Lessons From a New Book About Old Vinyl

The up-front part: I have been an acquaintance of author Christopher Long for many years. We met somehow when he published the original version of his book "A Shot of Poison." We bonded over our connections to the band, and since then, I have read early drafts of several of his books and provided feedback and corrections when necessary. He gifted me his new book Garage Sale Vinyl. I made no promises for a review or for this blog post. But, as always, I keep it honest. These are my thoughts and feelings about this book. Some of my opinions may hurt his soul, but as he points out in this book, music, and taste in music is individual. With that said, let's get this review blog post in gear.....

My collection of books by Christopher Long. I
have a digital copy of his books
Shout it Out Loud and Superstar.

Whenever I am asked about my favorite music, I tell the inquirer that my musical taste is as eclectic as their weird uncle Frank. I range from Jim Croce to Metallica, from Ronnie Millsap to Pantera, and most recently, New Kids on the Block (that song Remix is slappin'!!) to the White Stripes. You can't pin me down. But I think I have met my match. 

Christopher Long, in his new book, Garage Sale Vinyl, shares personal stories and opinions relating to 50 of his favorite records of all time. They are not in order from least favorite to favorite, or vice-versa, nor are they published in the order of release date. Long presents them in alphabetical order by artist and tells many good stories. His musical taste may range even deeper and wider than mine. Toward the end of the book, Long writes, "I simply hear music as my personal iGadget shuffles randomly from Carly Simon and Motorhead to Loretta Lynn and Buddy Guy to King Crimson and Debbie Gibson." (260) Of that list, he only reviews an album by one of those artists in this book.

If I were to read this book again, I would go much slower. Instead of digesting chapter after chapter, I would read one chapter and then listen to the album before I read the next chapter. Instead, I finished the book and started listening to the albums about 3 days before I finished reading. So far, I am on the 14th album (John Denver's Poems, Prayers and Promises. And in those 14 albums so far, I have only skipped one album after listening to the first 3 tracks (not my cup of coffee), and one song that got long and boring half way through its 11-minute run time. The rest of them, I have either known and loved (Aerosmith and Cinderella), or listened to for the first time because of this book. Some artists (specifically Janis Ian), I had never heard of. Some albums (Alice Cooper's Killer) made me completely stop whatever I was doing at the time and pay close attention to a lyric, a drum beat, or a bass line. It was also the first time I actually listened to an entire Beatles album. With 37 albums left to listen to, I'm excited to see what other gems Long is about to treat me to. I'll probably keep the book with me as a quick reference as I work through the rest of the list.

My collection of 33 rpm LPs.

Another unexpected cause and effect situation that came about because of this book (and the blog by the same name from which this book was spawned) is that I have modestly increased the size of my record collection. I used to collect CDs. Before that, I had cassettes. Before that, I had a sizeable record collection that stayed at my parents. Most of that record collection consisted of children's records from Sesame Street, the Electric Company, Halloween sound effects, and Little Golden Books. I took possession of that collection when my parents moved about 3 years ago. Some of their collection (like Seals and Crofts and my favorite, Jim Croce's Life and Times, complete with news stories about the plane crash that took his life taped to the inside of the gatefold) disappeared. I would have loved to have gotten that Croce album just because of the memories and having my hands on those stories that I read a hundred times as a child.

My garage sale vinyl

Sometime in the last 25 years, I began collecting other albums, like 3 copies of Poison's Open Up and Say ... Ahh, and many of their singles on both 33 and 45 formats. But after Long started his Garage Sale Vinyl blog, I started paying more attention to the used records at my favorite coffee shop. On two different occasions, as I walked in the back door and worked my way to the front to get may favorite beverage (called a Pooh Bear, with cinnamon, honey and two shots of espresso), I saw two albums on the racks that I absolutely had to snatch up. The first was a copy of Debbie Gibson's Electric Youth in excellent, which was just fun. The second was Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers Greatest Hits. I'm usually not a fan of greatest hits albums because if I'm a fan of the band, I already have the songs on other records. But I bought this one because my parents had it and I knew all the words from beginning to end on both sides. I had to have it. 

Through the years, I have also picked up a couple of Jim Croce records (including a copy of Life and Times), and a second mint condition copy of John Denver and the Muppets A Christmas Together.

This weekend, I had some time to kill, so I stopped into the newest vinyl shop in my area that opened about two months ago. There I discovered that Long's tip that he shares in his book is true: the bottom bins are the dollar bins. There, I discovered a copy of Frampton Comes Alive (which Long writes about), and a copy of a record I never knew existed. When I found it, I let out an audible gasp. I was so thrilled.

Me with my newly-acquired LP of 
Surfin' USA, along with my original
(vintage) cassette from 1982

As a child of about 8 in 1982, my parents got me an album called Surfin' USA on cassette. This album consisted of poppy, happy surfer tunes, mostly from the likes of the Beach Boys and Jan and Dean, with the instrumentals Wipeout and Pipeline thrown in for good measure. I still have the cassette, but I had forgotten about it, as it was buried away with my other memories of childhood. A couple of weeks ago, someone posted on Facebook asking what the first rap song was that I ever heard. It reminded me of a long-destroyed cassette I had in the early 1980s that was called Electric Breakdance. It was a compilation album, and it was a lot of fun. I remembered enough that I was able to search the Google machine and find a track list. I recreated the album as a Spotify playlist. That got me thinking about the Surfin USA cassette, so I found it, built another playlist with all of the songs, and have listened to it several times in the last two weeks. So when I found it in record format in the first bottom bin I searched (for $1 no less), I had to have it. I brought it home yesterday, got out my cheap briefcase record player, and introduced my 15-year-old son (who has his own wildly ranging taste in music) to the world of records. 

At the end of the day, I have discovered that we don't know what we don't know until someone tells us about it. I am ever grateful to Christopher Long for introducing me to a whole body of work by Alice Cooper that is amazing. Before this book, I only knew his albums Trash and Hey Stoopid. The only other Alice I knew were the overplayed classic rockers that you can hear on any rock radio station. I'm here for the deep cuts. I am grateful to Christopher Long for doing that for me, and I have discovered that I need to do that for my kids, as well.

It Happened One Christmas Revisited

For years I have bashed the film It Happened One Christmas. And by bashed, I mean BASHED.  And for the most part, I stand by my position.

* It's a Wonderful Life should never be remade. Ever.

* If a director or a writer wants to make a film and make the female the hero of the film, I'm absolutely fine with that. Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, and Hidden Figures are just three examples of films that focus on the female hero. Why remake an old film when you can create a whole new story in which the female is the hero? It's ridiculous to recast something old to make something new.

THAT BEING SAID......

I have bashed this movie in the past after only one viewing (https://risefallriseagain.blogspot.com/search?q=It+Happened+One+Christmas). After a second and third viewing, I have to admit I don't hate it as much as I have in the past.

I watched it again in January, 2020, and I have to admit that I find *some* value in it. While it replicates the dialogue of the original film, and simply tries to make women equal to men through role reversal, I still find some value.

Let me clarify right here and now that my issue is not gender equality. My wife is a badass. I'm 46. My wife is 43. We had a baby a week before Christmas. My wife and my daughter can do whatever they want. We just elected our first female woman of color as Vice President. I learned a long time ago to trust a mother's instinct and not question it, which was why we were in the hospital on New Year's Day 2020 through Jan 3, 2020 for the baby, even though I thought the doctor would just tell us that it was a virus and needed to work itself out. It wasn't. The wife was right.

The town of Seneca Falls, NY is the inspiration for Bedford Falls. It is also home to the National Women's Hall of Fame. I have visited this town, and I must say that for me it is inspirational on several fronts. I'm a very liberal Democrat. I don't hide it. I'm proud of it. Empowered women make me happy. That's why I married one....a very vocal one.

It Happened One Christmas is a decent remake. It isn't great, but it isn't as crappy as the movie Clarence (1990) https://risefallriseagain.blogspot.com/2015/09/movie-review-clarence.html

Here are my issues with IHOC:

• Remakes suck. Period. If you want to make a film about a female hero, WRITE ONE. That is perfectly legitimate and adds to the creativity of film.
• Mary Bailey WAS the hero of It's a Wonderful Life. Why are we making her the victim in the remake?? Mary Bailey was a strong Psalms 31 wife who kept the family together in its toughest moments. Why are we changing this narrative and taking the power away from her???

Mary Bailey is an amazing, powerful woman as portrayed by Donna Reed. Why are we challenging this? From one perspective, I can understand it: Seneca Falls is the site of the first women's rights convention and the birthplace of the women's suffrage movement. So from that point of view, I give It Happened One Christmas credit. It has the balls to stand up where other movies don't dare to speak their names. And for that, I give it HUGE kudos for making Mary Baily the focus of the film instead of a secondary character.

It Happened One Christmas is available for streaming on Amazon Prime.

Movie Review - Mr. Deeds

In my movie reviews, I give my brief thoughts on what I watched. Sometimes I will expound on those thoughts, but more often than not, I will just give a brief opinion. You can read plot descriptions on Internet Movie Database or on Amazon.

Mr. Deeds, starring Adam Sandler and Winona Ryder (2002)

This Adam Sandler comedy, starring the same familiar faces as you see in almost all of his other movies, is a remake of the Frank Capra classic Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur. 

Here is a scene from each so you can compare them:

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town:

Mr. Deeds:

The feel of the film is the same as the original. Babe Bennett still exists, and she is still up to her same lies. Many lines and scenes carry over. However, Mr. Deeds is full of the usual Adam Sandler jokes and off-color humor.

An interesting thing happens at the end of this film. There is a bridge in the background of one scene, that reminds the viewer of It's a Wonderful Life. A short time later, there is an ice rescue, similar to George Bailey saving his brother Harry. Deeds is even riding a bicycle like a child when this scene takes place.

It's worth watching for the purpose of comparison, but it's still not the original.

3 stars out of 5.

Book Review - It's a Wonderful Life: A Memory Book

In my book reviews, I give my brief thoughts on what I read. Sometimes I will expound on those thoughts, but more often than not, I will just give a brief opinion. I could go into detail about what the book is about, but a lot of people have already done that. You can read their descriptions of the book, plus the official description on Amazon.

 It's a Wonderful Life: A Memory Book, by Stephen Cox. 2005.

This book is fantastic. It includes rarely-seen photos, still photos and bits of script from scenes that were cut for the film, and interviews with all of the Bailey children. There are interviews with descriptions of several of the other actors, as well.

This book is worth the investment, effort and look. It's a fast read, but it's full of new information....at least it was new in 2005.

4.5 stars out of 5.

Movie Review - Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation

In my movie reviews, I give my brief thoughts on what I watched. Sometimes I will expound on those thoughts, but more often than not, I will just give a brief opinion. You can read plot descriptions on Internet Movie Database or on Amazon.

Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation, Starring Jimmy Stewart, Maureen O'Hara, Fabian, Laurie Peters. 1962.

If It's a Wonderful Life has a sequel, then that sequel is Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation.

Source: http://goo.gl/Iy8HcE

During his career, Stewart played the main characters in three “Mr.” films. The first was Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), and the second was Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962), which is about the changing family dynamic as children grow up. In the third, Mr. Krueger’s Christmas (1988), Stewart plays a lonely janitor who finds the true meaning of Christmas.

Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation is full of references to It’s a Wonderful Life. There are so many of these references, that the film is almost an homage to the classic, or a sequel that looks at the question, “what happened next to the Bailey family?” While the film concerns the Hobbs family, and not the Baileys, the connections are still there.

Mr. Hobbs and George Bailey both have daughters named Janie. Another daughter is named Suzie. While not an exact match, the similarity to the name Zuzu is close enough to make one pause to consider the connection.

Source: http://goo.gl/vL0mHJ

The Hobbs family vacations together at a beach house during a trip that Mrs. Hobbs (Maureen O’Hara) calls the “chance of a lifetime,” echoing Sam Wainwright’s claim about the job he offers George in It’s a Wonderful Life. However, they find that the beach house is not as nice as they expected it to be. In fact, the Hobbs family finds a house that is dirty, run-down, and appears to be haunted, reminiscent of the Granville House after the graduation dance at the high school.

The house even has a mansard roof and a troublesome newel post, which served in It’s a Wonderful Life as both a tool to break the tension of several scenes, and as a symbol of George Bailey’s growing frustration. In Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation, the newel post is a light-hearted tribute to the older film. The joke is extended when Mr. Hobbs attempts to climb the stairs and one of the steps breaks.

In It’s a Wonderful Life, just before Sam Wainwright offers George the job, Sam tells him of an idea for a factory that he wants to build in Rochester, New York. In Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation, Mr. Hobbs tells his down-on-his-luck, unemployed son-in-law to look for a job in Rochester.

During a social event at a yacht club, Mr. and Mrs. Hobbs become concerned about their youngest daughter Katey (Lauri Peters). Mr. Hobbs becomes so concerned that his wife becomes worried about him. He tells her, “Don’t worry. I’m not gonna’ jump.” This is a reference George Bailey’s perceived solution to his funding shortage problem in It’s a Wonderful Life.

Source: http://goo.gl/U9TWgh

Mr. Hobbs remedies his daughter’s problems by hiring a dance partner for her. It is a move that causes his wife to berate him for “giving $5 to some guy you don’t know from Adam.” The statement echoes Nick, the bartender at Martini’s bar during the Pottersville sequence, who says he doesn’t know George “from Adam’s off ox.”

Mr. Hobbs goes bird watching with a visitor to the summer home. Every time he sees a bird, he asks what kind it is, only to learn that it is always the same species. Every time he sees the bird, thinking it is a new species, he comments, “well, what do you know about that,” which is one of George Bailey’s favorite phrases.

Mr. Hobbs is more cynical than George Bailey, but the children are older. He looks through travel brochures for the Caribbean, France, Britain, and Hawaii. This reminds one of the travel brochures George Bailey carries with him.

In a connection that hits closer to real life, Mr. Hobbs refers to being buried in Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery. In real life, Stewart is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in Los Angeles, CA. There is a real Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica, CA.

4 out of 5 stars.

Movie Review - The Greatest Show on Earth

In my movie reviews, I give my brief thoughts on what I watched. Sometimes I will expound on those thoughts, but more often than not, I will just give a brief opinion. You can read plot descriptions on Internet Movie Database or on Amazon.

The Greatest Show on Earth, starring Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, Charlton Heston, Jimmy Stewart, and Gloria Graham. 1952.

This film is about masks. Masks and hiding. Masks and hiding and trust. Masks and hiding and trust and coming to your own conclusions. Not necessarily in that order.

In the film, Jimmy Stewart plays a man on the run. He always stays in character and he always stays in face paint. The movie really is not about Stewart's character. Instead, it is about the cooperation and family relationships that are built in the circus. Stewart is the illustration of this cooperation and dedication.

As an added bonus, Gloria Graham is in it.

4 out of 5 stars.

Movie Review - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

In my movie reviews, I give my brief thoughts on what I watched. Sometimes I will expound on those thoughts, but more often than not, I will just give a brief opinion. You can read plot descriptions on Internet Movie Database or on Amazon.

Jefferson Smith is the head of the Boy Rangers, a thinly-veiled revision of Cub Scouts.

This is a classic "little guy" film.

Stewart's performance is tops. It's a very emotional experience to watch him fall apart during the culmination of the film.

And of course, Beulah Bondi plays his mother. Again. And they sing "Auld Lang Syne". Again. And the same actors appear. Again, including Thomas Mitchell. And H.B. Warner. And Bondi. And those are only actors from It's a Wonderful Life. That doesn't take into consideration actors from other Capra and Capra/Stewart films.

Watch the trailer here:

This film is amazing, and my second-favorite Stewart film. And my second-favorite Capra film, too.

5 out of 5 stars.

Movie Review - You Can't Take it With You

Frank Capra and James Stewart worked together on three film projects: You Can’t Take it With You (1938); Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939); and It’s a Wonderful Life (1947).

In You Can’t Take it With You, which was Capra’s and Stewart’s first film in the “trilogy,” Capra began examining the idea of the happiness money brings — or fails to bring — to an individual, and by extension, to his family. The main struggle in the film is between the happy-go-lucky Vanderhof family and the Kirby clan. The Kirbys want to purchase and raze the Vanderhof home, along with other surrounding homes, in order to build build a munitions factory.

Early in the film, one of the main characters, Grandpa Vanderhof, portrayed by Lionel Barrymore, talks about “Ism-mania.” Here, we begin to see Capra’s feelings toward America, its government, and its people through Grandpa Vanderhof: “Communism, Fascism, voodooism. Everybody’s got an ‘ism’ these days. When things go a little bad nowadays, you go out and get yourself an ism and you’re in business.”

His daughter, Penny, wonders aloud if the character in the book she is writing should have an “ism.” Grandpa Vanderhof responds to her idea: “Give her Americanism. Let her know something about Americans: John Paul Jones, Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, Washington, Jefferson, Monroe, Lincoln, Grant, Lee, Edison, Mark Twain. When things got tough for those boys, they didn’t run around looking for ‘isms.’ Lincoln said, ‘with malice toward none and charity to all.’ Nowadays, they say ‘think the way I do or we’ll bomb the daylights out of you.’”

Listen to the exchange here:

Already in You Can’t Take it With You, we see not only Capra’s strong American sentiment, but also a strong aversion to aggression by the strong against the weak. Capra also establishes his overarching “umbrella” theme for all three films (You Can't Take it With You, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and It's a Wonderful Life)  by quoting Lincoln. Boiled down, this theme is Biblical in nature: “love thy neighbor.”

Another repeating Capra/Stewart theme we see for the first time in You Can’t Take it With You is the value of friendship. The Vanderhof family has many friends throughout the community. They are disarming and charming, and we are able to see that through Mr. DiPinna (Halliwell Hobbes) and Mr. Poppins (Donald Meek), who are brought into the family first as visitors intrigued with the Vanderhof family’s philosophy for life. These characters never leave, but instead become part of the extended Vanderhof/Sycamore family.

Source: http://goo.gl/IEFvGU

This idea of following dreams is combined with the idea of capitalism within You Can’t Take it With You. Grandpa Vanderhof at one time had a good-paying job, but quit because he was not having fun doing it. Instead, he decided to spend his time collecting stamps and attending graduation ceremonies. He made his living as a stamp appraiser and taught his family to follow their dreams — to do what they enjoy doing — regardless of whether or not it is profitable. This echoes what George told Mary during the phone scene in It’s a Wonderful Life, when he said, “I want to do what I want to do.”

Money is not important to the Vanderhof/Sycamore family. Instead, they focus on family, community and the freedom of self-expression. Grandpa Vanderhof does not even care about birthdays and does not believe in paying taxes. Instead, he lives in the moment, filling his time with whatever activity happens to interest him at that exact moment.

We also are able to see the importance of friends on several occasions throughout the course of the film. During his trips to town, Grandpa Vanderhof is stopped on the street many times by a person or a group of people who want to talk to him. Often, they are looking for advice, or hoping he will provide a calming word when they are worried. Like many of the residents of Bedford Falls in It’s a Wonderful Life, Grandpa Vanderhof’s neighbors are renters who are subjected to the whims and decisions of their landlords. Grandpa Vanderhof and George Bailey serve the same role in their respective films: The residents in their town turn to them for guidance and help when their lifestyle is threatened. The irony is that Barrymore played both the calming Grandpa Vanderhof and the Scrooge-like Mr. Potter, who was harming the renters of Bedford Falls.

The importance of friends is further illustrate after the granddaughter, Alice Sycamore, leaves home, humiliated after a failed courtship with carefree mogul/heir-apparent Tony Kirby (James Stewart). The family decides to move closer to her, and enlists the aid of their friends, who help them pack their lives, memories and belongings. 

In another scene, the Vanderhof family has to go to court, where they face several charges, including manufacturing fireworks. Their friends fill the courthouse in order to show their support. “I didn’t know anybody had that many friends anymore,” a judge says to a crowded courtroom. Later in this scene, those friends pool their money to pay the Vanderhof family’s fine. It is a variation of the final scene in It’s a Wonderful Life.

Friendship and self-expression are key themes in You Can’t Take it With You. They are two of the tools Grandpa Vanderhof uses to rally against the monopolistic capitalism of Anthony P. Kirby (Edward Arnold). While in jail facing the fireworks charge, the Vanderhof men and the rest of the inmates show that they can make the best of bad circumstances as they sing and dance in the jail cell. Mr. Kirby, on the other hand, sits alone and sulks.

At one point during their jail stay, Grandpa Vanderhof tries to convince the senior Kirby to enjoy life instead of concentrating on making money: “You can’t take it with you, Mr. Kirby. So what good is it? As near as I can see, the only thing you can take with you is the love of your friends.”

When the elder Kirby begins berating the criminals in the cell, Grandpa Vanderhof makes a surprisingly vehement speech that is out of character for him, considering his outlook toward life. The speech, in fact, is almost a re-write of what the ghost of Marley tells Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. However, speech still reflects Grandpa Vanderhof's moral values, illustrating that anger and morality can co-exist:

What makes you think you are such a superior human being?

Your money? If you do, you’re a dull-witted fool, Mr. Kirby, 

and a poor one at that. Poorer than any of these people that 

you call scum because I’ll guarantee at least they’ve got some 

friends, but you with your jungle and your long claws as you 

call them, you’ll wind up your miserable existence without 

anything you can call a friend. You may be a high mogul to 

yourself, Mr. Kirby, but to me you’re a failure. Failure as a 

man. Failure as a human being. Even a failure as a father. 

When your time comes, I doubt if a single tear will be shed 

over you. The world will probably cry, ‘good riddance.’ 

That’s a nice prospect, Mr. Kirby. I hope you’ll enjoy it. I 

hope you’ll get some comfort out of all this coin you’ve 

been sweating over then!”

Mr. Kirby (left) and Grandpa Vanderhof (right, with crutches)
Source: http://goo.gl/toCf5o

This scene contains irony: Stewart’s character, Tony Kirby is in jail as well, listening to this speech, given by an actor to whom Stewart’s character will make a similar speech in It’s a Wonderful Life. Instead of a jungle cat, Stewart’s George Bailey will call Barrymore’s Potter character a “scurvy little spider.”

Yet another theme set in celluloid that we will find repeating in Capra’s and Stewart’s films is the importance of family. When Alice Sycamore (Jean Arthur) moves away from home in shame, her previously happy family becomes gloomy. This is best illustrated by the dejected Grandpa Vanderhof, who used to cheerfully return home from his trips to town. After Alice leaves, his returns home are quiet and low-key. Capra emphasizes the family’s gloom with rainy weather. Even some leftover fireworks no longer provide their formerly cheerful explosions. As we will see in It’s a Wonderful Life, the theme that every person’s life touches so many other lives began its Capra/Stewart connection here.

After Alice leaves, she begins writing letters home. In the one letter that is read on screen, she writes, “Mrs. Kirby was right. I should have stayed in my own back yard.” While used in a different context – that she should have stayed in her middle-class setting instead of falling in love with a man from a higher class – her statement is the exact opposite of George Bailey’s dream to see the world. Although she left her hometown because she was ashamed, she failed to realize that running from her problems will not solve them. Capra must have realized this error, and attempted to fix it in It’s a Wonderful Life. Instead of running from his problems, George Bailey faces them head-on. As a result he is “trapped” in Bedford Falls. However, the trap is of his own making, and he eventually comes to realize that no matter where you are in life, you will always have problems. He also realizes that it is easier to face those problems when you are surrounded by family, and that life is as good as you choose to make it.

Although Alice comes to the wrong conclusion, her dedication to her family still shows in the letters, she writes daily. Previously in You Can’t Take it With You, Capra had explored the idea of angels, when Grandpa Vanderhof tells Alice that he will not sell the family home because he thinks it will be like moving out on Grandma Vanderhof. Angels are revisited in It’s a Wonderful Life.

Because of her letter, Grandpa Vanderhof decides to sell the house and leave the memory of his wife. He has always lived for the moment, and is continuing to do so. What has changed is that part of him had continued to live in the past, for the sake of the memory of his wife. Grandpa Vanderhof comes to understand the message of the speech he gave Anthony Kirby while they were in jail. His memory of his wife is one of the things he can take with him.

He realizes that what is more important is to experience life with his family who is living. It is part of living in the moment. Alice continues to have an effect on him, shown by his unhappiness, and they all continue to have an effect on her, as she tells in her letter. Grandpa Vanderhof decides that if they are going to have that effect on each other, they might as well do it in person. Family is so important that he even accepts a low offer of $25,000 for his house, even though he had previously declined an offer of $100,000.

In the final scene of You Can’t Take it With You, we see the importance of both family and friends. In this scene, Tony Kirby is reunited with his father. Alice has returned home, upset that Grandpa Vanderhof has decided to sell the family home. In true “Capracorn” style, Tony Kirby and Alice make up, and Anthony Kirby accepts her into the Kirby family, as friends dance around them while singing “Polly Wolly Doodle.”

The scene is reminiscent of the gathering of George Bailey’s family and friends at the end of It’s a Wonderful Life, and “Polly Wolly Doodle” has the same effect as “Auld Lang Syne” has in the final scene of It’s a Wonderful Life, bringing all of the characters together as one large, extended family.

Throughout You Can’t Take it With You, a sign that reads “home sweet home” becomes a symbol. At the beginning of the film, the sign is constantly knocked off its hook by a variety of exploding fireworks. One family member or another dutifully hangs the sign back up every time it falls. When the family is packing to move, the sign gets knocked off its hook and Alice’s mother, Penny, begins to sob. The sign comes to symbolize the destruction and displacement of the family and the homestead. However, that family unit is reestablished and the sign is re-hung in its traditional location, never to move again…unless it is knocked down by more fireworks.

As we saw in You Can’t Take it With You, Grandpa Vanderhof's friends show up in court to support him and pay his family's bail. It is a scene we also see in It’s a Wonderful Life when the residents of Bedford Falls band together to raise money to save the Bailey Brothers Building and Loan, and to keep George out of prison.

Book Review: American Vision: The Films of Frank Capra

I'm back. I'm sorry. It wasn't intentional. I have been ill. Perhaps one day, I will blog about my experience. For now, suffice it to say that migraine headaches suck and attempting to hunt down the cause and make them stop leads you to places you never knew you would go. I assure you that my passion for this film and dedication to this blog has not waned. I was just laid up in bed for a week. That's all. Now, two IV's, one spinal tap, a blood patch, and lots of Percocet, headaches and back pain later, I have returned.

In my book reviews, I give my brief thoughts on what I read. Sometimes I will expound on those thoughts, but more often than not, I will just give a brief opinion. I could go into detail about what the book is about, but a lot of people have already done that. You can read their descriptions of the book, plus the official description on Amazon.

Review of American Vision: The Films of Frank Capra by Ray Carney.

I have one confession to make: I didn't read this entire book. I only read about the films that impacted my research. Specifically, I read the portions about American Madness, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Meet John Doe, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, You Can't Take it With You, and It's a Wonderful Life.

The thing about this book is that the research and the insights are fantastic. There are considerations here that I have never thought of before. The problem is that there were several simple errors. For example, Carney:

• Talks about Henry C. Potter (pg. 379). His name is actually Henry F. Potter.
• Repeatedly refers to Violet Bicks (pg. 384 and many others). Her name is Violet Bick.
• Repeatedly refers to one of the characters in American Madness as Dixon. (pg. 117). His name is spelled Dickson.
• Misquotes George Bailey as saying "sounds of trains, anchor chains, and boat whistles" (pg. 422). George's actual quote is "anchor chains, plane motors, train whistles."
• Incorrectly states that after the phone scene, there is a "following scene showing George and Mary leaving the church after their wedding." This is wrong. They may or may not have been married in a church. We have no proof of this. However, they leave the Bailey home, not a church, as they climb into Ernie's taxi. The proof is the picture of Annie the maid hanging below the steps as George and Mary run down them.

These missed facts do not take away from the scholarship and depth that this book goes into. The research and dedication to studying the facts of the films instead of the dreams and metaphors is admirable.

American Vision: The Films of Frank Capra is dense. It's thick and scholarly, and requires patience and a great degree of concentration. That being said, it is also required reading for fans of Capra and his films.

Movie Review - Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

In my movie reviews, I give my brief thoughts on what I watched. Sometimes I will expound on those thoughts, but more often than not, I will just give a brief opinion. You can read plot descriptions on Internet Movie Database or on Amazon.

Watch one of the funniest scenes in Mr. Deeds Goes to town right here:

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), stars Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur. Arthur is a Capra staple, having appeared in several of his film. She was even considered for the role of Mary in It's a Wonderful Life.

In Mr. Deeds, Arthur plays a newspaper reporter. The newspaper was a theme, topic, and tool that occurred repeatedly in Capra’s films, including The Power of the Press (1928), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), It Happened One Night (1934), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Meet John Doe (1941), and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944).

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town  was Capra’s first “Mr.” movie. It was followed in 1939 by Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, starring Jimmy Stewart. Stewart later went on to star other non-Capra "Mr." films, including Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962) and Mr. Krueger’s Christmas (1988).

In Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, the main character, Longfellow Deeds, portrayed by Gary Cooper, lives in Mandrake Falls, invoking the word “Falls” in a town name, which will be repeated in Bedford Falls. The name Longfellow Deeds is similar to “Long” John Willoughby in Meet John Doe, which also starred Cooper in the title role. Deeds is a little eccentric, like the Sycamore family in You Can’t Take it With You. He plays the tuba for entertainment, and to help him think. While not rich, he also has a housekeeper, a character who also appears in You Can’t Take it With You and It’s a Wonderful Life.

As the recipient of a $20 million inheritance, Deeds in unfazed when he receives the news, replying, “I wonder why he left me all that money. I don’t need it.” Deeds is a simple man, though the employees of the law firm of Cedar, Cedar, Cedar and Buddington, along with the people who he meets in the big city, are not. Before he leaves for a new, fancy lifestyle, the residents of Mandrake Falls hold a parade for Deeds. During that parade, the band plays “Auld Lang Syne,” which Capra will reprise for use in the final scene of It’s a Wonderful Life. Despite the fact that the parade is intended to honor him, Deeds grabs his tuba and joins in the performance, showing that he is a common man, no different than the other residents of Mandrake Falls. When the train pulls away, taking Deeds to his new life, he looks out at the throng of people celebrating his good fortune and comments, “Gosh, I’ve got a lot of friends.”

Longfellow Deeds’ foil is Louise “Babe” Bennett (Jean Arthur), a reporter for a newspaper focused more on the bottom line than the truth of the stories it prints. In order to get the story on Deeds, Bennett takes on the persona on Mary Dawson (Capra has many characters named Mary), who befriends Deeds.

Bennett/Dawson takes Deeds on a tour of New York City. Just as Mr. Smith traveled around Washington, D.C. and reflected on the meaning of the sights he saw, Mr. Deeds does the same in New York City after visiting General Grant’s tomb. Deeds reflects on the Civil War, and how it was “the beginning of a new nation like Abraham Lincoln said. And I can see that Ohio boy (Grant) being inaugurated as president. Things like that can only happen in a country like America.”

As Deeds and Bennett get to know each other, they begin to fall in love, even though Bennett continues to use her false identity and writes sensational news stories about Deeds. Eventually, he tries to propose to “Mary,” in a scene that is different from, but carries the same sentiment as the phone scene in It’s a Wonderful Life. Deeds runs away and trips over garbage cans in a scene that will be re-used in It’s a Wonderful Life when Uncle Billy takes a similar trip off-camera.

Another borrowed element that will show up during the bank run in It’s a Wonderful Life occurs when Deeds meets with an opera group. During the meeting, a fire truck passes the building where they are meeting, and Deeds runs to a window to watch it pass. The customers of the Bailey Brothers Building and Loan will do this in It’s a Wonderful Life in a scene filmed eleven years later. Something similar also happened in another Capra film, American Madness.

There are many quotes, phrases and themes that are carried over between Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and Capra’s other films. In Mr. Deeds, the title character asks, “What puzzles me is why people seem to get so much pleasure out of…hurting each other. Why don’t they try liking each other once in awhile?” He later says, “People here are funny. They work so hard at living, they forgot how to live.”

At one point in the film, Mr. Deeds is berated by a poor farmer for feeding donuts to a horse and holding a party while other people are starving. The farmer reminds Mr. Deeds that he can’t take it with him, which is a theme that showed up as a Capra movie title in 1938, and also on a plaque in George Bailey's office in It's a Wonderful Life.

Deeds is taken to court by his attorneys in an attempt to prove his incompetence and take over control of his money. However, the people in the courtroom stand up for Mr. Deeds, which is another element we later see in You Can’t Take it With You, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Meet John Doe, in which groups of people come together to support a downtrodden main character who is at his breaking point.

Capra's creativity seems not to come from his ability to create something new. His creativity is his ability to take multiple themes, phrases, concepts, feelings, and make an entire list of films that look at those ideas from different angles.

         

Movie Review - Meet John Doe

In my movie reviews, I give my brief thoughts on what I watched. Sometimes I will expound on those thoughts, but more often than not, I will just give a brief opinion. You can read plot descriptions on Internet Movie Database or on Amazon.

Meet John Doe, starring Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, and Walter Brennan. 1941.

Source: http://goo.gl/YKdK2y

During the course of It's a Wonderful Life, a desperate George Bailey is saved by one crisis by an angel, and later saved from a second crisis by family and friends.

Director Frank Capra originally examined the idea of a desperate man saved by his friends and family in his 1941, in his film Meet John Doe.

The film is about Ann Mitchell (Barbara Stanwyck), who, in protest over being fired from the newspaper where she works, writes a letter from “John Doe,” who threatens to commit suicide on Christmas Eve due to perceived social ills. Mitchell gets her job back and hires “Long” John Willoughby (Gary Cooper) to portray the fictional John Doe, so the newspaper can profit from the support Mitchell’s fake letter received when it was printed.

The newspaper is a theme, topic and tool that occurs repeatedly in Capra’s films, including The Power of the Press (1928), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), It Happened One Night (1934), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Meet John Doe (1941), and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944).

While a newspaper played a role in telling the story of George's brother Harry, It’s a Wonderful Life draws a great deal of direction and other inspiration from Meet John Doe.

As the film progresses, people across the country create chapters of the John Doe Club, which supports the ideals purportedly created by “Long” John Willoughby. While he does believe in those ideals, there is a problem: He did not create the initial push for the support of them. Instead, being down on his luck, Willoughby was paid to become the character of John Doe and to claim the thoughts and ideals as his own. Payment for that acting job came in the form of money and a posh place to stay.

His friend, The Colonel (Walter Brennan), warned Willoughby that he was becoming a “Helot” – someone who is more concerned with money and comfort than the truth – but Willoughby ignores the warnings. Eventually, he realizes that The Colonel was correct, and becomes despondent over the lie he is living, and that people are falling for it and coming in droves (in mobs?) to see him, as if he were a movie star. It is an interesting exercise to watch this happen and compare it to the modern American craze to idolize people who are not stars, but famous "personalities" and stalk them through "reality" TV shows.

Distraught over the lie, Willoughby decides that he really will commit suicide on Christmas Eve, and threatens to jump off of the high rise that houses the newspaper office. He writes his own letter addressed to “All John Does.”

While standing on the ledge, he pulls the letter out of his trench coat pocket. It is a combination of scenes that we will see a few years later in It’s a Wonderful Life. Capra will have George Bailey pull his life insurance policy out of his overcoat, and later in the film, George will stand on the bridge, on Christmas Eve, with snow falling around him, on the brink of suicide.

While Ann cannot convince Willoughby not to jump, Capra invokes the It’s a Wonderful Life image of the “whole town” coming to support him. It is similar to when seemingly all of the residents of Bedford Falls (except Potter) cram into the Bailey home and give George money to save the building and loan.

There are many other connections between Meet John Doe and It’s a Wonderful Life. The antagonist in Meet John Doe is D.B. Norton (Edward Arnold), whose name is somewhat similar in form to Henry F. Potter due to the constant presence of the initials. The same is true of Arnold’s other Capra film character, Anthony P. Kirby, in You Can’t Take it With You. Speaking of Potter, Willoughby is told that if he jumps, he will be stripped of identification and buried in a Potter’s Field. A reference to Potter’s Field, along with the character of Potter, also appear in It’s a Wonderful Life.

Near the end of Meet John Doe, one character apologizes for the actions of the club members, saying, “We just lost our heads and acted like a mob.” This mob mentality has been seen before in American Madness and will be seen again in It’s a Wonderful Life. In both of those cases, the mob action takes place during bank runs.

To cap off the comparison of these two films, both of them end with the image of bells ringing.

Book Review - It's a Wonderful Life for Kids!

In my book reviews, I give my brief thoughts on what I read. Sometimes I will expound on those thoughts, but more often than not, I will just give a brief opinion. I could go into detail about what the book is about, but a lot of people have already done that. You can read their descriptions of the book, plus the official description on Amazon.

It's a Wonderful Life for Kids was written in celebration the film's 65th anniversary.

The author, Jimmy Hawkins, played the youngest Bailey child, Tommy. So naturally, the story focuses on his character.

Hawkins says in the Author's Note that, "I wanted to show young readers that everyone's life, no matter how old he or she may be, makes a difference."

It's a great message. Tommy gets his own story, pulling in characters we know and love like Mr. Gower, George Bailey, Clarence and Zuzu. There also are characters who are mentioned in the film but never make an appearance until this book. Mrs. Welch is one of those characters. Mrs. Carter, the wife of the bank examiner, is another. Also, one of Tommy's childhood friends is named Nick, like the bartender. Only fans of the film would pick up on these names.

While Tommy gets his own unique story, other sections, like scenes in Heaven, and scenes involving Tommy's guardian angel, Arthur, borrow entire sections of dialogue ... sometimes word for word ... from the film. A small part of me says this is lazy writing. Another part of me says it's a great way to introduce a new generation to the film and build recognition for the first time they watch it with mom and dad.

Overall, I give this book 3.5 stars out of 5.

Book Review - The It's a Wonderful Life Book

In my book reviews, I give my brief thoughts on what I read. Sometimes I will expound on those thoughts, but more often than not, I will just give a brief opinion. I could go into detail about what the book is about, but a lot of people have already done that. You can read their descriptions of the book, plus the official description on Amazon.

My copy of The It's a Wonderful Life Book with
bookmarks at each of the scenes. Don't let the condition
fool you. I have used this book extensively.  I just take
really good care of my books.

In The It's a Wonderful Life Book, Jeanine Basinger has put together the definitive collection of primary source information available about the film It's a Wonderful Life.

Anybody who considers him or herself a "Lifer" (a fan of the movie, usually an extreme fan such as myself) needs to purchase this book.

Almost everything you want to know is in here, from the complete text of the original story the film was based on, to interviews with Stewart, an introduction by Capra, pictures galore, the final script, script revisions, notes about suggested censorship, and much, much more.

There is even information in here you wouldn't even think about asking. An example is the name of the "stars in charge." One is named Joseph. What is the name of the other galaxy? (Hint: The answer isn't God.)

I used to get e-mails asking me questions about the film. Now those discussions usually happen on Facebook. If I don't have the answer, this is the first book I pick up. Of the many times I've been asked questions, I have always found the answer in this book.
This is the ultimate IAWL reference. 

In fact, I have written my own book about It's a Wonderful Life, and I am currently looking for a publisher. While writing this book, I kept looking at my copy of Basinger's book. I didn't look at it because I wanted to take information from it. Instead, I stared at it to remind me that my goal was to write a book about It's a Wonderful Life that is as good and as useful as this.

I give Basinger's book 5 stars out of 5.

Book Review - 52 Little Lessons from It's a Wonderful Life

In my book reviews, I give my brief thoughts on what I read. Sometimes I will expound on those thoughts, but more often than not, I will just give a brief opinion. I could go into detail about what the book is about, but a lot of people have already done that. You can read their descriptions of the book, plus the official description on Amazon.

52 Little Lessons from It's a Wonderful Life by Bob Welch.

My copy of 52 Little Lessons from It's a Wonderful Life.

This is a well-thought-out book that does exactly what it says it does: It looks at 52 life lessons that can be learned from It's a Wonderful Life. The book is broken up into 52 chapters, and can be read as a weekly devotional (or not), one chapter per week.

I devoured this book in a matter of days.

There are moments when Welch gets a little overwrought, spending too much time thinking about/describing/explaining certain aspects of the film and its characters. There are other days when he is spot-on and you can't help but jump up and scream "EXACTLY!!!"

There are religious overtones in this book. That's a fact. If that offends you, don't buy or read this book. Or maybe you should. If you like It's a Wonderful Life, the Christian aspect is already there, so you might as well learn more about it.

What makes it even more fun is that the author's name is Bob Welch. Welch was the name of the man who punched George in the mouth at Martini's bar....the teacher's husband. I don't know if HIS name was Bob, but that is the name of the author of this book. It means absolutely nothing, but it's a fun observation nonetheless.

I purchased the hardcover copy of this book a couple of years ago. The ebook was available on iTunes, Kindle and Nook for 99 cents on Nov. 30, 2015. It might still be on sale today.

Movie Review - Ziegfeld Girl

In my movie reviews, I give my brief thoughts on what I watched. Sometimes I will expound on those thoughts, but more often than not, I will just give a brief opinion. You can read plot descriptions on Internet Movie Database or on Amazon.

Ziegfeld Girl. Starring James Stewart and Judy Garland. 1941.

Crap. It's a musical.

I'm sure it's great if you're into musicals. But I'm more into movies that progress forward. Musicals, for me, seem to introduce an idea and then spin its wheels and dwell on it for about 4 minutes at a stretch while someone drones on and on and on about it.

Movie Review - It Happened One Night

In my movie reviews, I give my brief thoughts on what I watched. Sometimes I will expound on those thoughts, but more often than not, I will just give a brief opinion. You can read plot descriptions on Internet Movie Database or on Amazon.

It Happened One Night. Starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. 1934.

An out-of-work journalist (Gable) and a runaway heiress (Colbert) agree to disagree. He learns her secret and promises not to tell in exchange for her exclusive story. It's your classic story of blackmail.

There is chivalry and hate and contempt and friendship and love and every extreme you can imagine. It is extremely risque, especially at the motor lodge, considering its age.

The Wall of Jericho stands tall until it falters. It's not my favorite Capra film, but it holds its own. Watching the cast belt out "The Man on the Flying Trapeze" like they are teenagers singing a modern Top 40 hit at the Homecoming dance is entertaining, as well. :)

3.5 out of 5 stars.

Book Review - Jimmy Stewart and His Poems

In my book reviews, I give my brief thoughts on what I read. Sometimes I will expound on those thoughts, but more often than not, I will just give a brief opinion. I could go into detail about what the book is about, but a lot of people have already done that. You can read their descriptions of the book, plus the official description on Amazon.

Jimmy Stewart and His Poems, by Jimmy Stewart. 1989.

Jimmy Stewart wrote some verse
That made my English professor curse
He said it was not poetry, but worse
It was an assignment that I turned in ... my first.

Years later I know he was right
The book it really stunk
And yet I keep it next to Plath and Ginsberg
Tucked inside a trunk

Two copies of Stewart's poetry that I have in my collection.

Okay, I'm done.

I know the poetry above is not in any consistent meter. I know the rhymes are not in a consistent pattern. Neither are Stewarts. So not only are my verses above acceptable for this review, they are intentionally bad.

Don't expect anything high-minded here. You won't find Stewart's poetry in any classrooms...at any level. But that's okay. They don't beg analysis. They don't beg interpretation. They are intended to be entertaining and gain a few laughs.

There are only four poems in this book. All of them are preceded by a short explanation of their creation. Of the four poems, three of them are about Stewart's travels to foreign countries:

• The Top Step in the Hotel Junin
• The Aberdares!
• I'm a Movie Camera

I found this letter to Dear Abby in my copy with the cartoon dust jacket. I had forgotten
I had put it there. To be honest, I don't even remember it. But it gives you an idea of
how Stewart wrote.

A fourth poem, titled "Beau" is about the family dog.

Sadly, Stewart believes that in order to be poetry, the lines must rhyme. I strongly disagree with him, but who am I to argue with Jimmy Stewart?

3 out of 5 starts, but only for cuteness, not for quality of the poetry!

Movie review - It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie

Source: http://goo.gl/zspjF5

In my movie reviews, I give my brief thoughts on what I watched. Sometimes I will expound on those thoughts, but more often than not, I will just give a brief opinion. You can read plot descriptions on Internet Movie Database or on Amazon.

It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie. 2002. Starring David Arquette, Joan Cusack and Whoppi Goldberg.

This installment of the Muppet franchise is a riff on It's a Wonderful Life. Kermit is in trouble and requires intervention by an angel. Nothing is sacred here as they lampoon A Christmas Story, Star Wars, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and the Crocodile Hunter. This originally aired on television and was later made into DVD.

I give it 3 stars out of 5.

Book Review - Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success

Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success, by Joseph McBride, 2000.

Joseph McBride
Source: http://goo.gl/caMblS

In my book reviews, I give my brief thoughts on what I read. Sometimes I will expound on those thoughts, but more often than not, I will just give a brief opinion. I could go into detail about what the book is about, but a lot of people have already done that. You can read their descriptions of the book, plus the official description on Amazon.

This book affirmed what I suspected in my review of The Name Above the Title (see Monday's blog entry). 

McBride seems to take pleasure in and take pains to identify every false bit of information that can be found in The Name Above the Title. 

I read this book because it came highly recommended to me. When it arrived in the mail (I purchased it online), I read the back cover, and read some online reviews, and I wondered to myself, “why write a book about someone you hate?” 

This book isn’t like that, despite my first impression. This is a careful examination of Capra the man and Capra the myth. It is a very, very long book, but Stephen King has written longer. If you are going to read The Name Above the Title, then you MUST read The Catastrophe of Success, and they really ought to be read in that order.

My copy of this book.

Book Review - Frank Capra: The Name Above the Title

In my book reviews, I give my brief thoughts on what I read. Sometimes I will expound on those thoughts, but more often than not, I will just give a brief opinion. I could go into detail about what the book is about, but a lot of people have already done that. You can read their descriptions of the book, plus the official description on Amazon.

Frank Capra: The Name Above the Title, by Frank Capra, 1971.

Frank Capra Commemorative Stamp
Source: http://goo.gl/2aWrKI

I have mixed feelings about this book, and I’m going to lay them open here.

The bad news is that Capra’s ego is so huge, it smacks you in the face on darn near every page. Half of what I read, I found myself shaking my head literally not believing what he was telling me.

Even Jeanine Basinger, a Capra scholar, who wrote an introduction to the edition I read (printed in 1997) tells readers that Capra combines conversations and punches up his actions and speeches, along with the reactions of others in order to make himself look better. Capra goes on to admit it himself.

My copy of this book.

The good news is that if just half of what Capra is telling us is true, he not only is a pompous jerk, he also was a genius. There are lessons to be learned here about how to chase your dream, how to stand up for yourself, and how to work your way through a sewer tank and come out smelling like roses (sorry about the cliché).

Not only that, but Capra tells a heck of an entertaining story. It was written before the modern push for political correctness, so it reflects his honest opinions.

He calls a spade a spade (and an Italian a Dago). He does it in a disarming way that won’t get you all huffy if you’re a believer in all that is PC. That is, unless he uses that language to invoke pity for himself. After all, he does have a complex and a need to be noticed, and to be the center of attention, and to have his name precede the names of the actors in his films, the names of his films, and even the title of his book).

Just keep that in mind and read it with a healthy dose of skepticism.