Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas: The 3rd Lyric Change

Judy Garland’s singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” in the 1944 film “Meet Me in St. Louis” made the song a Christmas standard. It’s certainly one of the favorites we present in the Christmas version of “When Swing Was King” to senior care facilities. And when we come to that number in the show, I sometimes explain that the lyrics of that song have actually been changed twice -- first at the insistence of Judy Garland herself when the film was still being made and then again in the 1950s at the whim of Frank Sinatra.

Well, here from a memorable devotional from Joni Eareckson Tada comes the very moving story behind yet a third change in the song’s lyrics. Check it out…

Have Yourself a Blessed Christmas 

One of the Christmas classics you hear so often this time of year is “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” The composer of that poignant song is my friend Hugh Martin. Years ago, when Hugh came to Hollywood after leaving New York, he fell on difficult times, which led this dear man to the feet of Jesus. And sometime after his conversion, Hugh went back to the piano and composed new lyrics to his beloved classic. This time, he wanted his Lord and Savior to be honored in the music. Hugh went home to be with Jesus in 2011 at the age of ninety-six, but before he died, he was a guest on our radio program, and I sang those new lyrics for him: “Have yourself a blessed little Christmas, Christ the King is born. Let your voices ring upon this happy morn.” The old lyrics were tender and sweet; the new lyrics may go on ringing into eternity.

Thank You, Lord, for the story of Hugh Martin’s changed life. It’s a story that can be told millions upon millions of times. You change lives, King Jesus. You lift up people from darkness, heartbreak, and impossible situations and give them hope, happiness, and a new song to sing.

And thank you, Joni, for passing along this wonderful Christmas account.

About Auden's Night Mail

Night Mail was commissioned for the United Kingdom’s documentary film of the same name which Auden was working on in 1936. It was determined by the producers that a spoken word poem would increase the film’s dramatic impact. They were right as the poem not only worked very well for the film, it quickly became one of the best loved of all Auden’s poems. 

And if you'd like to watch that original 24-minute documentary, do so right here.

Night Mail by W.H. Auden

This is the night mail crossing the Border,
Bringing the cheque and the postal order,

Letters for the rich, letters for the poor,
The shop at the corner, the girl next door.

Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb:
The gradient’s against her, but she’s on time.

Past cotton-grass and moorland boulder
Shoveling white steam over her shoulder,

Snorting noisily as she passes
Silent miles of wind-bent grasses.

Birds turn their heads as she approaches,
Stare from bushes at her blank-faced coaches.

Sheep-dogs cannot turn her course;
They slumber on with paws across.

In the farm she passes no one wakes,
But a jug in a bedroom gently shakes.

Dawn freshens, her climb is done.
Down towards Glasgow she descends,
Towards the steam tugs yelping down a glade of cranes
Towards the fields of apparatus, the furnaces
Set on the dark plain like gigantic chessmen.
All Scotland waits for her:
In dark glens, beside pale-green lochs
Men long for news.

Letters of thanks, letters from banks,
Letters of joy from girl and boy,
Receipted bills and invitations
To inspect new stock or to visit relations,
And applications for situations,
And timid lovers’ declarations,
And gossip, gossip from all the nations,
News circumstantial, news financial,
Letters with holiday snaps to enlarge in,
Letters with faces scrawled on the margin,
Letters from uncles, cousins, and aunts,
Letters to Scotland from the South of France,
Letters of condolence to Highlands and Lowlands
Written on paper of every hue,
The pink, the violet, the white and the blue,
The chatty, the catty, the boring, the adoring,
The cold and official and the heart's outpouring,
Clever, stupid, short and long,
The typed and the printed and the spelt all wrong.

Thousands are still asleep,
Dreaming of terrifying monsters
Or of friendly tea beside the band in Cranston’s or Crawford’s.

Asleep in working Glasgow, asleep in well-set Edinburgh,
Asleep in granite Aberdeen,
They continue their dreams,
But shall wake soon and long for letters,
And none will hear the postman’s knock
Without a quickening of the heart,
For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?

Doing Battle with the Nothing

In these wet and windswept evenings of autumn, just having returned from a rather wet and windswept couple of weeks of ministry in Great Britain, I am once again enjoying the provocative novel of Michael Ende, his masterful The Neverending Story.  The novel is a modern fairy tale, wonderfully filled with surreal characters, magic, heroism, and bold adventure. It is an extremely entertaining read. Nevertheless, it is much more than that. The Neverending Story is also a very special fantasy, one that provides a bountiful share of spiritual applications in its thrilling and memorable pages.

The Neverending Story has much to excite and inspire the reader — exemplary lessons about imagination, creativity, honesty, loyalty, bravery, sacrifice in the pursuit of virtuous causes, kindness, and friendship. But I find the most compelling arguments of The Neverending Story deal with the reality and character of evil. Evil truly exists. Evil has deliberate and sinister designs upon men and women, even boys and girls. Modernity’s prime evil spreads through the lies of nihilism. And evil must be fought hard and uncompromising.

In our age of moral relativism, to expose such evils is a daring thing. To dramatize the dire importance for men to actively resist those evils is even more rare…and thus more necessary.

Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story (first published in German in 1979 with the standard English translation by Ralph Manheim printed in 1983) is not a Christian novel.  But using classic fairy tale themes, he effectively presents realistic human problems in ways that Christians certainly can respond to, particularly how evil manipulates and uses people for its own ends, destroying them after their usefulness is up. He also dramatizes how evil thrives upon ignorance, confusion, hatred of moral tradition, and fear.

But standing in the way of the Nothing (Ende’s apt term for the evil force which is destroying the world of The Neverending Story) and its vicious servant, Gmork, are the young warrior Atreyu, a luck dragon, and a human boy who begins reading the book in a deserted school attic but who is drawn into the story himself. Their courage and resolve and loyalty to the prime cause; namely, service to the sovereign of Fantastica, ultimately wins the day.

As most of you know, I read quite a bit and my reading winds its way from novels to theology, from politics to popular culture, from mysteries to history and biographies.  Nevertheless, The Neverending Story remains one of the most inspiring and memorable books I’ve ever read. Probably because it inspires me to continue fighting the Gmorks of our own day, the servants of the Nothing who, like the devil himself, revel in lying, stealing, and destroying.

Reading the novel this time around has me thinking especially about parallels I see between The Neverending Story and the fairy tale tradition…also to other writers who have added their own spice to that literary genre, writers like Chesterton, Lewis, Tolkien, and Barrie.  Therefore, my reading of The Neverending Story is providing fresh and vivid inspiration to keep fighting the Nothing and the culture of death it spawns.

PS. If you don’t plan on reading The Neverending Story (it is 444 pages), at least consider watching the 1984 film version. It is a beautiful and remarkable film that effectively captures much of the spirit of the things I’ve written about above. It’s one of the very rare examples when a movie may be as good as the book. (Claire thinks it's even better!)

Klavan on Conservative Creativity

A few days ago, I finished (on my Kindle) Andrew Klavan’s brief but excellent and provocative book, A Crisis in the Arts: Why the Left Owns the Culture and How Conservatives can Begin to Take it Back. 

I highly recommend it. Klavan, himself a best-selling fiction writer, eloquently explains how politics and social policy is “downstream” of culture and that conservatives cannot hope for political success or social change if they continue to cede the arts to the far left as has been done for the last several decades.

 Instead Klavan writes...

We need to fight back. 

For those conservatives with artistic talent and ambition, this is a spectacular moment to take to the barricades. Big Media is tottering under the assault of new technologies. With electronic publishing and social media, books can be self-published and self-promoted. With the new video cameras, professional-looking films can be produced on the cheap and distributed online. YouTube, iTunes, smart phones, tablets, blogs -- all provide opportunities for new kinds of work and new ways for that work to be dispensed.  

To take advantage of this moment, conservatives have to come to grips with a situation that they naturally find uncomfortable: yet, to wit, we are now at the counter-culture. When it comes to the arts, radical leftists are The Man. We need to act like the rebels we now are and stop trying to win the favor of the big studios and publishers and mainstream reviewers. We need to make stuff. Good stuff. And get it out to the audience anyway we can…

The arts, even at their least, are one of humanity’s most noble enterprises. They have been hijacked by adherence of the low-end depressive ideology. They have been hijacked by the adherents of a low and oppressive. We should take them back.

Christmas Quiz --- Number One

The following is just one of the Christmas quizzes we put together for our “Making the Most of Christmas” packets many years ago. I'll post the other two in the days to come. Please consider using them in your holiday get-togethers as icebreakers and conversation starters. We created these fun, non-threatening quizzes to use with friends, family members, and neighbors who may not know very much of the biblical accounts of Christmas. This way you can impart some meaningful Christmas information to them without making them feel on the spot. In fact, we will be using them at our party this weekend when we have neighbors over for a cookie exchange and to watch our Christmas edition of “When Swing Was King.”

Christmas Quiz --- Number One

1) Which Latin singer had a big Christmas hit in the 1960's with “Felize Navidad”? A) Julio Iglesias B) Desi Arnaz C) Jose Feliciano D) Carlos Santana E) Edward Schwartz

2) In what year were poinsettias first sold in Philadelphia as Christmas decorations? A) 1833 B) 1910 C) 1927 D) 1945

3) In which of these Christmas movies did Bing Crosby star? A) The Bishop's Wife B) Rudolph's Ride to Glory C) It's a Wonderful Life D) Going My Way

4) The music for what Christmas carol was written in 1818 by an Austrian priest to be played on a guitar? A) “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” B) “Adeste Fidelis” C) “Oh Holy Night” D) “Silent Night”

5) What Christmas work was originally written for the entertainment of the author's own family and was not published for 26 years after its writing? A) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens B) “A Visit to St. Nicholas” ('Twas the Night Before Christmas) by Clement Moore C) “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” by Dr. Seuss D) “White Christmas” by Irving Berlin

6) The first one of these was made in 1844 and they began to be sold commercially in 1860. Now, over 2 and 1/2 billion are used every Christmas season. What are they? A) Christmas trees B) Outdoor lights C) Candy canes D) Christmas cards

7) Who announced to Mary that she had been chosen to be the virgin mother of Jesus? A) The angel Gabriel B) Elizabeth C) She learned it in a dream D) John the Baptist

8) What is the popular Christmas custom that is attributed to Martin Luther?
A) Yule log B) Hanging stockings C) Attending church D) Christmas tree lights

9) In the story and film, A Miracle on 34th Street, who is put on trial?
A) Santa Claus B) The mayor of New York City C) A guardian angel named Clarence D) An elf named Hardrock

10) Good King Wenceslas hailed from what country? A) Syria B) England C) Bohemia D) Alsatia

11) The name of Scrooge's deceased business partner in Dickens' classic story, A Christmas Carol, was: A) Bob Cratchit B) Jacob Marley C) Mr. Posey D) Martin Chuzzlewit

12) What familiar Christmas object comes from a word meaning “to shine”?
Hints: there were seven of them in the Old Testament tabernacle and it is an important part of the Advent wreath. A) Candle B) Yule log C) Crown D) Holly wreath

13) In Tchaikovsky's beautiful ballet, The Nutcracker, the main enemy of the handsome hero is: A) Drosselmeyer the magician B) The King of the Mice C) The puppet maker D) The Blue Dragon

14) Long before Scrooge or the Grinch, there was a real villain who could be called “The Man Who Tried to Kill Christmas.” Who was he? A) Genghis Khan B) Caesar Augustus C) Ivan the Terrible D) Herod the Great

15) When did “Good King Wenceslaus” look out? A) Christmas morning
B) Epiphany C) Feast of Stephen D) Candlemas eve

Answers:

1) D 2) A 3) D Bing starred in several Christmas movies (Bells of St. Mary's, Going My Way, Holiday Inn, and White Christmas. 4) D -- “Silent Night” was written hastily for a Christmas Eve service after the priest discovered the organ was broken and that the service would have had to go without music. 5) B 6) D 7) A 8) D 9) A 10) C -- Wenceslas was actually only a 10th Century Duke of Bohemia, not an actual king. 11) B 12) A 13) B -- The King of the Mice, usually represented with seven heads, leads his troops against the nutcracker's toy soldiers, but loses the battle when Clara, the heroine, stuns him with a hurled shoe. 14) D -- Herod was Rome's “puppet ruler” over Israel at the time Jesus was born. Paranoid, vicious, and an insanely jealous tyrant, Herod murdered hundreds of people to secure his throne. It was he who ordered the murder of the infant boys of Bethlehem in an effort to end the life of Jesus, Who had come to save mankind (even Herod himself) from the curse of sin. 15) C

Of the Achingly Self-Interested

Have you ever had to deal with self-centered VDPs? You know, Very Draining Persons? Of course, we all have and it’s never pretty. I was struck last night by Georgette Heyer’s description of one of those types in her 1951 mystery novel, Duplicate Death.

“He was neurotic, passionate, and easily influenced, spoilt by parents and circumstance, and morbidly self-conscious.  He would respond like a shy girl to flattery, but he was quick to imagine slights, and could fly in an instant from the extreme of affection to the opposite pole of wounded hatred.  As a child he had reveled in being the focal point of his mother’s life; and had never outgrown his desire of being petted and admired…He mistook his hostess’s indifference for dislike, and was at once hurt and ill-at-ease.  That he had no liking for her, and no particular desire to be invited to her house, weighed with him not at all: he could not be happy if he was not approved of.”

Let’s face it; with some people, you can never pet them, placate them, or puff them up enough…no matter what you do or how much time you invest. Therefore, in such cases, it’s best to bid them a courteous but quick farewell.

Here's a similar case. Remember?

Drummin' and Dancin' -- The Incomparable Fred Astaire

First, a scene from A Damsel in Distress (1937)


From Easter Parade (1948)

The Maltese Falcon Quiz

For fans of the great movie, this quiz can be fun. But it will appeal even more to the readers of Dashiell Hammett's fine detective novel. Have at it...and, of course, don't look for the answers until the end!

1) Does the story of the falcon tribute have any factual basis?

2) Who was originally cast for the film role of Sam Spade? A) Ronald Reagan B) Robert Taylor C) George Raft D) Alan Ladd E) Gary Cooper

3) The Shakespeare reference at the end of the film (“Ah, the stuff which dreams are made of”) was suggested by A) Director John Huston B) Jack Warner C) Peter Lorre D) Humphrey Bogart

4) What previous occupation made Dashiell Hammett so effective in writing The Maltese Falcon? A) Detective B) Screenwriter C) San Francisco Probation officer D) Cleaned cages at an aviary

5) Which actor in the cast was playing their first film role?

6) How many successful novels did Dashiell Hammett write in his long career?

7) Hammett’s novel was dedicated to Jose. Who is this?

8) The Maltese Falcon was a major Hollywood hit, both with the public and the critics. How many Academy Awards did it win?

9) Where was Dashiell Hammett buried? A) Colorado B) Virginia C) California D) His ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

10) After Hammett sold the rights to the Sam Spade character (at a bargain price), a very popular radio series was created called The Adventures of Sam Spade. It starred: A) Howard Duff B) Orson Wells C) Humphrey Bogart D) Jack Webb E) William Conrad

ANSWERS

1) Yes, according to Dashiell Hammett’s own introduction to the 1934 edition of the book ---- “Somewhere I had read of the peculiar rental arrangements between Charles V and the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem.”

2) C. George Raft. Raft was one of Warner’s contract players and was originally offered the part. He apparently turned it down because a) he didn't want to be directed by new director John Huston, and b) it was to be a low-budget, “unimportant” film. He had also turned down the starring role in High Sierra (which eventually fell to Bogart) because he didn't want to die at the end. In fact, Raft would go on turning down roles that Bogart would play and subsequently make famous, including the cynical and unforgettable hero of Casablanca.

3) D. Humphrey Bogart

4) A. Hammett was a detective for the Pinkerton agency.

5) Sydney Greenstreet. To play the part of sinister Fat Man Gutman, the film’s producer Hal Wallis suggested that Greenstreet do a screen test. Huston liked it and cast the longtime character actor of the stage. Greenstreet was thus 61 years old when he made his movie “debut.”

6) Only 5: The Dain Curse, The Maltese Falcon, Red Harvest, The Thin Man, The Glass Key. Besides a few other short stories, Hammett’s career was largely a disappointment. The causes? TB and a generally dissolute lifestyle, complete with drunkenness, lack of discipline and self-control, abandonment of family, and the influence of radical leftists (especially Lillian Hellman).

7) Jose was Hammett’s first wife and mother of his two children.

8) None

9) B. Virginia. More specifically, in Arlington National Cemetery.

10) A. Veteran actor (and husband of Ida Lupino) Howard Duff. Duff's most famous roles were in television, especially Mr. Adams and Eve (1957-58), Felony Squad (1966-69), and a whole gang of guest spots.

The Hobbit Movies: A Long & Lousy Adaptation

With the release of DVD box set of the The Hobbit, Peter Jackson’s stronghold on the Hobbit trilogy may finally be over. Undeniably, the trilogy has been incredibly successful on a US and worldwide stage. The three-film trilogy cost around US$765m to produce and made almost US$3 billion worldwide – so, a triumph for all those who had anything financial to gain from the franchise.

But despite this, it gained little attention. No mention on the award circuits. Not a very positive reception. The problem is, the films just aren’t very good. The Hobbit trilogy can be seen as one of the lowest points of the blockbuster culture and modern Hollywood film-making…

Watching The Hobbit is like a bad taxi ride in a new town. Instead of staying on the perfectly scenic direct route to your direction, your driver decides to take you up every side street just to show you the sights. Eventually you get so tired that you lose all interest in what attracted you to the town in the first place.

This is what can happen when you take a small novel and transform it into three overly long films…

What a disaster. Neither Tolkien’s family nor we can think of another film series that has adapted a well-known and beloved book in a less authentic and truthful way. There is hardly any resemblance left, except for some occasional names that readers might have heard before and that might resonate emotionally, only to certainly be destroyed in the next scene. The Hobbit not only fails as a cinematic achievement; it is also a lousy adaptation.

We can only hope that Peter Jackson’s epic failure might provide a blueprint to future directors as to how not to make a movie.

(From “The Hobbit box set released and finally, the Jackson saga is over” by Tom van Laer and Thorsten Hennig-Thurau in The Conversation.)

Is Robert Redford the "Most Influential" Actor Ever? Hardly.

“Looking at his work, past and present, I don’t think there’s any other actor who has had a bigger influence and impact on American cinema than Bob Redford.” (Jane Fonda)

Like usual, Jane is crazy. Whether one grades actors regarding to who set the trends in how movies would be made and marketed, box office appeal, achieving icon status, or setting the mark for quality cinema, there are a whole gang of actors whose influence has been more profound than Mr. Redford.

Want a list?

I nominate Douglas Fairbanks, Lon Chaney, Lilian Gish, Harold Lloyd, Mary Pickford, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Bette Davis, Orson Welles, Greta Garbo, Shirley Temple, Marlon Brando, Katharine Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, and Marilyn Monroe.

A few more? How about Charles Laughton, Gary Cooper, Sidney Poitier, Cary Grant, Claudette Colbert, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers, James Cagney, Vincent Price, Spencer Tracy, Gene Kelly, Barbara Stanwyck, Woody Allen, James Dean, Ingrid Bergman, Robert De Niro, and Edward G. Robinson?

But I'm not done yet. There is Burt Lancaster, Lauren Bacall, Eddie Murphy, Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Errol Flynn, Peter Sellers, and Steve McQueen.

And don't forget Gene Hackman, Sean Connery, Richard Burton, Sylvester Stallone, Marlene Dietrich, Charlton Heston, Rita Hayworth, George C. Scott, Charles Bronson, Alec Guinness, Doris Day, Jason Robards, Peter O’Toole, and Elizabeth Taylor.

And I didn't even mention Bugs Bunny.

No, Ms. Fonda, Robert Redford is an excellent actor and a moderately successful director. But the most influential ever? Not even close.

Doing Battle with the Nothing: The Challenge Within Michael Ende’s “The Neverending Story.”

In these dreary, late winter evenings, wrapped in a blanket and yearning for the soft signs of spring, I am re-reading Michael Ende’s masterful The Neverending Story.  The novel is a modern fairy tale, wonderfully replete with surreal characters, magic, heroism, and bold adventure. It is extremely entertaining. The Neverending Story, however, is a very special fantasy to me, one that provides a bountiful share of spiritual applications in its thrilling and memorable pages.

The Neverending Story has much to excite and inspire the reader — exemplary lessons about imagination, creativity, honesty, loyalty, bravery, sacrifice in the pursuit of virtuous causes, kindness, and friendship. But I find the most compelling arguments of The Neverending Story are that evil truly exists; that evil has deliberate and sinister designs upon men and women, even boys and girls; that modernity’s prime evil spreads through the lies of nihilism; and that evil must be fought hard and uncompromising.

In our age of moral relativism, to expose such evils is a daring thing. To dramatize the dire importance for men to actively resist those evils is even more rare…and thus more necessary.

Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story (first published in German in 1979 with the standard English translation by Ralph Manheim printed in 1983) is not a Christian novel.  But using classic fairy tale themes, he effectively presents realistic human problems in ways that Christians can respond to, particularly how evil manipulates and uses people for its own ends, destroying them after their usefulness is up. And how evil thrives upon ignorance, confusion, hatred of moral tradition, and fear.

But standing in the way of the Nothing (Ende’s apt term for the evil force which is destroying the world of The Neverending Story) and its vicious servant, Gmork, are the young warrior Atreyu, a luck dragon, and a human boy who begins reading the book in a deserted school attic but who is drawn into the story himself. Their courage and resolve and loyalty to the prime cause; namely, service to the sovereign of Fantastica, ultimately wins the day.

As most of you know, I read quite a bit and my reading winds its way from novels to theology, from politics to popular culture, from mysteries to history and biographies.  Nevertheless, The Neverending Story remains (on my fourth reading) one of the most inspiring and memorable books I’ve ever read. Probably because it inspires me to continue fighting the Gmorks of our own day, the servants of the Nothing who, like the devil himself, revel in lying, stealing, and destroying.

Reading the novel this time around has me thinking especially about parallels I see between The Neverending Story and the fairy tale tradition…also to other writers who have added their own spice to that literary genre, writers like Chesterton, Lewis, Tolkien, and Barrie. (Hmm. Maybe a research project is in the wings.) Regardless of how that works out, though, my late winter re-reading of The Neverending Story is providing fresh and vivid inspiration to keep fighting the Nothing and the culture of death it spawns.

Postscript. If you don’t plan on reading The Neverending Story (it is 444 pages), at least consider watching the 1984 film version. It is a beautiful and remarkable film that effectively captures much of the spirit of the things I’ve written about above. It’s one of the very rare examples when a movie may be as good as the book. (Claire thinks it's even better!)

And, by the way, don't bother with further film productions. They were not very good.

A Maltese Falcon Quiz

Fans of the classic movie, The Maltese Falcon, will find this quiz interesting; I
hope, even fun. But it may well appeal even more to the readers of Dashiell Hammett's fine detective novel. Have at it...and, of course, don't look for the answers until the end!

1) Does the story of the falcon tribute have any factual basis?

2) Who was originally cast for the film role of Sam Spade? A) Ronald Reagan B) Robert Taylor C) George Raft D) Alan Ladd E) Gary Cooper

3) The Shakespeare reference at the end of the film (“Ah, the stuff which dreams are made of”) was suggested by A) Director John Huston B) Jack Warner C) Peter Lorre D) Humphrey Bogart

4) What previous occupation made Dashiell Hammett so effective in writing The Maltese Falcon? A) Detective B) Screenwriter C) San Francisco Probation officer D) Cleaned cages at an aviary

5) Which actor in the cast was playing their first film role?

6) How many successful novels did Dashiell Hammett write in his long career?

7) Hammett’s novel, The Maltese Falcon, is dedicated to Jose. Who is this?

8) The Maltese Falcon was a major Hollywood hit, both with the public and the critics. How many Academy Awards did it win?

9) Where was Dashiell Hammett buried? A) Colorado B) Virginia C) California D) His ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

10) After Hammett sold the rights to the Sam Spade character (at a bargain price), a very popular radio series was created called The Adventures of Sam Spade. It starred: A) Howard Duff B) Orson Wells C) Humphrey Bogart D) Jack Webb E) William Conrad

ANSWERS

1) Yes, according to Dashiell Hammett’s own introduction to the 1934 edition of the book, “Somewhere I had read of the peculiar rental arrangements between Charles V and the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem.”

2) C. George Raft. Raft was one of Warner’s contract players and was originally offered the part. He apparently turned it down because he didn't want to be directed by new director John Huston and because it was to be a low-budget, “unimportant” film. He had also turned down the starring role in High Sierra (which eventually fell to Bogart) because he didn't want to die at the end. In fact, Raft would go on turning down roles that Bogart would play and subsequently make famous, including the cynical and unforgettable hero of Casablanca.

3) D. Humphrey Bogart

4) A. Hammett was a detective for the Pinkerton agency.

5) Sydney Greenstreet. To play the part of sinister Fat Man Gutman, the film’s producer Hal Wallis suggested that Greenstreet do a screen test. Huston liked it and cast the longtime character actor of the stage. Greenstreet was thus 61 years old when he made his movie “debut.”

6) Only 5: The Dain Curse, The Maltese Falcon, Red Harvest, The Thin Man, andThe Glass Key. Besides a few other short stories, Hammett’s career was largely a disappointment. The causes? TB and a generally dissolute lifestyle, complete with drunkenness, lack of discipline and self-control, abandonment of family, and the influence of radical leftists (especially Lillian Hellman).

7) Jose was Hammett’s first wife and mother of his two children.

8) None

9) B. Virginia. More specifically, in Arlington National Cemetery.

10) A. Veteran actor (and husband of Ida Lupino) Howard Duff. Duff's most famous roles were in television, especially "Mr. Adams and Eve" (1957-58), "Felony Squad" (1966-69), and a whole gang of guest spots.

42nd Street: A Review

In this month's volume of "When Swing Was King," our ministry in nursing homes and senior living centers which combines original big band music, hundreds of photographs, an interesting and fun commentary, and (most important of all) the development of personal friendships, we include in the mix of 12 songs a lively recording of "42nd Street" by Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey.

It's a terrific song, instruments only. But we know the lyrics well from a homemade recording we have enjoyed for years of Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks in a New York nightclub. The vocalist in that performance was Vince Fitzpatrick, a fellow who we came to know later as a good friend and pro-life colleague in the Washington area. He is now known, by the way, as Father Vince Fitzpatrick. That's right; Vince went from nightclub crooner to becoming a Roman Catholic priest. Great story, right.

But back to "42nd Street."

After last Thursday's "WSWK" presentation at Immanuel Assisted Living Center, I decided to see if the film version of "42nd Street" (made way back in 1933) was available anywhere. And it was -- right here on Amazon for a $1.99 rental.

We found the movie fascinating, much more profound and compelling than what we were expecting from a musical. Yes, there were big and elaborate musical numbers from Busby Berkely and featuring the talents of Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, and Ginger Rogers in the chorus. But the primary plot of the film was quite serious with themes of love, ambition, despair, and jealousy front and center. We were particularly impressed with the characters of Julian Marsh (played frantically by Warner Baxter), the doe-eyed innocent (Ruby Keeler) and the much abused stage manager (George E. Stone.)

The movie was based upon a novel by Bradford Ropes (forget about it -- a copy is available on eBay, but starting at $1,500) but the film follows Ropes' basic plan. It shows the plight of successful Broadway director Julian Marsh. Marsh was the Great White Way's biggest light but he has lost his fortune in the stock market and is desperate to mount a successful stage production of a musical extravaganza. But it won't be easy. It's the Great Depression. And he's broke and physically ill. Will he even survive?


The leading lady (with a real prima donna attitude) is in love with a broken down vaudeville player, her former partner. But she must hide that relationship as she pretends to be sweet on a rich rube who is the play's angel. In fact, mobsters are called in to drive her real lover out of town to protect the show's interests. But that's not all. There's an intriguing subplot involving the talented rookie (Ruby Keeler) and the romantic juvenile (Dick Powell), a raft of clever one-liners from Una Merkel, Ginger Rogers and company, and then those remarkable big stage musical numbers.

We loved "42nd Street" and may well travel it again with friends soon.

Here's just one scene as a teaser. I'm sorry, it's colorized but don't worry. The Amazon film is in its original black and white.

On Alec Guinness, Genius, and Introversion

The wise and winsome Gina Dalfonzo is a busy writer, editor of BreakPoint.org, and the creator of Dickensblog. Her essay at today's BreakPoint is a classic. It is a wonderful appreciation of British actor Alec Guinness and yet also an insightful exploration of the challenges presented to introverts in a modern age that celebrates flash, glitter, and celebrity.

Here is an excerpt:

One of the finest actors of the 20th century was also one of the most elusive. Sir Alec Guinness, born 100 years ago today, had the chameleon-like gift of disappearing completely into each character that he played. So completely, in fact, that this very prominent actor often appeared to be hiding in plain sight…

My fascination with Alec Guinness began when I picked up a copy of his first book, “Blessings in Disguise,” at a used bookstore. Being on a British classic film kick, I thought I could learn a lot about the genre from one of its greatest stars. But I didn’t really know what to expect. Some readers, like le Carré’s interviewer at “The Guardian,” claim that Guinness reveals nothing at all about himself in his books.

Nothing could be further from the truth. What I found in that book surprised and delighted me. Far from just another celebrity penning just another vapid celebrity bio, I found a man who could really write. I found a person who loved books, music, art, and life. And I found a personality that was charming, thoughtful, astonishingly humble, and very funny. His tales of mishaps onstage, on set, and on his ship in World War II frequently had me in stitches.

I found a man of deep faith, as well. I had known Guinness was a Catholic, having read the touching story of how his conversion began while he was playing Chesterton's priestly detective. But I hadn’t known just how much that faith shaped his thinking, his behavior, and his life, until I read his own quiet but fervent words about it…

These elements carry through all three volumes of his memoirs (plus a “commonplace book” of quotes, musings, and anecdotes). Guinness writes honestly and yet guardedly, like a man who’s willing to share much and yet still keep something to himself. This reserve, which puzzles or repels some people, is one of the things I found myself liking most in him. Somehow, in the reticent pages of a memoir by an elderly British actor, I had discovered a kindred spirit.

For an introvert, this can be an experience as rare and exciting as finding a diamond in the street. In her bestselling book “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking,” Susan Cain makes a convincing case that extroversion has been the “cultural ideal” for the past century. Thus, many of us grow up believing that shyness and reserve are something to outgrow or simply push past; if we can’t manage it, we feel weird and isolated. Standing up, speaking out, putting it all out there . . . that’s what gets rewarded and encouraged. People get nettled when they think you’re holding something back—as demonstrated by le Carré’s casually brutal comment about Guinness.

But shielding and protecting your “center” doesn’t mean you don’t have one. It may simply mean that you know you have something worth protecting. I certainly think this is true of the man I met in “Blessings in Disguise” and its sequels…

If you'd like to know a bit more about Gina Dalfonzo, check out this brief interview.

The Best Biblical Movie Ever?

Most people think of director Cecil B. DeMille in connection with the film “The Ten Commandments,” and rightly so. It is considered by many to be the greatest of all biblically based epic films. But there was another, earlier film for which he deserves to be remembered—perhaps even more so than for “The Ten Commandments.”

That film is “The King of Kings,” which was released in 1927. Though a silent film, few motion pictures have spoken so powerfully, for so long, to so many. Newly remastered as part of the distinguished cinematic series, The Criterion Collection, motion picture historians have written that during the creation of this film, DeMille was allowed to work “with one of the biggest budgets in Hollywood history, DeMille spun the life and Passion of Christ into a silent-era blockbuster. Featuring text drawn directly from the Bible, a cast of thousands . . . The King of Kings is at once spectacular and deeply reverent—part Gospel, part Technicolor epic.”

Blockbuster though it may have been upon its initial release, “The King of Kings” became a blockbuster of a wholly different order of magnitude in the years following. Writing in the Wall Street Journal in the spring of 2011, educator and author John Murray has said that “because it was produced as a silent film, Protestant and Catholic missionaries alike were able to use [“The King of Kings”] for decades to share the Gospel with non-English-speaking peoples.” This led to an absolutely astounding statistic. Given this set of circumstances, viewership of “The King of Kings” was “estimated at over 800 million people by 1959.”

Murray then goes on to state that “the most powerful story related by DeMille in his autobiography about the influence of ‘The King of Kings’ involved a Polish man named William E. Wallner.” The story that Wallner had to tell was a harrowing one….

Read the rest of this extremely interesting and uplifting report of “The King of Kings” and its spiritual impact here at BreakPoint. And note that this post is but an excerpt of Kevin Belmonte’s book, Miraculous: A Fascinating History of Signs, Wonders, and Miracles.

Book & Music Notes (Weekend Edition)

* Scott Johnson over at PowerLine not only mentioned a short story by Sinclair Lewis that I had never heard of, he quite decently provided a link to it. Thanks, Scott; the story (“Young Man Axelbrod”) is a gem.

Here’s a brief excerpt to serve as an introduction:

And at sixty-five Knute Knute Axelbrod was like one of his own cottonwoods, his roots deep in the soil, his trunk weathered by rain and blizzard and baking August noons, his crown spread to the wide horizon of day and the enormous sky of a prairie night. This immigrant was an American even in speech. Save for a weakness about his j's and w's, he spoke the twangy Yankee English of the land. He was the more American because in his native Scandinavia he had dreamed of America as a land of light. Always through disillusion and weariness he beheld America as the world's nursery for justice, for broad, fair towns, and eager talk; and always he kept a young soul that dared to desire beauty…

With a longing for music and books and graciousness such as the most ambitious boy could never comprehend, this thick-faced farmer dedicated himself to beauty, and defied the unconquerable power of approaching old age. He sent for college catalogues and school books, and diligently began to prepare himself for college.

* “To understand why Putin took Crimea, read his favourite authors” (Colin Freeman, Telegraph)

* “Chick Webb: ‘The Lord Gave Me Some Years To Play’" (Vital Signs Blog)

* “Getting Upset About the Wrong Things in Disney Movies: A Christian Tradition” (Brian Brown, aleteia)

* “The library of the future” (Jane Fagan, Mercator)

* And here's a couple more articles from Breitbart's Big Hollywood on the new movie, Noah. --- “9 Problems with Aronofsky's Noah” by Ben Shapiro and  “Noah Review: Brilliantly Sinister Anti-Christian Filmmaking” by John Nolte.

* Okay, this YouTube video isn’t a quick thing. But if you want a delightful, thoughtful hour and a half, connect your computer to your TV and watch, listen, and enjoy this performance by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra (directed by Sergiu Celibidache) of Anton Bruckner’s haunting Symphony Number 8 in C minor.

The performance was filmed in Suntory Hall in Tokyo, October 1990. (And yes, you could always play the music in the background while you’re reading. No one will know you are using this complex, ethereal beauty for mere background music. I won't tell anyway.)

Larry Clinton & Bea Wain Present "Heart and Soul"

Rarely do I get to promote any of the songs we include in our "When Swing Was King" ministry with a moving picture. Yes, each of the 23 volumes of "When Swing Was King" involves a couple hundred terrific photographs (to accompany the 12 songs from the big band era), but they are still pictures, in the most literal sense.

But here's a nice exception. Throughout the month of March, all eleven facilities where we have presented the program have delighted in hearing the Larry Clinton Orchestra perform "Heart and Soul" featuring the superb vocal stylings of young Bea Wain.

Well, you can now hear -- and see -- that same song...courtesy of Paramount Studios...and YouTube!

Book Notes

* Talk about the utter foolishness of political-correctness. Check out the "warning label" put on a new edition of Immanuel Kant.

* If you think the new “green advocacy” movie (Noah) plays out anything close to the biblical account, you’ve been munching on too many Colorado brownies. Check it out.

* What's this? A new book by J.R.R. Tolkien? Actually, it's a very old book translated by Tolkien and edited for a new, never before published edition by his son. Less than $20 buys you your own copy of Tolkien's Beowulf right here.

* Ready for a reading challenge? Several friends of Vital Signs have committed to completing one of two reading tracks by the end of the summer. (In fact, some have signed on to both!) The first track is the seven short books of The Chronicles of Narnia. The second involves three books: Heaven by Randy Alcorn, The Heart of Prayer by Jarram Barrs, and Teaching to Change Lives by Howard Hendricks. Those involved in each project can “talk” about their reading with others on Facebook or, from time to time, talk in person over coffee at the gatherings we will announce. Also, come August, Denny & Claire will host a barbecue dinner at their house for everyone who was involved in either project. Let us know if you are interested.

* And speaking of old books, did you ever get round to reading Ben Shapiro's Primetime Propaganda? Mark Levin says of it, “Vitally important, devastatingly thorough, and shockingly revealing. After reading Primetime Propaganda, you’ll never watch TV the same way again.” It's going really cheap these days.

* The Associated Press reports on a major fraud in which consumers paid artificially inflated prices for e-books published by Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Simon& Schuster, Penguin Group and Holtzbrinck doing business as Macmillan. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Tuesday. "Companies engaging in such anticompetitive conduct will be punished, and starting today those injured by their actions will start to receive full and fair compensation." The goal amount is $166 million. Yipes. Here’s the story.

* “An interview with Paul Kengor, Reagan biographer and author of 11 Principles of a Reagan Conservative” (Benjamin Weingarten, The Blaze)

* Beginning at 7 o’clock on Monday evening, April 7th, Denny & Claire will be hosting the first of  four L’Abri evenings, featuring the four lectures of the recent L’Abri conference in Rochester, Minnesota that Denny & Claire thought the best. April 7th will be “The Biblical Basis for True Spirituality” by Jerram Barrs. On April 14th, we will listen to “Spirituality According to Francis Schaeffer” by Bill Edgar. “Three Theories of Everything” by Ellis Potter is the lecture for April 21st. And we will finish off on April 28th with “The Christian Life: An Other-Centered Walk” by Dick Keyes. They are all stimulating, illuminating and inspirational. We hope you can come.

* Here's an article that purports to have found the best book store in America. In Wichita, Kansas, no less. Very interesting.

* And finally, the Quotation of the Day for today at "Into the Wardrobe (A C.S. Lewis Site)" is one quite relevant to Facebook users.

“I cannot quite understand why a man should wish to know more people than he can make real friends of.” (C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy.)

21 Top Western Films

This week Claire and I re-visited a couple of our favorite John Wayne Western films. And in thinking about them afterwards, I decided to jot down my favorite Westerns of all time.

I ended up with 21.

Wayne starred in a bunch of them (7) but other multiple appearances in starring roles included Ben Johnson (5), Charles Bronson (4), John Carradine (3), Jimmy Stewart (2), Charlton Heston (2), Steve McQueen (2), Brian Keith (2), Rick Lenz (2), Michele Carey (2), James Coburn (2), Harry Morgan (2), Ward Bond (2), Andy Devine (2), Edmond O'Brien (2), Simon Oakland (2), and Warren Oates (2).

The Top Twenty-One (in no particular order) are:

Stagecoach (John Wayne, Claire Trevor, John Carradine, Andy Devine, Donald Meek)

Once Upon a Time in the West (Charles Bronson, Henry Fonda as a very bad villain, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards, Woody Strode, Jack Elam, Frank Wolff)

Ride the High Country (Randolph Scott, Joel McRae)

The Magnificent Seven (Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, James Coburn, Eli Wallach)

True Grit (John Wayne, Kim Darby, Glen Campbell, Robert Duvall)

Scandalous John (Brian Keith, Alfonse Arau, Michele Carey, Rick Lenz, Harry Morgan, Simon Oakland)

Chato's Land (Charles Bronson, Jack Palance, James Whitmore, Simon Oakland)

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart,Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Andy Devine, Edmond O'Brien, John Carradine, Woody Strode)

The Wild Bunch (William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson)

The Shootist (John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Lauren Bacall, Richard Boone, Hugh O'Brien, Ron Howard, Scatman Crothers, Harry Morgan, John Carradine, Sheree North, Rick Lenz)

Nevada Smith (Steve McQueen, Karl Malden, Brian Keith, Arthur Kennedy, Suzanne Pleshette, Martin Landau)

Rio Bravo (John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Walter Brennan, Angie Dickinson, Ward Bond)

Hang 'Em High (Clint Eastwood, Pat Hingle, Inger Stevens, Ed Begley, Ben Johnson)

Breakheart Pass (Charles Bronson, Ben Johnson, Richard Crenna, Jill Ireland)

Will Penny (Charlton Heston, Joan Hackett, Donald Pleasence, Lee Majors, Bruce Dern, Ben Johnson)

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming)

Hondo (John Wayne, Geraldine Page, Ward Bond, Michael Pate, James Arness)

The Alamo (John Wayne, Richard Widmark, Laurence Harvey, Frankie Avalon, Patrick Wayne, Linda Cristal)

Silverado (Kevin Kline, Scott Glen, Kevin Costner, Brian Dennehy)

Major Dundee (Charlton Heston, Richard Harris, Jim Hutton, James Coburn, Senta Berger, Brock Peters, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson)
   
The Gunfighter (Gregory Peck, Helen Westcott, Millard Mitchell, Jean Parker, Karl Malden)