I thought I’d include this tidbit about Maurice Chevalier, which I found on this page at IMDb:
In 1951, the U.S. State Department declared Chevalier “potentially dangerous” to the security of the United States because he had signed a petition against nuclear weapons called the Stockholm Appeal.
I like the guy even more now. (Does that make me “potentially dangerous” too?)
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Fascinating:
I decided to make it lyrical, thoroughly stylised: a film in which the whole action of actors, as well as the movement of camera and cutting was rhythmic. Then I got Rodgers and Hart to write the music?. We finished the whole score before I began to work on the script. We did the whole thing to a metronome, because we couldn’t carry an orchestra round with us.
-Rouben Mamoulian (director)I’m a great believer in conversational rhythm. I think in terms of rhythmic dialogue. It’s so easy, you can talk naturally. It’s like peas rolling off a knife. Take the great screen actors and actresses, Bette Davis, Eddie Robinson, Jimmy Cagney, Spencer Tracy. They all talk in rhythm. And rhythm and movement are the life of the screen.
-Lorenz Hart (lyricist)Princess: Then why do I lie awake in bed? And why does the blood rush to my head?
Doctor: At night?
Princess: Quite right. At night. And why does music make me so sad? And why do love songs drive me mad?
Doctor: At night?
Princess: Quite right.
-from Love Me Tonight
(I found this here.)
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I’m watching Love Me Tonight and the opening sequence is great fun. It isn’t as lengthy or intricate as Stomp but it’s great fun, and was made in 1932.
Guess I shouldn’t be surprised about this. I just hadn’t thought about this before, and this movie’s been sitting on my shelf for probably a year.
It reminds me of seeing The Man With A Movie Camera after watching Koyaanisqatsi. Again, I thought “Koyana-whatever” (which is how I usually type the word because I’m too lazy to look it up and I can guarantee I’ll spell it wrong if I don’t look it up) was a brand new thing when it really wasn’t.
Ahh … Maurice Chevalier is now singing “Isn’t It Romantic” which then gets handed to various characters … you really must see this movie for the rhythmic fun and the handling, and handing over, of this song! It’s gone from the tailor’s store, out the door with a client, handed to a man who is taking a taxi, to the taxi driver, to the military to some gypsies at this point, and now Jeanette MacDonald has taken it over. Heh. Clever! (The sexual innuendo is quite interesting as well. Hmmm.) I’ll sure hear “Isn’t It Romantic” differently from now on!
What would we do without music, eh?
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