Friday, December 30, 2011

THE MEPHISTO WALTZ 1971

Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t yet seen the film and wish to discover its surprises for yourself, stop reading now and come back later. I’ll still be here.

One of the more effective, least exploitative entries in the post-Rosemary’s Baby occult sweepstakes (before The Exorcist came along and switched up the game-plan, entirely), is 1971’s The Mephisto Waltz. Adapted from the 1969 novel by Fred Mustard Stewart - which was itself a rather loud echoing of Ira Levin’s 1967 novel - The Mephisto Waltz is a Satanic thriller that succeeds in being enjoyably stylish, suspenseful, and marvelously kinky, while never actually giving Roman Polanski’s now-iconic film any serious competition.
Jacqueline Bisset as Paula Clarkson
Alan Alda as Myles Clarkson
Barbara Parkins as Roxanne Delancey
Curd Jurgens as Duncan Ely
Bradford Dillman as Bill Delancy
Myles Clarkson (Alda), a failed musician turned struggling music journalist, lands an interview with world-famous classical pianist, Duncan Ely (Jurgens). Taking note of Myles’ lyrical way with the buttons on his tape recorder, the aging virtuoso (“I happen to be the greatest pianist alive!”) marvels at Myles’ perfect-for-the-piano fingers and declares him to possess“Rachmaninoff hands.” Hands that, according to Duncan (who should know, I guess), only one in one hundred thousand possess.
And for the record, Duncan, when not discovering new talent or wowing audiences with impassioned performances of Franz Liszt’s The Mephisto Waltz (“They don’t understand that after a concert, there’s blood on the piano keys!”), finds time to be a practicing Satanist.
While studying those concert pianist fingers, Miles fails to note how short his life-line suddenly got

Having already learned from Rosemary’s Baby just how pushy devil-worshippers can be, it comes as no surprise when Duncan and his witchily feline daughter, Roxanne (Parkins), begin aggressively insinuating themselves into the lives of Myles, his beautiful, no-nonsense wife Paula (Bisset), and their conveniently-disappearing daughter Abby (Pamelyn Ferdin). Faster than you can say “tannis root,” we find out that Duncan, who is dying of leukemia, has plans to serve Myles’ soul with an eviction notice and take up residence in his lean yet alarmingly flabby body ASAP…with a little help from the devil, of course.
Will the ever-suspicious Paula, distrustful and jealous of the fawning attentions of Duncan and Roxanne from the start, unearth the dark secret behind this creepily close-knit father/ daughter duo? Or will her pugnacious, Nancy Drew-curiosity and fortitude (“…Well, I’m just one grade too tough!”) only serve to place her and her family in greater danger? 

The answers to this and many more suitable-for-a-Black-Sabbath questions are answered in The Mephisto Waltz …a Quinn Martin production. No, really, it is. The sole foray into feature film production by the man who gave us The Fugitive, The F.B.I., Barnaby Jones, The Streets of San Francisco, etc. However, to my great disappointment, The Mephisto Waltz is lacking in those two great QM Production trademarks: the authoritarian narrator and the title card breakdown of the story into separate acts and an epilogue.
This strikingly bizarre publicity photo of Parkins in the company of a dog wearing a human mask was used extensively in promoting The Mephisto Waltz in 1971

  
WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THIS FILM
As I stated in a previous post, I consider Rosemary’s Baby to be one of the smartest, most effectively chilling films ever made; flawlessly effective both as a horror film and a psychological thriller. It’s not only Roman Polanski’s cleverly black-humored approach to the material or the finely-observed performances he elicits from his cast, but the source novel by Ira Levin itself is a masterfully structured bit of Modern Gothic. A superior example of contemporary horror.

When The Mephisto Waltz opened in theaters, the advance promotional buzz centered around its similarities to Rosemary’s Baby. It promised to be just as scary, only sexier. I was all hopped up to see it, but, being only 14 at the time, my mother (whose attentions were well-intentioned, if inconsistent) wouldn’t let me see the R-rated feature. I had to satisfy my curiosity with a paperback copy of the novel from the local library. Upon reading it, I was delighted to find the novel to be a genuinely suspenseful page-turner with a resourceful female protagonist trying to protect her home and family from sinister forces. Just the sort of thing Ira Levin specialized in.
FACE-OFF
Bisset and co-star bare their fangs
Jump ahead to the 1980s and adulthood, and I finally get to see The Mephisto Waltz at a revival theater on a double-bill with its spirit cousin, Rosemary’s Baby. I wasn't disappointed. It’s no Rosemary’s Baby by a long shot, but what it is is a nicely-crafted thriller that earns its chills honestly: through atmosphere, character, and suspense. If the contrivances of plot seem somewhat rushed, and the performances and direction only occasionally above your average '70s-era Movie of the Week TV standard; The Mephisto Waltz distinguishes itself from the usual occult fare by force of sheer style. It's a great-looking movie enlivened by the air of kinky sexuality and amorality present in both its theme and main characters.
The entire premise of The Mephisto Waltz asks that we accept that these two breathtaking beauties would be willing to fight, commit murder, and bargain their souls to the devil for...
...this body.

PERFORMANCES
When it comes to those flickering images of the gods and goddesses of the silver screen, sometimes (perhaps too often, in fact) I find myself guilty of exactly the kind of superficiality I thoroughly abhor in real-life: I cut the beautiful a great deal of slack. Jacqueline Bisset is so stunning that I think I’m not as objective about her acting ability as I might be. Frequently saddled with ornamental roles during this stage of her career (she matured to a much more accomplished actress later), The Mephisto Waltz offers Bisset a sizable lead role offering a considerable emotional range. So, how does she fare? With her precise, clipped British diction and somewhat remote demeanor, Bisset handles the scenes requiring her character to be sarcastic and confrontational pretty well. But she's a tad less effective in scenes requiring she convey her character’s vulnerability and fragile emotional state. 
That being said, who cares! (OK, call me superficial) Jacqueline Bisset is so absolutely GORGEOUS in this movie, I'm certain I'd be content just watching her defrosting a freezer.
Jacqueline Bisset goes to Hades
In The Mephisto Waltz, we see that converting to Satanism requires considerably less formal instruction than converting to Christianity or Judaism

As if that weren't enough, there’s lovely Barbara Parkins (looking like a million bucks) cast in the kind of femme fatale role her steely eyes and honeyed voice always hinted at (she would have made a sensational Catwoman). She’s absolutely splendid and a great deal of fun to watch. Especially as her frequent bitch-fest scenes with Bisset always seem on the verge of turning into a literal cat-fight which never materializes (I can dream, can't I?). 
Sticking out like a sore thumb amongst all this portentous pulchritude is ol’ “Hawkeye” himself, Alan Alda; looking for all the world like a film-school intern who’d wandered accidentally in front of the camera. Alda has always seemed like a very nice guy to me, so I won’t go on about how badly miscast I think he is (Bisset’s then-boyfriend, Michael Sarrazin, would have been great in the role...or perhaps, Keir Dullea who was also very easy on the eyes), just suffice it to say that a huge chunk of plot credibility (pertaining to his sexual desirability) flies out the door every time he appears.

  
THE STUFF OF FANTASY
I think one of the reasons I've never seen an occult film to ever come close to capturing Rosemary’s Baby’s intensity and efficacy is due to the fact that few of these films, once they latch onto their particular Satanic gimmick, ever give much thought as to how the film might play to those who find it impossible to buy into the traditional concept of Satan. Polanski was smart enough to make his horror film as though he were constructing a paranoid psychological suspense thriller. It works because the structure of the plot is viable whether you buy into the religious myth or not. In films like The Mephisto Waltz, the more implausible particulars of the occult gimmick in question (soul switching, in this case) are introduced so quickly that scant time is devoted to convincing us how otherwise practical characters come to believe in the inconceivable so swiftly.
Bad Romance
In his shot from the decadent New Year's Eve costume ball sequence, Alan Alda (in fez and monkey mask) and Barbara Parkins offer further proof that just about everything Lady Gaga does has been done before

Jacqueline Bisset’s Paula is far too suspicious far too soon and it tips the hand of the plot. Likewise Myles’ swift, unquestioning acceptance of Duncan’s largess. Alda’s character is such a blank to us (we're given no sense of his values from the getgo, so we never know whether his abrupt acceptance by the jet-set crowd compromises them) that the eradication of his soul holds no dramatic weight. How poignant his death would be were we afforded a sense of what it meant to him to reignite his abandoned music career. To know this would certainly inform our understanding of how his defeated sense of self is flattered by the attentions of one as rich and successful as Duncan Ely.

On a similar note, vis a vis the speed with which The Mephisto Waltz speeds along its course, I’ve never seen the death of a child in a movie given such short shrift. First off, Bisset looks like nobody’s mom on this planet, least of all Pamelyn Ferdin, a child actress who seemed to be everywhere in the 70s (What's The Matter With Helen?). Secondly, in order to move things along as expeditiously as possible, Bisset's character, a mother whose only child dies suddenly and under mysterious circumstances, mourns for all of 24 hours before resuming her witch hunt and smoldering with desire for her husband. Whoever he is at this point.
In skimming over the human drama, The Mephisto Waltz, like so many other genre films, fails to give audiences sufficient time to become sufficiently engaged in the lives of the characters. A move that always winds up coming back to bite the film on the ass, undercutting, as it does, audience involvement in the outcome of the conflict.


THE STUFF OF DREAMS
As an occult thriller, The Mephisto Waltz plays it pretty straightforward down the line, telling its story crisply and entertainingly. That it doesn't always make the most of the possibilities posed by its bizarre story is, to me, the film's major setback. There's suspense and tension, but never once is the film truly unsettling or disturbing. Certainly not as much as it could have been, given the fundamental amorality of it all. 
There’s a layer of a body-fetish/sex-addiction subplot lying below the surface of The Mephisto Waltz’s soul-transplant theme that calls for a director attuned to the revulsion/attraction of body horror…someone like David Cronenberg. The fetish object in The Mephisto Waltz is Myles Clarkson. Or his body, to be precise. Duncan Ely wants him for his youth, but specifically for his hands. Roxanne wants her father, Duncan, and is willing to get to him through the body of Clarkson. Most perverse of all, when Paula finally learns that her husband is dead and that another man inhabits his body…it’s the body she wants, and (to her own surprise) she doesn’t really care who's inhabiting it. 
The film is awash with scenes and dialog emphasizing Myles’ body and physical desirability, both before and after its possession by Duncan: 

Roxanne: (Ostensibly asking Paula’s permission to make a life mask of Myles, but everybody knows what she's driving at) “It’s alright then, I can do him?”

Abby: (To Paula about their newly acquired dog) “He wants daddy.”
Paula: “Don’t we all.”

Paula's best friend: "Oh! He's sexy...don't you think he's sexy? You should know better than I!"

Roxanne's ex-husband, Bill (Bradford Dillman) to Paula after she confesses that she still finds Myles sexually irresistible even though she knows it isn’t truly him: “They say the truth is, once you've had one of them [a Satan-worshipper] nothing else will quite satisfy you.”
Duncan will feel like a new man when he wakes up. Literally.

With the utter disposability of Myles, the man, contrasted with escalating battles for his body; the overarching feeling you’re left with is that everybody loves Myles in parts, but not as a whole. Kind of like a perverse corruption of Cole Porter’s  song, “The Physician.”

There’s certainly nothing wrong with having a story to tell and relaying it in as efficient and entertaining a manner as possible. The Mephisto Waltz succeeds on that score. But had it taken the time to explore the story’s emotional and sub-textural themes…who knows? It might have been a genuine Rosemary’s Baby contender.


Copyright © Ken Anderson  2009 - 2011

21 comments:

  1. One of my all time favorite horror-thrillers! I agree with your assessment of Alan Alda in this film. They needed a much sexier leading man to make the tug of war between Jacqueline Bissett and Barbara Parkins more believable.

    Jacqueline Bisset *is* gorgeous in this and I am a big admirer of Barbara Parkins who I always felt was under-utilized and under-rated and under-appreciated.

    Awhile back I was fortunate to get my hands on all 500+ episodes of PEYTON PLACE and she was one of the best things about that show!

    I haven't seen this one in years but it's definitely time for another viewing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. First things first: 500+ episodes of "Peyton Place"? Wow!I kind of remember that show being on almost every night of the week when I was a kid, so I can see how that's possible.
    I've always like Barbara Parkins, too. I remember her in the film "Asylum" a pretty scary sequence.

    ReplyDelete
  3. PEYTON PLACE was never rerun and ran pretty much aired first run episodes straight through the sumnmer months and at it's peak aired 3 nights a week.

    I only know these things through book, the internet, etc. I wasn't born when the show first premiered and by the time I came into the world it was in it's next to last season.

    Never saw Asylum but I will check it out if I can get my hands on it. Parkins was also in THE KREMLIN LETTER which was her last project under her Fox contract.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi again, PTF
      I think I remember a "Mad" magazine parody from the time where the future is envisioned as televising "Peyton Place" 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. Have NEVER seen it, but I like so many of the cast members I should do a YouTube hunt. Never saw "The Kremlin Letter" and have always been curious about a film called "the Deadly Trap" that featured my fave Faye Dunaway and Parkins. Can't recall if it ever had even a VHS release.

      Delete
  4. Hi Ken ~

    You don't have to look too far to see "The Deadly Trap" the movie is uploaded on YouTube in 7 parts. I've read some comments from Miss Parkins awhile back in reference to working with Miss Dunaway. They didn't get along. I have yet to watch it myself though. I may do so this weekend.

    Speaking of Dunaway have you seen "Puzzle of a Downfall Child"? What a movie! What a performance!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Much appreciated, PTF
      Thanks so much for that info about "The Deadly Trap"! Never once occurred to me to look at YouTube! Can't wait to check it out.
      And yes, I have seen "Puzzle of a Downfall Child." It is really a wonderful performance by Dunaway. I always remember that scene where she has to model with that crow on her arm. Makes me think of what poor Tippi Hedren must have went through.

      Delete
  5. I disagree with your characterization of Alda. I felt he offered a pleasing contrast. He is a standard guy, prized in parts by his executioners. His warm affection towards Paula drifts until he is consumed and once he is Duncan he is sinister in a very quiet way. I am reminiscent of the scene in the Body Snatchers before Donal Sutherland screams, that quiet before violence. I felt that the film was well cast on all fronts. But I agree with your other evaluations. Paula was a tad cold and I was almost disappointed by how little fanfare was given the murders.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know several fans of "The Mephisto Waltz" who feel as you do about Alda. Citing John Cassavetes' already-sinister looking husband in "Rosemary's Baby", or Jack Nicholson's crazy-from-the-start characterization in "The Shining".
      Like you, they appreciate that Alan Alda is an average guy type. Something that makes his character's later transformation all the more chilling. I like your allusion to the scene in "Body Snatchers."

      It's always interesting to hear about how someone responds to some aspect of a film that has perhaps left me cold. Your comments are well-considered and very much appreciated. Thanks for writing!

      Delete
    2. I completely understand your perspective and I think it comes from where we think the lust is fixated on. If we think it is the body of Myles, then yes, he has a boyish frame and is frankly normal. If he is meant to be playing a lothario then yes, the mark was missed. But if we believe that Myles was always meant to be dismembered and is only of use to characters in pieces or a mobile shell, its tragic. Myles doesnt write, he doesnt play, he is the chiming monkey at the party ie he has no control of his destiny. We are not even party to his death. Therefore it is less that he transforms into another person but that he becomes a major mover of both plot and people. Just like with Nicholson's performance I guess it depends on what you want from the film.

      Delete
    3. Indeed, I think the thriller genre, like comedy, is often so effective and enjoyable on so many levels because of the element of subjective interpretation. No matter how straightforward the story, the element of mystery invites and engages (rightly so) our personal perceptions of what we are being shown.
      In spite of our differing opinions on the effectiveness of the Myles/Alda connection, I think we both agree that "The Mephisto Waltz", while not perfect, is an interesting enough film to warrant more attention drawn to it. I wish it were a more well-known film just so I could read more thoughtful commentary about it. Either pro or con...I just wish more people had heard of it!
      Thanks again for sharing your insights.

      Delete
  6. You nailed it when it comes to Alan Alda in the film. How I hated him for wasting this opportunity to show some evil and sexiness. He just seemed like he wished he was in another movie, so badly miscast is he.

    I love Jacqueline Bisset but I too felt that she didn't let go enough in her role. She had the chance to break through that british stuffiness (but that's also what I like about her). I am amazed those two actors got new chances to act after this movie. (They turned into big stars in the 70's.)

    They also dressed Paula in such dull clothes - jeans and trench coats! A film from 1971 should have crazier fashions!!! I do like the slinky clothes Barbara Parkins wears and she steals the movie.

    And yes, I too reacted att how little Paula grieved her child! It's as if it all were a nuisance to her and she's finally free and single!!

    -Wille

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Wille
      I love that you have seen this movie! Our tasted DO intersect over some of the odd ones. I know Alan Alda is a matter of taste, but for a thriller to hinge so much of its supernatural plot on the obsessive side of sexual attraction, Alda just exudes so little "oomph!" And therefore upends the premise for me.
      I'm old enough to remember when Jacqueline Bisset was one of a slew of reluctant 70s se symbols complaining about never being offered anything but decorative roles. She wasn't asked to do much in either "Bullitt" or "The Detective", but this and "the Grasshopper" were MAJOR female roles at the time. As much as i adore her, I really do wish she had dug a little deeper and delivered a stronger performance in both. I agree, Barbara Parkins (in wardrobe and performance) walks away with it.
      And alas, her sorrow for her child's death has to be the briefest parental grieving on record!
      Since we seem to share a similar taste for the obscure, if you ever come across a favorite film you think I might not know about, please, let me know.
      Thanks again for reading so many of my posts, Wille. You're a brave soul!

      Delete
  7. I found Alan Alda's Myles-possessed-by-Duncan Ely indistinguishable from Myles- NOT- posessed -etc. A better actor would have given the two subtle differences enough that Jacqueline Bisset would have ping-ponged from thinking he has changed to thinking she was imagining things. Of course that would have been a different and better movie. The one they made is enjoyable enough but not outstanding.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You make an excellent point! And one I can't say wouldn't have helped move "The Mephisto Waltz" from being an enjoyable enough movie to at least potentially being in the class of "The Stepford Wives" of (not likely, but wishful thinking) Rosemary's Baby.

      What you mention also begs the point of what might have been had a more clever director or screenwriter took a stab at what Polanski pulled off in RB: take the narrative chance of not making Myles' possession immediately known to the audience- serving to increase audience identification with Bisset's character in feeling something was "off" but not knowing what. Our having more information than Bisset puts her int preposition of having to play sleuth or of appearing slow to catch on.
      Thanks for the keen observation and food for thought!

      Delete
  8. OMG, Ken, I just watched this for the first time the other day, and now have purchased the blu ray because I want to watch it again and again! It's a blast...not brilliant but a visual feast, a wild and fun ride.

    I agree that Peter Proud himself Michael Sarrazin would have been a sexier Myles, more of a big reason for the two gorgeous female leads to catfight over...but I must say while watching I thought, Alan Alda, NOT BAD, wouldn't kick him out for eating crackers in bed...Bisset and Parkins are both flawlessly gorgeous here...

    The script could have used a little doctoring; there are a few holes, and I am not sure WHY Bisset was so obsessed with Alda, even after he was possessed by Curt Jurgens--was Myles notoriously well hung? A handsomer leading man might have made that plot point make more sense...

    Then again, I loved it so much I bought it, and will watch it again promptly when it arrives from Amazon!
    -Chris

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Chris
      How terrific that you just now are catching up with this favorite from my youth! I think you'll like the commentary on the DVD which gives some background info and goes into a bit of the "narrative flaw" of Alan Alda as this object of desire.
      It amuses me that the entire female vs female drama is built on both women harboring a sexual addiction for a certain man. If it's any consolation, the book never makes that issue any clearer. I think your amusing question is what comes to mind first (and makes the most sense).
      There's a 70s feel to it that I really love, and everybody looks gorgeous, so I'm glad it turned out to be a film you'd like to revisit!

      Delete
  9. A West coast Rosemary's Baby with a made4TV feel furthered by TV favs Alan Alda and Barbara Parkins in lead roles, a soapy script more about bitchcraft than witchcraft. A few tingles amid the melodramatic tangles and a passable time killer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Bitchcraft"! Ha!...wonderful! I also like the phrase "West coast Rosemary's Baby." Thanks, Joseph

      Delete
  10. Ken -
    "That being said, who cares! (Okay call me superficial.) Jacqueline Bisset is so GORGEOUS in this movie, I'm certain I'd be content watching her defrost a freezer." Ha! Hilarious and true. Barbara Parkins, she of the incredible face, voice, and hair, is as you say (even more) amazing too. And there's Brad Dillman, always a pleasure to see (even as yet another creep, he was even one in The Incredible Hulk opposite Bill Bixby!). As much as I like Alan Alda (altho' I deplored the M*A*S*H TV series both overusing Hawkeye then blanding him out into vanilla inoffensiveness post-Gelbart. Truth to tell I enjoyed watching David Ogden Stiers's Charles more, he was an obnoxious ass which made it more effective when he showed more humanity while Hawk, who as a liberal I should like, became *more* obnoxious even he wasn't supposed to be) he squanders his opportunities here and is miscast. Maybe Martin Sheen still wouldn't be considered attractive enough (I don't know!) but he could have played the nice guy and the malevolent creep, perhaps he wasn't prominent enough at the time - too early? Keir Dullea would have nailed the creepiness, as he did in Black Christmas a few years later (Luminous Olivia Hussey and a foul-mouthed Margot Kidder? yes please! Keir is effective in that picture, he's like a good-looking possessed mannequin, even if he seems too old for the role). Pete Duel? Possibly not the best actor or great casting but I liked him.
    The twist is pretty perverse and I'm not convinced it works, perhaps the comment on Satanic shallowness (an omen of the modern world) *could* have worked with a sexier guy but *surely* the personality would matter? If a man looks like Brad Pitt but has the personality and beliefs of Donnie Drumpf or looks like Sarah P*l*n but has the personality and beliefs of Sarah P*l*n surely that would be the ultimate c*ck-shriveller/vagina-drier, maybe I'm naive. (Apologies if that was too crude.)
    Golly, that promotional photo is creepy-great. It looks like Ms Parkins is previewing an infamous scene from the Phil Kaufman Invasion of the Body Snatchers well over five years early or is taking Bruce Dern's head out for a walk.
    Ever,
    Robert

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Robert - Another fun entry from you again. You seem to have more patience with TV’s MASH than I was ever able to muster. I’m almost boastful in my claim at never having made it through a single episode. However, when I re-read my post here, the passing of time has made Alan Alda appear more attractive to me during this phase than I initially gave him credit for.
      I still think he’s miscast, and he registers very low on the sex-appeal scale…but his lanky charm has grown on me.
      And I agree with you that Martin Sheen was definitely a looker and would have made an interesting casting choice. It’s all so personal and subjective, but it’s fun to imagine.
      I do think the story strives for something along the lines of what you say about the superficiality of evil. And indeed when people have power and/or sexual charisma, many an individual is apt to look the other way when it comes to personality. Politics and show biz are a parade of heinous, principle-free people who somehow have found partners.
      I don’t know if you get or have seen the old HBO show VEEP with Julia Louis Dreyfus. Everyone on that show plays an absolutely terrible person, but it always gave me pause how attractive I found two of the show’s worst characters: Selina’s HORRID ex-husband was (David Pasquesi) and the reptilian lobbyist Peter Grosz.
      I like to think because I’m not drawn to creeps in real life, I can indulge myself in movies and TV.

      Unlike most occult films that focus on the evil and mayhem of Devil worshippers, THE MEPHISTO WALTZ is kinda just about how sex and youth drive their cultism.
      (Allowing that we both drop political jibes in when we can: In the current American climate, a cult of sex and youth worship sounds a lot much more appealing that a cult of hate and ignorance.)
      Thanks, Robert!

      Delete
  11. I LOVED Veep (well, the first five seasons), I'm a huge fan of Julia Louis-Dreyfus - as I am of Bebe Neuwirth, both of whom deserved better film roles outside of their television successes - as well as of Armando Iannucci's comedy ( Mandel's first season was great as well). Yep, David Pasquesi was able to make Mr Superslimey kind-of appealing! Selina herself was a monster herself usually but I liked that one could still have some sympathy for her, and her acid wit - as well as being played by Julia, who is not only funny and beautiful but charismatic - made her, to me, immensely attractive (shameless as I am in goofy J L-D adoration, the way she pulled off those amazing dresses was hardly off-putting).
    If you'll allow me some more babble, Veep's cast was just so good that they were able to make self-obsessed politicians, political wonks, weirdoes, and garden variety assh0|£$ somehow sympathetic without betraying the characters.
    Gary Cole was fantastic as a good-looking humorless - thus hilarious - drone. Any actor who can play noble cynic DJ Jack Killian, Mike Brady, Sheriff Buck in American Gothic , and Kent Davidson deserves some kind of award.
    Tony Hale's put-upon Gary; Diedrich Bader; Sufe Bradshaw's Sue (underused); David Rasche (because he's David Rasche!); Dan Bakkedahl's amusing utter bastard; Tim Simons; Kevin Dunne's phlegmatic Ben; Matt Walsh's victimized Mike. What a great cast.
    The show lost me when it removed any sympathetic element to Selina, any complexity no matter how fleeting. It's as if they thought the audience couldn't handle it or might identify her with various incarnated evils clogging up the political landscape as in a backed-up toilet, particularly since, let's see, 2016 (or years longer in the UK).
    Hah, M*A*S*H! I made my way through the darkest depths of the mostly awful seasons 9 + 10(Loretta turning herself into a scary painted doll and most of the characters being insufferable didn't help); I can't help it, I'm a M*A*S*H fan! Alan Alfa's Hawkeye tends to grate on me beyond reason post-Gelbart (even before!), although he's good often enough that one is glad he didn't join McLean Stephenson in the Sea of Japan (or Hello Larry). Hawkeye must have had something going for him if he had Blythe Danner as a girlfriend. What? It's fiction? Don't shatter my illusions, Ken! (I'd invite you to watch Season Eight's Lend A Hand for the low of Alan's well-meant - ? - narcissism, it guest stars his father Robert - playing the same character as in a superior Gelbart episode - and is one of the most cringe-making things I've ever seen. It will confirm your decision not to watch M*A*S*H as correct, unfortunately.)
    In further reference to your comment I used to watch Charlie's Angels - *shakes head - and after a phase of having Kate Jackson as my favourite Angel (she was the "smart" angel, you see...) seeing Cheryl Ladd altered that for the basest, the shallowest of reasons. The opening sequence has her dressed in a police uniform, a bikini, in a magician's outfit, and as a cheerleader (lucky they didn't include nurse, nun, dancer,and ballerina or they'd have given juvenile me an almost full house!) ; it was like the makers beamed my clichéd young sexual fantasies onto the screen. Finding that Ms Ladd was rather charmless in real life (though, *apparently*, she has a "close relationship with the Lord", although she might have meant Lord Brett Sinclair, whatever, good for her...) to say the least was an effective cure...BUT if I happened to catch a rerun and it was a Kris episode would I even now sneak a peak despite the reality (and Charlie's Angels being trash), alas, yes. I hang my head in shame. Hey, I still get a kick out of David Doyle's Bosley!
    "(A) cult of hate and ignorance", I know what you mean. Alas, it often feels like a cult of youth, hate, and ignorance. (Even if the closest one of their chief idols gets to youth is when he creeps into the crypt with his sinister haunted mannequin wife.) Enough of that though! Thanks for your typically insightful comments.
    Best,
    Robert

    ReplyDelete