold digging ex-rich boy, Henry Graham (Walter Matthau), is brought to heel by his purely unexpected affection for Henrietta Lowell (Elaine May) the most fumblingly hapless, klutzy millionaire professor of botany who has ever lived. (But maybe not for long if Henry decides to carry through with his murder plans. The cad.)

How I envy those of you seeing this for the first time.....Sigh!

Since this is Tuesday, don't forget to check in at Todd Mason's blog, Sweet Freedom, to see what other Forgotten (or Overlooked) Films, Television and/or Other Audio Visuals, other bloggers are talking about today. We're a happy enough crew.

Sunday Salon: British Contemporary Painter Simon Palmer

Simon Palmer - The Next Door Neighbor - source

Simon Palmer - Longstone Peak - source

Simon Palmer - The Composers - source

Simon Palmer - Following the Visiting Preacher - source

Simon Palmer - Low Rookwith - source

Simon Palmer - Two Images of Himself in the Future - source

Simon Palmer - Cycling Home - source

Simon Palmer - The Signalman and the Guard - source

To see a slide presentation of more of Simon Palmer's work, please use this link.

Simon Palmer (1956 - ) is a British painter whose work I've only recently discovered. The artist lives and works in northern England, his work primarily focused on the subdued but strangely moving beauty of the Yorkshire Dales.

The artist's love of the Dales is on display in every square inch of his enigmatic watercolor paintings. The earth toned colors are symbolic, I suppose, not only of the overall light and shadow in and around his home in Ellingstring, Wensleydale, but of the earthiness of the tough and resilient people of Yorkshire.

I am taken by Palmer's imagination, the eccentric take he has on life among the hedgerows, fields, stone houses, trees and rolling hills. Slightly sinister, but beautiful and never off-putting.

The book published in 2012 source 

Tuesday's Forgotten (or Overlooked) Film: IN AND OUT (1997) starring Kevin Kline

Not exactly a forgotten classic but that's okay, I don't, necessarily specialize in 'classics'. IN AND OUT is simply a wonderfully funny 1997 film with, I suppose, a socially political bent, directed by Frank Oz and written by Paul Rudnick and starring Kevin Kline, Tom Selleck, Joan Cusack, Matt Dillon, Bob Newhart and Debby Reynolds.

I can't even imagine this movie without Kevin Kline whose deadpan expression is equal to none. Kevin Kline who always seems to be the most intelligent man in the room even when he's playing hapless and clueless. Kevin Kline who manages to make his leading men interesting even when they're not. Kevin Kline who always manages to make 'wistful' look intriguing. That Kevin Kline.

Obviously, I like the man. (Even if he couldn't save the God-awful DE-LOVELY.)

And please someone tell me why Joan Cusack is not a MAJOR star?!! She is simply sensational. (She was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in this role but lost out to Kim Basinger (?!)

Okay, here's what IN AND OUT is all about:

We meet Howard Brackett (Kevin Kline), a high school teacher on the eve of his marriage to his long suffering fiancee and fellow teacher Emily Montgomery (the extraordinary Joan Cusack). Emily has self-esteem issues and has recently lost 75 pounds to fit into her wedding dress.

Howard is just a nice guy living what is an apparently idyllic existence in the small town of Greenleaf, Indiana. He is well-liked by one and all and is the most popular teacher in school until one Oscar night when in a very clumsy way he is 'outed' on national television (with the whole town watching) by actor Cameron Drake (Matt Dillon). In his effusive thanks to his former teacher, as he accepts his Best Actor award, Drake reveals what he assumes must be common knowledge back home in Greenleaf.

All hell breaks loose. It's not only that no one in town, in school, among his friends and pupils know that Howard is gay, it's that Howard didn't know. Even if he does wear a snappy bow tie, all along he has simply assumed that everyone has natural rhythm, loves Barbara Streisand, listens to scores from Broadway shows, and enjoys poetry and dancing. These are all supposed clues to his probable homosexuality, meant to simplify the concept for one and all but done in a very humorous and even innocent way and thanks to Kevin Kline's amusing bewilderment, there doesn't seem to be anything which could be termed objectionable by anyone gay or straight. (At least I don't think so.) He really is clueless so obvious clues must be dropped in his (and our) path.

The national press descends on Greenleaf on the day of Howard's wedding, sensing a Big Story. There's must be a Big Story if it involves a Big Movie Star and Cameron Drake is known to be on his way back home with his requisite, achingly thin model girlfriend (Shalom Harlow) by his side. (He keeps telling her to eat something.) Drake realizes he's fumbled, made life difficult for a man who he was really only trying to honor and he's determined to set things right.

In the meantime, a confused Walter is assessing his entire life and in one hilarious scene resorts to a self-help book and tape guaranteed to make him more manly by teaching him to ignore his 'natural rhythm'. Manly men don't dance. Kevin Kline is brilliant. (As is the voice on the tape.)

Tom Selleck (in one of his best and most comfortable roles) shows up as television newsman Peter Malloy who we learn has his own not-so-secret secret. Tom Selleck is an acquired taste that I never really acquired. Yes, he's incredibly good looking, but hey, so are many other Hollywood actors. Yes, he's talented - to a point. But for me, he just never had that 'Major Hollywood Actor' thing written all over him. I'm also not crazy about his holier-than-thou politics.

But it was interesting to see him play a secondary role (the Second Lead!) which includes sharing a highly improbable but super sexy kiss with the leading man. Selleck is simply wonderful - to my surprise. Not to mention that there is some real chemistry between both men.

I also love the very funny scene when a declaration at a local bar sends a crazed Emily Montgomery, left at the altar and still in her wedding dress, running out into the night looking for justice. I also love the sweet way in which this scene is resolved when Cameron Drake admits his high school crush on Emily (once upon a time, his teacher) never went away. He never even minded her weight issues. (Yeah, right. But let's make-believe.) And the last we see of them, both are sitting on the hood of a car eating ice cream. (At least that's how I remember it.) So Emily gets her own happy ending which, considering all she's been put through, is more than justified.

My only quibble with the entire movie is the 'preachy' ending in the high school auditorium which should have worked much better, but somehow doesn't. Maybe it's that it isn't handled especially well. Maybe it should have been subtler? At any rate, it doesn't spoil the film at all, just makes you wish it had been fine-tuned a bit.

The rest of the cast includes Bob Newhart (in a thankless role) as the high school principal and Debby Reynolds and Wilford Brimley as Howard's parents whose disbelief in the face of the incomprehensible is fun to watch. These two old pros know how to make the most of small scenes.

All in all, a terrific movie tackling a difficult subject with charm and even a bit of artlessness. It is meant to please and amuse and it does.

Since today is Tuesday, don't forget to check in at Todd Mason's blog, Sweet Freedom, at some point, to see what other Forgotten or Overlooked Films, Television or Audio-Visuals, other bloggers are talking about today.