A RAMBLING REMINISCENCE

We are coming up to the beginning of July, a month in which a couple of events of note took place in the United States.  The Continental Congress voted in favour of the Declaration of Independence on the 2^nd July 1776, and it was printed and published on the 4^th July 1776. Four score and seven years later in July 1863, during the American Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg was fought between and 1^st and 3^rd of July. In that encounter there were over 50 thousand casualties, dead and wounded, although it is difficult to ascertained just how many were actually killed. Those figures represented nearly half the Southern Confederate army and a quarter of the Northern United States Army. It is viewed as a victory for the Northern States, although it continued for another two years. Some four months later, over the burial grounds of the battle, the conflict was heralded as a resolve that “this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”.

Fifty years later in, 1913, at some commemorative event, two elderly veterans shook hands, presumably symbolising the coming together of that nation. 

That new birth of freedom is under attack. The assault on the Constitution and the very democracy it upholds has been brewing for the last 5 years and, despite the election of Mr Biden as president of the United States, it continues to smoulder on, and may well have devastating consequences. 

Two major democratic and public decisions, which have deeply affected the whole of the, so called, western world were made 5 years ago. On each occasion I was in France. On the 24^th June 2016 Celia and I were in Normandy at L’Etang-Bertrand, when we woke up to the news that the European Referendum had been lost.   

 

 

On that day we visited Utah Beach where the Normandy Landings took place on the 6^th June 1944. The Normandy beaches were a symbol of allied co-operation which eventually led to the European Union, and the establishment of International Law, for which many gave their lives and whose blood may still be beneath the sand we walked over.

 

Later in the year, on Wednesday the 9^th November 2016, whilst in Paris, we heard the news that Donald Trump had been elected President of the United States and consequently leader of the free world, a task for which he was manifestly unsuited and, indeed, from which he proceeded to abrogate himself with his America First diatribes.

 

On that day I wrote a blog entitled “The American has dwindled into an Odd Fellow” – it began:

2016 Annus horribilis - there can be no question that the 24th of June and the 8th of November have given voice to an extraordinary number of discontented, dissatisfied and hostile people on both sides of the Atlantic. The deep seated racism and bigotry that has oozed out from the so called common citizen is horrifying. A distinct side step from a natural evolution towards a more civilised society.

I went on to quote a passage from Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience:

All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong, with moral questions; and betting naturally accompanies it. The character of the voters is not staked. I cast my vote, perchance, as I think right; but I am not vitally concerned that that right should prevail. I am willing to leave it to the majority. Its obligation, therefore, never exceeds that of expediency. Even voting for the right is doing nothing for it. It is only expressing to men feebly your desire that it should prevail. A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority. There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men. When the majority shall at length vote for the abolition of slavery, it will be because they are indifferent to slavery, or because there is but little slavery left to be abolished by their vote. They will then be the only slaves. Only his vote can hasten the abolition of slavery who asserts his own freedom by his vote.

I also noted at the time that Stevie Wonder had stated “Voting for Trump was like asking me to drive a car” He was exactly right.

 

And so we come to 2021. The world is still gripped in a pandemic, and in a Britain divorced from union, supposedly on the verge of lifting its lockdown measures, the number of new variant infections is steadily rising. Having come down to several hundred average cases per day at the beginning of June, it is now over 14,000 per day and rising, which is the result of gross miscalculation by the current government. This government, which was not elected by a majority yet purports to act for the majority and claims a mandate, is no more capable of driving a car, than Stevie Wonder ever was. 

Covid Chart 28/06/2021

The cack-handed approach to dealing with the European Union, since ‘Brexit has been done’, is further proof of the duplicity and incompetence of the Johnson ministry. The continued hovering over breach of international law in an attempt to blackmail its way to a favoured status in unconscionable.  It shows a paucity of leadership which, for some reason, the great British public refused to acknowledge. 

 

In America, the Trump neurosis looms large. The psychotic and repetitive behaviour of the ex-president is stupefying. His rants persist, the republican party submits, and a polarization of political interests becomes entrenched. The numbers are narrow, but the margins are so far apart, that the risk of schism is most definitely present. It seems that a barrage or even a flood of facts cannot extinguish the Big Lie. Mr Trump claims he wants to save America. His followers claim to be supporting the Constitution. I do not believe that either he or his followers have even read the Constitution, let alone the Declaration of Independence. They have certainly not understood it if they had. Maybe that doesn’t matter.

There was once an innocent time in America. During the latter half of the nineteen fifties when, in High School, we studied Problems of Democracy. Our parents had been through the viciousness of a world war and its horrific revelations. It was never to happen again; however, it was the time of the Cold War, and the communist Sino-soviet bloc had to be thwarted. Civil Defence and atomic resistant home shelters where on offer along with cheap used cars. It was the coming of age of the ad-man. Oddly enough, we actually believed the text of the bill of rights, the constitution and the declaration of independence. Freedom was paramount. Everyone was equal. So far as elected officials were concerned, honesty and integrity went without saying, didn’t it? We pledged allegiance to the flag, after all. Liberty and Justice for all, isn’t that right?

As the House Un-American Activities Committee began to spread its authority, we had moved on to university campuses and began to protest for our rights under the Constitution. The movement beginning at the University California, Berkeley was for the right to free speech and academic freedom. We started smoking pot and developed flower power, but from then on various other problems of democracy began to emerge. The Civil rights movement in the south and spreading throughout the country. The Anti-Vietnam War protests spreading throughout the world. Gay Pride in San Francisco. Dramatic changes were occurring everywhere and particularly in 1968. The following are just some of the events that we lived through during that year (The list is long):

The Tet Offensive; Richard Nixon announces his candidacy for president.; Around 100 Indians and Pakistanis arrive in Britain from Kenya, escaping discrimination; highway patrol officers killing 3 students and injuring 27 others demonstrating at South Carolina State University; thousands of people in West Berlin demonstrate against the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War; 5,000 Latino high school students in L.A. walk out of their classes to press their demand for better education;  Students demonstrate in Warsaw, Poland; the My Lai massacre -. in one of the most controversial incidents of the Vietnam War, American soldiers kill 400 unarmed Vietnamese civilians; more than 200 people have been arrested after thousands of demonstrators clashed in an anti-Vietnam war protest outside the United States embassy in London; at Howard University in Washington D.C., students seize the administration building in an attempt to gain a greater voice in student discipline and the curriculum; a student riot takes place in Nanterre, near Paris; U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson authorises a troop surge in Vietnam, bringing the total number of United States soldiers to a peak of 549, 500; Martin Luther King Jr., United States civil rights activist, is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. His assassination leads to riots in more than 100 cities in the United States; Five buildings at Columbia University are taken over by students and they briefly hold a dean hostage in a call to the university to cut its ties to military research; a riot takes place between more than 5,000 university students and the police in Paris. Workers throughout France are staging sympathy strikes within a week after the riot, which threatens the French economy; one million French citizens demonstrate against President of France Charles de Gaulle and Georges Pompidou; the Czech government announces liberalising reforms under Alexander Dubček; French president Charles de Gaulle proposes a referendum and students in France set fire to Paris Bourse; the U.S. Supreme Court rules 7-1 that burning a draft card is not an act of free speech protected by the First Amendment; French president Charles de Gaulle disbands the French parliament; the Poor People’s March on Washington D.C. takes place; Robert F. Kennedy is shot three times by Palestinian Sirhan Sirhan, who also wounds 5 others at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California; President of Yugoslavia, Tito, promises reforms in the country; Daniel Ellsberg is indicted for leaking the Pentagon Papers; The Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty is signed by the United States, Britain, the USSR and 58 other nations. It was an international treaty with the aim of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons; the Glenville Shootout takes place in Cleveland between black militants and police, leaving three dead on each side, plus one bystander. Riots continue in the city for 5 days; during the night, 250,000 Soviet and Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia in response to the Prague Spring; the Warsaw Pact forces complete their invasion of Czechoslovakia by arresting the Czech leader Alexander Dubček and forcing him to sign the Moscow Protocols; Police and anti-war demonstrators clash at Chicago’s Democratic National Convention. Police and Illinois National Guardsmen go on a rampage, clubbing and tear-gassing hundreds of anti-war demonstrators, and much of the violence is broadcast on national television; the United States Olympic Committee suspends Tommie Smith and John Carlos for giving the ‘black power’ salute as a protest during the victory ceremony;  with progress in the Paris peace talks, President Lyndon B. Johnson orders a halt to “all air, naval and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam,” effective from the following day; Republican candidate Richard Nixon is elected President of the United States, defeating Democratic candidate Hubert Humphrey and Independent candidate George Wallace; the U.S. Supreme Court decision Epperson v. Arkansas results in the court declaring unconstitutional the law in Arkansas which bans the teaching of evolution in public schools; Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association March in Armagh is stopped by Royal Ulster Constabulary because of the presence of a Loyalist counter demonstration led by Ian Paisley and Ronald Bunting; after a civil rights march in Dungannon, Northern Ireland, a violent crash occurs between Loyalists and those who are taking part in the march; Northern Ireland Prime Minister Terence O’Neill makes a television appeal for moderate opinion in what became known as the Ulster Stands at the Crossroads speech.

 

All that was just over a half century ago. We demonstrated in the hope that democratic changes were on the way. There were high hopes all over the world, despite the horrors of Vietnam and the Troubles of Northern Ireland. Protest against war and political oppression were top of the agenda. There was a world wide notion that peace could be possible and was worth supporting. Harold Wilson, Labour, was Prime Minister in the UK, Lyndon Johnson was leaving the presidency to be replaced by Nixon in January 1969.  Leonid Brezhnev was running the Soviet Union. In France Charles de Gaulle presided over the newly formed Fifth Republic.

 

In the UK a Pathe news piece was shown in cinemas across the country. It was hardly a news report, more of a commentary in full support of the powers that be or were. As was the footage as well.

The French view of Mai ’68 was a more considered view. I hope your French is up to it:

For whatever reason, there was an air of optimism that things could be done, and there was a coming together all over the planet. The was a form of social revolution bubbling away, indeed in the summer of 1969, from the 15^th to the 18^th August over 400,000 people gathered at Woodstock Rock Festival on Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel, New York.

We who watched the happenings, were committed to the idea of individual freedom and, believe it or not, despite the protests, smoking dope, yelling at the ‘pigs’, defying convention and the establishment, believed essentially in the rule of law, to do no harm. We became lawyers, doctors, architects, environmentalists, artists. In effect, recreated an establishment; but, as we were developing our futures a new force came into being, the Thatcher/Reagan years of complete laissez faire capitalism and greed. A selfish gene had embedded itself in the mix. Regulations of the financial markets were shoved aside, which is what eventually led to the 2008 monetary and banking crisis. Attitudes have barely changed since then, now 12 years on, and the people who suffered most have backed leaders who have appealed to them, but are the least able to actually help them, and who have lied to them. Boris Johnson in his clownish public-school demeanour (“They’ve apologised – Cummings, Patel, Hancock… – it’s over, let’s move on”) keeps on and is hardly brought to account. No one is this government actually behaves with integrity according to any ministerial code. A good photo op is all that is required.

As to Donald Trump and his so called base of republican, or rather hard line MAGA thugs, who knows where it will go and whether the Republican Party can find its spine and truly stand up to be counted for responsible democratic government. Otherwise, all one can see ahead is a return to the serious civil unrest of 160 years ago.

In 1861 the war begun

In 1862 the bullets flew

In 1863 the slaves were set free

In 1864 the war was almost or’

In 1865 President Lincoln died

Where will the next Gettysburg take place?

TEACHINGS OF A MAN MADE CHURCH ?

My attention has been drawn to a current religious conundrum: “What about these bonkers bishops denying Biden Communion?” 

I believe this was prompted by a piece in The Economist, United States June 26^th 2021 edition, under the Headline “American Bishops want to deny Joe Biden Catholic Holy communion”. The First paragraph states “While campaigning in South Carolina in October 2019, Joe Biden went to mass, as he does every Sunday. But he was not allowed to receive holy communion at St. Anthony’s Catholic church. Father Robert Morey later explained that he had to refuse Mr Biden “Any public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of church teaching.””

It goes on “Many American Bishops want to formalise this sort of action. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops voted to draft a statement examining the ‘meaning of the Eucharist in the life of the church, a decision made public on June 18^th.” Apparently, there followed a lengthy debate on the question of denying communion to any catholic who advocated for abortion or to allow abortions to take place.

It never ceases to amaze, the rigid ignorance of thought amongst the bishops. Mr Biden, who I am sure is a good catholic who does not attend church services just for show, is a politician. He is now president of the United States. He is meant to represent the people and preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. The First Amendment reads:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

As president Mr Biden therefore has no authority to interfere with or indeed express an opinion on religious matters, or in particular, the will of God. What Mr Biden supports is the individual citizen’s right to choose what religion, or not, they wish to follow and how they choose to lead their religious and moral lives. Religion therefor has no place in politics, nor in the secular education of the nation.  The citizen is free to choose. That is what is of paramount importance, and that is what Mr Biden is protecting and defending. How he personally feels about abortion has nothing to do with it. He is duty bound to support the 1^st Amendment, no matter how difficult it may be for him personally.

The sad thing is that the clergy confuse the issue of abortion as being against the teachings of the church, and not a decision to be made by the individual concerned. Choices are individual judgements and resolutions made after considerable thought. The matter of terminating a pregnancy has never, in my view, ever been a matter for the bishops to pronounce upon as if it were the word of God. Whatever the teachings of the Church might be, it is man-made education and not the word of, or the definitive will, of God. Indeed, for a religious catholic to decide on a termination of a pregnancy, that decision having been made in consultation with God, would clearly be the will of God. Consultation with God is not consultation with a Clergyman of whatever denomination. The clergy are not God, despite their desire to give the impression that they are the voice of God. They are not. Consultation with God is with one’s conscience. It is usually an internal conversation and can have many outcomes. It is not for any individual or government to “prohibit the free exercise thereof.”

If God is love and forgiveness, then for any priest to deny communion to any catholic because of a difference of opinion, is in complete contravention of the teaching of Christ and they should be defrocked and drummed out of the church. Again, the teachings of the Church are not the word of God. They are the word of man, and that is always open to question. If the United States of America, is to call itself ‘one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all’, then it is the will of God that individuals have the right to choose. No man can, nor should, interfere in that.

ANOTHER SHORT POINT OF VIEW

News on the march! First sentence after the opening word, Rosebud, and now it appears after Brexit. There have been a number of op-ed pieces in a variety of newspapers and digital news services streaming round the internet concerning the continuing divisions within the United Kingdom, and its struggle to find its place in the world. They read rather like obituaries.

My own view is that the United Kingdom is the Norma Desmond of Europe. If a weary traveller were sailing along the English Channel, rather like Sunset Boulevard, and happened to turn into land, he might venture to remark “You’re Britain, you used to be big”, and the reply might be “I am big, it’s the world that got small”.  So it did, and the UK, along with it, got even smaller. Now it holds up its deluded face waiting for a closeup, shinning a light on the faded remnants of what used to be, to the tune of Nimrod and the theme from the Dam Busters.

The so called government attempts at ‘levelling up’ have only revealed just how increasingly high and low the levels have become, and the paucity of ideas emanating from ministers completely incapable of accepting the reality of the suicidal referendum of the 23 June 2016, as they twist and turn from that shot in the back, and, rather like William Holden’s Joe Gillis, will end up face down in the pool. Fade to black.

But do not despair, there are small deals being made round the world, and though they might not add up to the deal that previously existed within the European Union’s nearly 500 million customers, they have the great land masses of Australia and Canada with their combined population of 63.5 million customers to trade with. Of course, those countries will, in their turn, be seeking greater economic ties with the nearly 500 million customers in the EU. The Conservative Government has always been of the view that the ‘market will set the agenda’, and indeed, it most likely will. So what price Britain?

The constant distractions of the rather serious pandemic, the Royal Family’s, less serious, domestic problems, sporting tournaments, Netflix, Amazon and Channel 4’s public broadcasting status, have taken the public’s eye off the harsh realities of the situation. It is not just Dominic Cummings who is hopeless, but the entire government and voting system that put them in power, that is hopeless. Mind you, given the statistics on the ignorance and disparity of thought of the majority of the citizenry, it is not surprising. Perhaps that is a harsh and bigoted point of view, but does that make it inaccurate?

 I try to remain upbeat. I am told to smile and to find more joy and fun in my surroundings. Indeed, I do find my personal environment is joyful and I have little to complain about; but one is assaulted on a daily basis with the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, that makes one want to take up arms against this sea of troubles. I oppose them but cannot end them.

I ponder, eat, and drink nice wine. I watch old movies and savour the repartee out of the writings of Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, Ernst Lubitsch and Preston Sturges, spoken by Joel McCrae, Claudette Colbert, John Barrymore, Don Ameche, Eric Blore, Alan Mowbray, Mercedes McCambridge, Helen Broderick, Edward Everett Horton, Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson and many others. It is actually research out of which, like a would be Jacques Derrida, I can deconstruct a point of view. Nobody’s pefect. 

 

TO CAST OR NOT TO CAST, A POINT OF VIEW

Jodie Turner-Smith as Anne Boleyn

Once again the problems of performance are in issue. The casting of black actor Jodie Turner-Smith as Queen Anne Boleyn has caused controversy. Many people have taken exception to what is clearly contrary to the historical evidence that Anne Boleyn was white.

There have been a number of white actors who have portrayed black historical figures. This is now, rightly in my view, frowned upon; however, in the interests of positive action in the casting of dramatic characters, and to create a more even and equal opportunity for employment, it is now thought correct to cast roles without regard to age, race or gender, and look to the actor’s skills and ability to best perform the part.

 

I see nothing wrong in this aspiration, but it does rather overlook the matter of appearance. This does not matter with audio performance, but the very fact that some performances are meant to be seen, means that the overall look and design of a play or film is very much part of its structure. The ‘look’ of the actor is part of that structure, what they wear, how they dress etc. In most instances, then, the actor’s race or gender may not be relevant to the overall performance, but in a number of instances it can make a great deal of difference. Solomon Northup, for example, in Twelve Years a Slave could not possibly be portrayed by a white actor, nor indeed a female actor, although a black female actor could more likely portray the role, but that would be historically inaccurate, and the overall look and feel of the piece would be lacking an element of truth.  It is all very well to suspend one’s disbelief in dramatic presentations, but there are limits that compromise credulity.

 

I understand the need to tackle racism and discrimination in all its forms, and direct action is clearly important in order to rid the world of the evils or prejudice of any kind. Should it succeed, then we will no longer be having this discussion, any actor could play any part without any cause for concern about their age, race or gender. When these matters are no longer ‘issues’ to be discussed and mulled over, discrimination will have become extinct; however, we still have the matter of physical reality.

 

On the whole, actors are cast because they have the characteristics the producers of a performance piece seek for their characters. The producers (in which I included the director, writer, and casting director) will peruse a variety of photographs, résumés, show reels and interviews or may even have an idea of who they want to employ. Often, they will seek to employ someone they believe will be financially beneficial to the project, but if they look to the work as well, they will want that someone to be at least right for the role they have in mind. Sometimes they will indulge in what is referred to as stunt casting. An individual so extreme will be cast in a role for effect and the curiosity factor. The person may not even be a trained actor, just a so-called personality, but that too is inviting problems.

 

One particular genre of film making, the science fiction saga or blockbuster, has thrown open the matter of casting. The characters are creations of fantasy and actors are made up to look like anything the producers require. Age, race or gender matter not one jot. Anyone or anything will do. Its all action, dictator villains and heroes for democracy, with a bit of love and magic thrown in.

When it comes to drama, whether romantic comedy, historical biography, tragedy, thriller or just a story about life and living, let the characters be who they are and let them be portrayed by actors who can be most like them. Let the characters be portrayed by age, gender and race appropriate actors.

 

If actors of a particular age, gender or race feel hard done by, write your own script, get a writer, producer and director interested in the appropriate material. Be proactive. There are now more women’s roles as there are more women writers and directors. Not as many as some would like, but the landscape is changing, and as Bette Davis once remarked “If the work is good enough, the money will look after itself”. I know it is not easy.

 

There have been, over the years, productions that have been performed by ensemble casts, such as the All-Black Macbeth produced by Orson Wells, the all-male Swan Lake, the all-female As you Like It, the all black cast of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Streetcar Named Desire and Death of a Salesman.  They work because of the ensemble casting.

To introduce mixed race or gender into such a mix, would simply create a mixed reception. Some would think nothing of it and some are disconcerted by it. It is introducing an element unnecessary to the work. As well meaning and well intentioned such a mixture might be, it does not enhance the work or make it more meaningful. Talked about, maybe, but not more significant. If one is hung up on the question of casting, one is missing the point of the work, which, in my view, must come first.

 

It’s hard enough portraying life as it is, without mixing issues in an attempt to show how ‘with it’ the producers might be. If you want to address the issues of racism, history is so full of prejudice and evil, that there is no end of material to tackle. Some people are already on board with that. So a black Anne Boleyn with homosexual undertones is not really doing that, no matter how well performed. 

 

WHAT GOES THROUGH THE MIND?

Unease, anxiety and disquiet, symptoms of the present.  A condition of concern in the current consciousness of every citizen. This has been revealed by the pandemic. It has become more openly apparent as a result of nations around the world attempting to avoid the covid virus and variants. The strategies adopted by the various nations of the world have exposed the weaknesses and failures of good government. In order to achieve some degree of separation between individuals, so as to contain the spread of the virus, traditionally democratic governments have had to impose and enforce restrictions on the liberty of the subject, which subjects have reluctantly but, so far, willingly accepted. Traditionally hard-line governments have merely become more so, and used the opportunity to become even more dictatorial. The dissidents within these nations have equally had to accept certain restrictions even more reluctantly than citizens in the so called free democratic societies.

 

Not that demonstrations and attempts at standing up to dictatorial powers have ceased, but they have been less effective in the absence of concerted efforts from other countries having to deal primarily with the health and safety of their own population in the face of the pandemic.  Dictators, as a result, have felt free to exercise their powers, even outside their own borders, and have felt freer to bear down even harder on the objectors within their own population. In this, they also seem have the support of other hard line governments.

 

In order to stem the tide of the epidemic, there has been a significant move towards the right in most countries, and the right has sought to take advantage of the situation to entrench itself in the affairs of men. It is all very subtle but hardly surprising. There had been a shift towards the right even before the pandemic, but there were still greater numbers of citizens reluctant to go along.

 

One saw that in the 2017 French Presidential elections. After the first round of the election, it boiled down to Emmanuel Macron (24% of vote) and Marine Le Pen (21.3% of vote). Not much in it. The final result was 66.1% for Macron and 33.9% for Le Pen. It may seem that Macron’s victory was a foregone conclusion, given the two to one result; however, the mere fact that Le Pen was the second most popular candidate says something, and indicates a much greater level of support on the right that one imagines. That support now seems to be growing as the next general election draws near in 2022. A presidency but two years old at the start of the pandemic, and one engulfed in the ‘Gilets Jaunes’ protests of 2018, a class conflict, calling for an end to austerity, increase in minimum wages and a variety of French, and indeed global, ills. It is yet to be fully resolved and could easily tip the National Front movement into power. There is, whether we like it or not, a growing Nationalist movement in the French Republic.

 

Udo Voigt and David Duke

The influx of refugees in Germany has caused no end of difficulties for the German Government. Although they have no seats in the German or European Parliaments, the National Democratic Party of Germany, a far right political group, has developed links, with David Dukes, White Supremacist, far right parties in Croatia, a Youth Defence group in Ireland and the National Party of Ireland. There have been associations with Forza Nuova in Italy and previous links with the National Front in Britain.  So, the NPD it is not without its global admirers.

 

As to the United States, it has a very worrying push to the right going on at present. There is a continuing refrain, emanating from ex-President Trump, that he will be reinstated as President in the fall, after the latest recounts have been conducted. This will of course not happen; however, there has been growing and more outlandish support from his followers. They continue to repeat his rhetoric and the more he repeats his theme the more they accept whatever he says as true. They have no filter. They open their minds, such as they are, and swallow the lot. The republican party and its officials do nothing to disabuse the troops of what he says. Indeed, in states where they have some say, legislation is being past to limit the scope of voting rights and impose extraordinary conditions to limit the numbers able to vote, particularly aimed at limiting the numbers who might vote for democratic candidates. As to the recovery legislation being sought by President Biden, the Republican party has set itself the task of holding back any attempt to improve the situation of the average American by the democratic party.  The claim is that the Republican Party wants to prevent left wing socialism from overtaking the country. The general public, too stupid to see the sham this claim is, will then blame President Biden for their sorry lot rather than the Republican stalwarts who are preventing them from obtaining the benefits they would receive under the Biden plan. In addition, the pent up violence that makes, those of us watching from abroad, shudder, will no doubt continue to flow across the American landscape. Gun violence will be on the increase and repressive rules and regulations will be aimed, not at the perpetrators of the gun violence, but at those seeking reform.   

 

What is sad, is that dictators can only survive if there is a group of people willing to give support, and accept wholeheartedly the premiss that the dictator has the right to rule. Crowds of demonstrators are dispersed by people following orders. Can they not see that what they are doing is wrong? Do the individual official uniformed crowd controllers, not realize the batons, tasers and rubber bullets they wield and launch, are protecting evil?  What goes through the mind of the individual soldier in the ranks of the Myanmar military who carry out the orders to shoot unarmed civilians? What gives cause for concern to the officials who diverted a domestic flight and arrested Roman Protasevich? What thoughts give pause to the judges and lawyers who enforce the dictator’s rules, completely at odds with any civilised rule of law?

 

Does Donald Trump’s base not realise how he has corrupted the meaning of the Constitution of the United States? Do they not realise that what they are doing is completely contrary to preserving, protecting and defending the Constitution?

 

Dictators and would be dictators can only rule if allowed to do so. They can only do what they do with the support of others of the same mind. How do their minds get that way? How does a Ted Cruz or Kaleigh McEnany, who once vilified Trump, now lick his behind? How do Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy directly condemn Mr Trump for inciting the insurrection of the 6^th January, on the very day, and a few days later accept the it was a jolly walk through the Capitol?

 

Are these people so charismatic that they make people deaf, dumb and blind, and ready to do their bidding no matter what the consequences?   I don’t get it.

 

There is a 1957 melodrama, “The Story of Esther Costello”, starring Joan Crawford, Heather Sears and Rossano Brazzi. It was Samuel Fuller’s first produced screenplay, based on a Nicholas Monsarrat novel. In it, Heather Sears plays Esther Costello who is deaf and blind. She becomes a symbol of a movement to help the unfortunate and is part of an evangelistic promotion, with the help of Joan Crawford. At a late stage in the film, she is raped by Rossano and afterwards, as if by some miracle, she is able to see and hear again. Hallelujah!

 

Does this mean that Trump supporters have to be truly fucked by the Donald to be able to see and hear again? Does that apply to all would be dictatorial leaders and their constituents? I’m just saying.

TO BE OR NOT TO BE BILLY WILDER

Following on from the discussions last Friday evening, in addition to Shakespeare, the director and writer Billy Wilder came up in conversation. Of note, mention was made of a book by Johnathan Coe entitled Mr Wilder and Me. As well as Wilder the names of Ernst Lubitsch and Mitchell Leisen were mentioned. Wilder often said working on his films, he would say to himself “What would Lubitsch do?” I also mentioned a film directed by Leisen called Midnight (1939) with Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, Mary Astor, John Barrymore, Francis Lederer and Hedda Hopper. What I failed to mention was that the film was written by Billy Wilder together with Charles Brackett based on a story by Edwin Mayer. Meyer, another writer, wrote the screenplay for To Be or Not to Be 1942 based on a story by Ernst Lubitsch and directed by Lubitsch. So it comes full circle back to Shakespeare.

The 1942 film starred Jack Benny, Carole Lombard and a host of great character actors Sig Ruman (128 credits), Felix Bressart (67 credits), Tom Dugan (271 credits) Henry Victor (106 credits) Charles Halton (201 credits).

Here is the trailer for Midnight:

The full film can be seen at: https://ok.ru/video/1725382527618

Herewith is To Be Or Not To Be: 

This film was remade by Mel Brooks in 1983.

Some of my younger friends do not recognise the names of most of the actors, writers and directors mentioned in this and other blogs. It is very sad that the extraordinary creative period of sound films from 1929 to 1954 is unknown or unseen by many of the current generation who can only bring themselves to watch films in colour. I know there are film buffs out there, but the mainstream of people are missing a great deal of pleasure.

 

Just cataloguing the work of Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder is amazing:

The afore mentioned Midnight 1939 and To Be Or Not To Be 1942 plus:

Ninotchka 1939 – Director Ernst Lubitsch – Writers Brackett, Wilder and Walter Reisch

Arise My Love 1940 - Director Leisen, Writers Brackett and Wilder

Hold Back the Dawn 1941 – Director Leisen, Writers Brackett and Wilder

Ball of Fire 1941- Director Howard Hawks, Writers Brackett and Wilder

The Major and the Minor 1942 – Director Billy Wilder, writers Brackett and Wilder

Five Graves to Cairo 1943 – Director Billy Wilder – writers Brackett and Wilder 

Double Indemnity 1944 – Director Billy Wilder – writers Wilder and Raymond Chandler

The Lost Weekend 1945 – Director Billy Wilder – writers Brackett and Wilder

To Each his Own 1946 – Director Mitchell Leisen – writers Brackett and Jacques Thery

The Emperor Waltz 1948 – Director Billy Wilder – writers Brackett and Wilder

A Foreign Affair 1948 – Director Billy Wilder – writers Brackett and Wilder

Sunset Blvd 1950- Director Billy Wilder – writers Brackett and Wilder.

 

An extraordinary body of work in those ten years. Both picked up Oscars for writing The Lost Weekend and Sunset Blvd.

 

In 1953 Wilder directed, and wrote a screenplay with Edwin Blum of Stalag 17, staring amongst others, William Holden, who won the Oscar for Best Actor

 

Billy Wilder began working with I.A.L.Diamond and they produced the following:

Love in the Afternoon 1957 -Director Billy Wilder- Writers Diamond, Wilder and Claude Anet 

Some Like It Hot 1959 - Director Billy Wilder – Writers, Wilder and Diamond

The Apartment 1960 – Director Billy Wilder – Writers, Wilder and Diamond

One Two Three  1961 – Director Billy Wilder – Writers Wilder and Diamond

Irma La Douce 1963 – Director Billy Wilder – Writers Wilder and Diamond

Kiss Me Stupid 1964 – Director Billy Wilder – Writers Wilder and Diamond

The Fortune Cookie 1966 – Director Billy Wilder, Writers Wilder and Diamond

 

With one film per evening, a Billy Wilder festival could easily run for three weeks in chronological order, if it hasn't already happened somewhere.

 

Ernst Lubitsch was born in Berlin 1n 1892 – died 1947

Charles Brackett was born in Saratoga Springs, New York in 1892 – died 1969

Mitchell Leisen was born in Michigan in 1898 – died 1972

Billy Wilder was born in Hungary in 1906 – died 2002

I.A.L. Diamond was born in what was once part of Romania in 1920 – died 1988

 

These are just five people, who together with the likes of Preston Sturges, Frank Capra, Herman Mankiewicz, Joseph Mankiewicz, Michal Curtiz, William Wellman, Mervyn LeRoy, John Huston, Orson wells, and several others, have left an extraordinary legacy of work in the space of 21 years. Although some went on to produce great work for the next 15, as did Wilder, it is those years between 1929 and 1950 when film was at its most creative, Storytelling in sight and sound had come of age.