TV Bites: My Man Godfrey

THE SNACK:
William Powell's Vatrouskis (Vatrushki)


A version of this post appears at the Criterion Collection website

The first thing I want to mention is that this post marks the 2nd Anniversary of this adventure. I've been writing and teaching classes now two years as Chef du Cinema. Unbelievable. All I can say is that I've been really enjoying myself doing this and I hope you have enjoyed at least some of it and, hopefully, you've discovered some new movies, and have made some good food from the recipes you've found here. So thanks for dropping by. (Feel free to drop me a line and tell me about it.)

Let's get to it, then.... Why, you ask, have I paired this film and His Girl Friday back to back? Well, they are both screwball comedies and both have three words in the title.

Okay, that's weak.

Let's try this instead.... This film never grows old for me. I fall in love with it again every time I see it. It's everything I love about movies. And like His Girl Friday, I would definitely say the two of them are on my top 10 list of favorite movies and have been for decades. Unequivocally.

But, as always, there are other connections. Morrie Ryskind, who wrote the script for My Man Godfrey, was brought in to polish His Girl Friday. And there's more.... See, Howard Hawks really wanted to give the role of Hildy Johnson in His Girl Friday to his second cousin but she turned him down. Yup. his second cousin (again, as mentioned in the previous post) - was Carole Lombard.

TV Bites: The Hit

THE SNACK:
Terence Stamp's Scotch Pancakes w/Bramble Jelly


A version of this post appears at the Criterion Collection website

This is the fourth movie I've featured that was released in 1984, which like previous multi-film posts, I have no idea why this year is rearing its head so often. And it's my second Criterion post of films from 1984. The four are: Broadway Danny Rose, Paris, Texas, Blood Simple, and now The Hit. I'll leave this to my biographers to work out someday.

I have enjoyed this movie so much over the years. It not only grows, but continues to blossom, with every viewing. It's all so very Zen.

Since I first saw The Hit, I have been convinced that it was a third version of Ernest Hemingway's The Killers. (The first two versions - are availabe in a lovely box set by Criterion, hint hint.) In the first version (starring Burt Lancaster), the killers are in and out, and the story of why the man died without a fight is left to an investigator. In the second (starring Lee Marvin, John Cassavetes & Ronald Reagan), the killers go on an adventure to figure out why the man they just shot didn't put up a fight. This would be the third, in which the killers explore the subject with the victim before they kill him. In researching the film for this post, I found several other folks who feel the same way. (One fellow noted: "If Jean-Paul Sartre had adapted Hemingway’s The Killers, [such a movie] might play like this."

Now, about a decade ago, a dear friend of mine in London happened to mention to me he was going to interview Stephen Frears the following day. I begged him to ask Frears the one question I'd always wanted answered - was The Hit inspired by The Killers? The next day, I got my answer. Frears told my friend "Absolutely not." But, I still don't believe it and you won't convince me otherwise. But even if it wasn't conscious, even if Frears and Prince were unaware of, nor seen either version of the The Killers, it is still in my mind a further exploration of that story.

TV Bites: Citizen Kane

THE SNACK:
Hearst Castle Rich Biscuits w/Pear Honey



This is the third movie I've written about released in 1941. The first being The Lady Eve, then The Maltese Falcon, and now Citizen Kane. What an amazing year for movies, no?

And this is part one of my breakfast double bill. Not because you should watch these films in the morning, but that I've paired them both with two breakfast dishes. Though, feel free to snack on them at any time of day.

When I was at vocational film school (what we used to call it - not much on theory, but a lot of practicality), my film history teacher used to do "Citizen Kane Day." What that entailed was coming in at 10am watching the film from beginning to end. Take a lunch break. Watch the film again as she paused during each sequence, pointing out and discussing details, then take a dinner break, come back and watch the whole thing again with no pauses. A very memorable and educating experience it was.

So, let's just dive into it. I'm not trying to be lazy or anything here, but as has been remarked by many - there is probably no other film which has had so much written about it, analyzed, dissected, deconstructed, poured through, and poured over, no more so than Citizen Kane. You want analysis? Here you go.... pages and pages of it!

Maybe you want to hear from experts? Martin Scorsese? Steven Spielberg? Peter Bogdanovich? Francois Truffaut? How about Eric von Stroheim ranting?

Maybe you want to hear from some big time film critics? Pauline Kael? Andrew Sarris's rebuttal to Pauline Kael? Would you prefer Roger Ebert? AO Scott? How about Bowsley Crowther's original 1941 NY Times review?

Is that not enough? How about ex-presidential candidate Donald Trump (interviewed by Errol Morris!) speaking about the film?

TV Bites: Q: The Winged Serpent

THE SNACK:
Papatzules w/Chiltomate Sauce (Warmed Tortillas Stuffed w/Hard-Boiled Egg, Pumpkin Sauce & Tomato Sauce)



Why in the world am I celebrating the New Year (from Rome, mind you!) with Larry Cohen's Q: The Winged Serpent? What synergy could there possibly be? Or is there no rhyme nor reason?

Well, here goes. Q, of course, is short for Quetzalcoatl, who was a god of the Meso-American cultures, including both the Aztecs and Mayans. And you know what this new year of 2012 brings with it? You got it! The end of the world as we know it. (At least according to the Mayan calendar - see Background & Context section). Okay, sure it's got the History Channel folks all atwitter, and marketing "geniuses" all ablaze, but I wouldn't sell all your belongings and give away your pets just yet. Besides, I've got Jello Brand Pudding in my refrigerator that doesn't expire until 2013, and you know "Godfather" Bill Cosby would never lie to us.

As for me being in Rome? No reason. Just a whim. But strange as it may seem - especially for someone like myself who doesn't believe in the mystical - today I was at the Vatican (no, the Pope didn't have me over for tea) and after braving the human traffic to see the Sistine Chapel, just before you exit the Vatican museums, there on the right is a small ethnological wing. And what ethnological image is the featured display this month, you ask? Well, I couldn't believe it myself. Yup. A statue of Quetzacoatl himself in all his winged glory. Right there in the Vatican! If I was the Pope, I know I'd be sleeping tonight with one eye open.

TV Bites: Get Shorty

THE SNACK:
Jalapeño Jack Cheese Omelette w/"Slightly-Browned" Shallots



Well I made it through the upper respiratory infection and watched a really great documentary on Robert & Richard Sherman that's streamable on Netflix. It's making me think about wanting to do Mary Poppins here.

Meanwhile, since I figured I already referenced Get Shorty in the recent post on Rio Bravo (and to tie it all together, Elmore Leonard wrote the script for High Noon II!), why not just do it as the next TV Bites. So here we are.

TV Bites: Wait Until Dark

THE SNACK:
Audrey Hepburn's Raisin Bran Muffins



So, I bet you all thought I was going feature Roman Holiday for my Hepburn Month. You know Hepburn-Hepburn, Holiday-Roman Holiday, obvious-obvious. But really to be quite honest, I can’t stand Roman Holiday. Just don’t get Gregory Peck at all. But the real genesis for planning this double Hepburn bill was that I was looking at TCM’s schedule for late September and when I saw it listed, I immediately thought, “Gee, I haven’t seen Wait Until Dark in years." I then proceeded to search around to see if Audrey Hepburn had any recipes of her own and, lo and behold, I found a mess of them.