Mr. Carter was a very talented comedian. He died on Sunday, at 93.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/30/arts/television/jack-carter-comedian-who-brought-his-rapid-fire-delivery-to-tv-dies-at-93.html
Monday, June 29, 2015
Friday, June 26, 2015
Orson Welles, follow-up
I noted, in a posting yesterday, that the organizers of the
Orson Welles-related crowdfunding campaign--a project undertaken to raise funds
to complete Welles's 1970s film The Other
Side of the Wind--are seeking $1 million for the project; originally, the
goal had been $2 million.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/finish-orson-welles-last-film#/story
In a news update on the campaign's Indiegogo page, six days ago,
the project's organizers announced that they had secured a matching grant. If the $1 million goal is met, when the
fundraising period concludes in nine days, the project, according to the
organizers, will be receiving an additional $1 million from the unnamed donor.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Orson Welles: "The Other Side of the Wind," and autobiographic fragments
A fundraising effort has been underway since May--via the
crowdfunding site Indiegogo--to complete The
Other Side of the Wind, the unfinished 1970s film by Orson Welles.
In recent years I've become increasingly interested in the work
and life of Mr. Welles--drawn in particular to his extraordinary film career,
as director, writer, and actor. Recently,
after watching films by Welles, on
television (such as The Stranger, The Magnificent Ambersons, and A
Touch of Evil), I have consulted--with enjoyment--the book This is Orson Welles, to learn more
about the particular films. The book,
which first appeared in 1992, features lengthy conversations about Welles's
work, between Welles and Peter Bogdanovich (Mr. Bogdanovich, of course, is himself known
as the director of such exceptional films as Paper Moon, The Last Picture
Show, and What's Up Doc?).
A May 7th New York
Times article about the effort noted that the producers involved with the film
project--as well as Peter Bogdanovich, one of the film's stars--were "hoping
to raise at least $2 million by June 14 to help pay for editing, music and
other postproduction costs."
As of this writing, more than $275,000 has been raised. The financial goal has been
revised; $1 million is now being sought. The fundraising period, too, has been extended; it will end in ten
days. I am hopeful that the campaign will reach its
goal.
(A note about this particular fundraiser: it is described, on its Indiegogo page, as a
"flexible funding" project. Unlike
some crowdfunding efforts, in which donors only pay if the financial target is
reached, all of the funds pledged to the Orson Welles project-- whether the $1
million goal is achieved, or not--will be allotted to the campaign.)
In recent years I've become increasingly interested in the work
and life of Mr. Welles--drawn in particular to his extraordinary film career,
as director, writer, and actor. Recently,
after watching films by Welles, on
television (such as The Stranger, The Magnificent Ambersons, and A
Touch of Evil), I have consulted--with enjoyment--the book This is Orson Welles, to learn more
about the particular films. The book,
which first appeared in 1992, features lengthy conversations about Welles's
work, between Welles and Peter Bogdanovich (Mr. Bogdanovich, of course, is himself known
as the director of such exceptional films as Paper Moon, The Last Picture
Show, and What's Up Doc?).
Another story about Mr. Welles, by the way, recently appeared
in the news. As a May 20th New York Times article noted: "Archivists at the University of Michigan
said this week that they have discovered extensive fragments of, and notes for,
a Welles autobiography in a trove of papers newly purchased from Oja Kodar. Ms.
Kodar, a Croatian actress, was Welles’s companion in the years before he died
in 1985."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/21/movies/archivists-find-fragments-of-an-unfinished-orson-welles-autobiography.html?ref=books
(Image above: cover of 1998 edition of This is Orson Welles, published by Da Capo Press)
(Image above: cover of 1998 edition of This is Orson Welles, published by Da Capo Press)
Friday, June 5, 2015
Radiogram, SPERDVAC, and Books
It's always a pleasure receiving my copy of Radiogram, the Old-Time Radio magazine/newsletter; eleven issues are published each year, by the California-based OTR organization SPERDVAC (the Society to
Preserve and Encourage Radio Drama, Variety and Comedy). The June issue arrived with today's mail, and
I look forward to reading it.
Radiogram is edited by Patrick Lucanio. Dr. Lucanio's books include two written with
Gary Coville: the 1998 book American
Science Fiction Television Series of the 1950s (published by McFarland),
and 2002's Smokin' Rockets: The Romance of Technology
in American Film, Radio and Television, 1945-1962, also brought out
by McFarland. (In 2009, by the way, Mr. Coville wrote a kind review of my book, in Radiogram.)
Radiogram is edited by Patrick Lucanio. Dr. Lucanio's books include two written with
Gary Coville: the 1998 book American
Science Fiction Television Series of the 1950s (published by McFarland),
and 2002's Smokin' Rockets: The Romance of Technology
in American Film, Radio and Television, 1945-1962, also brought out
by McFarland. (In 2009, by the way, Mr. Coville wrote a kind review of my book, in Radiogram.)
Dr. Lucanio is also the author of 1987's
Them or Us: Archetypal Interpretations of
Fifties Alien Invasion Film, published by Indiana University Press.
Here are the amazon.com links for the
above books:
The cost of a subscription to Radiogram is $15 per year. Additional
information about the publication can be found on the SPERDVAC website:
(Above image: November/December 2014 issue of Radiogram)
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