Old Films: ‘The Affairs of Cellini’ and ‘On Human Bondage’ (1934)

 

photo edited by Laura Lai

by Laura Lai/ Review

It is a great feeling to watch some movies gain after a couple of months I did not quite have time for that. After having just reviewed It Happened One Night that got four Academy Awards in 1935 for the Best Actress, Best Actor, Director and the Best Picture, I have just watched other two movies of the 1934 nominated to an Academy Award: The Affairs of Cellini and On Human Bondage.

TheAffairs of Cellini (1934)

Contance Bennett, Frederic March, Frank Morgan

Director: Gregory La Cava

The plot is placed in the city of Florence when ‘a Medici is on the throne – the blood stained crown rests on the head of Alessandro, Duke of Florence.’ Benvenutto Cellini is a romantic goldsmith, who reads poems to women from a beautifully carved little book and they all have a crash on him. He is convicted to death by hanging, but given his speech versatility he escapes death every time, because somehow, in his case, ‘justice was tempered by … wisdom’, as the Duchess suggested. J The whole story is a developing romance between one of Cellini’s girlfriends and the Duke of Florence, and between Cellini and the Duchess of Florence, who had a crush on him, too. For the sensational role he made in the role of Alessandro, the Duke of Florence, Frank Morgan was nominated to the Best Actor Academy Award in 1935.

On Human Bondage (1934)

Bette Davis, Leslie Howard

Director: John Cromwell

Based on a novel by W. Somerset Mangham

The movie starts in Paris with Philip (Leslie Howard) – son of a doctor in London – tries his talent as a painter, but he fails. He returns to London where he retakes his medical studies and starts a toxic love relationship with an arrogant and cold waitress Mildred Rogers (Bette Davis) that makes him fail as a student, makes him jobless and homeless. Everytime he meets another girl, Mildred appears and he breaks up with the others accepting Mildred Rogers until the moment of the truth that is well shaped in the context of the movie. Bette Davis made a sensational role for which she got nominated at the Best Actress Academy Awards in 1935.

            I particularly loved the way the director chose to present the story as a cyclical story: the movie starts and ends with the same footage; he chose to represent the ups and downs of Philip’s social status pointing on his shoes – that were either shining or broken; the time passage I have seen it represented using the calendar symbol in other movies of the those times. Philip meets a good and encouraging girl, Sally, that he meets Sundays and then the other days of the week, too. And this is represented using the calendar symbol, also useful to make the viewer understand the number of Sundays he needed to start a relationship with Sally. Many! As for Mildred it was enough a knock at his door. Sensational technique to point on the contrast! First and foremost, I loved the way the director, John Cromwell, decided to make the action move – through newspaper announcements (a similar symbol used by Frank Capra in It Happened One Night).It was marvelous to read the job advertisements of 1934! J

‘Architect, West London, wants a capable Junior Assistant.’

‘Junior (male) required for the switchboard.’

‘Manager – well established firm in the London area requires the services of a manager for….’ and here follows a looong description.

When is the last time you read such announcements in a newspaper? For a very long time, I only read in newspapers announcements for concierge, hairdressers, tailors, welders, locksmiths, etc. – jobs I am under-qualified for. And I agree that I am under-qualified! Still, people get employed. Where did they read the announcements for the jobs they got??? Another method I learned in my job seeking process is for an announcement to be published, but the job is already taken – unfortunately, the widest spread employment method I have met I many European countries. Then, the paradox of the paradoxes, the people who got jobs that are not in the same newspapers we all read, they have also the nerve to accuse the unemployed that we do not work. I beg your pardon?! But Philip gets a temporary job in a shoe store with the help of Sally’s father and he becomes a doctor after graduating the Medical School in London.

The movies ‘The Affairs of Cellini’ and ‘On Human Bondage’ are both black & white movies, on a high quality upload on YouTube, both with a happy end. Enjoy the movies!

Old Film Reviews: 'It Happened One Night' (1934)

 

by Laura Lai/Review

Ellen Andrews – Claudette Colbert (Best Actress Academy Award, 1935)

Peter Warne – Clark Gable (Best Actor Oscar)

Director – Frank Capra (Best Director Oscar)

and the Academy Award for the Best Picture

On Saturday evening I watched again – on TV this time – one of my favorite movies inspired by a true story: ‘The Queen’. Last time, I watched it in cinema, in 2006, when I was in Switzerland researching for my doctoral thesis. Lately, I have been busy improving different aspects of my writing process. For example, I learned how to write children’s books in PowerPoint and I have just finished a mini-series of three volumes. For the last one, I enjoyed learning to edit pictures and paint.net was just enough as a tool for what I needed for this series. 

            I love embracing different writing experiences – despite authors saying that each writer needs to find its niche – because I think that different ideas need a different writing form to be best expressed. As long as international borders remain close and my process of relocation abroad stagnates, I want to use this precious given time to write and to learn to master new techniques that will always stay useful regardless of how busy my life may turn later. Therefore, I continue practicing on this Writing Blog comments, essays and reviews.

Today, I continue the series of reviewing the old movies of the 1930s. Here is the queen of the 1935 AcademyAwards:‘It Happened One Night’ (1934), directed by Frank Capra. This movie can be characterized in two words: ‘decency’ and ‘surprise’.

            Ellen Andrews (Claudette Colbert) is the daughter of a Wall Street banker, Alexander Andrews (Walter Connolly). She is engaged to a man from her high-society, but she elopes and she travels to New York with different transport means. On this trip, she meets Peter Warne (Clark Gable) – a journalist. In the meantime, the father publishes her daughter’s picture in all newspapers and offers $10,000 for relevant information.

            This story, directed by Frank Capra, puts in contrast the American county life and the city of New York, mainly the Wall Street, as well as the difference of mentalities between these two worlds. There is a scene showing Ellen travelling by bus and telling an agent: ‘I’ll be ten minutes late. Please tell the driver to wait for me.’ The humor of this movie relies precisely on this difference of code of conduct between society’s layers. Another element of humor – that may not have been envisaged as such in 1934, but that is so perceived in 2020 – is the decent use of sexuality: in several scenes, the two protagonists need to share a two-bed room, and they also use a blanket as a curtain between the two beds.

            It is said that even the funds Columbia Pictures had at disposal to produce this movie were also … decent, which not a surprise is given the Great Depression circumstances of the 1930s. Despite the limited funds, the actors were professional. And what happened next, was the box office surprisingly great success! What surprised me at this movie was Frank Capra’s decision to represent in this movie (in 1934 when the society was more patriarchic than nowadays) the man cooking breakfast for his ‘alleged’ wife. In the 21^st century, some young women complain that even after the first night together, the man asks: ‘What do we have for breakfast?’

            The question that remained unanswered to me relates to the title. Why ‘It Happened One Night’ since the elopement lasted more than one night? In one scene, Ellen says that it is the first time she is alone with a man in a room. But this can only be half of the answer. It can’t be that simple! Frank Capra is one of the greatest directors of the 1930s. There must be something Peter does, too, that suggests the title. My opinion is that in which concerns him, the answer is more subtle: when he hitch hikes, he uses his thumb – one thumb. You are very welcome to watch the movie and to have your opinion on this matter that may be very different than mine!

On the occasion of this movie, I liked to have a review of the 1934 American newspapers. And I learned a new word: ‘autogyro’. Ellen’s high-society groom announced in a national newspaper (!) that he would come to his wedding by ‘autogyro’. I waited (impatiently, I would say) to see what that was. It is the predecessor of the ‘private jet’ or the ‘helicopter’. It is interesting to notice that the suggested cooking breakfast concept did not fully make it to the 21^st century, but the habit to come to your wedding with the helicopter (even if it is not organized on the top of the mountain) successfully got to the 21^st century! I have imagination, but I have never ever had fantasies parachuting myself at my own wedding! J

 Enjoy the movie!

Plotter or Pantser? This is the Question!

 ©Laura Lai - my first edited photo!

by Laura Lai/ Essay

As many writers, so many writing processes – this is what the AWC’s article reconfirmed to me. Conducting its research on twenty authors, the short study revealed who prefers to plot in advance the story and who does not (pantser), as well as some of the reasons why they prefer to do so. Plotter or pantser – This is the question!

On the one side are the plotters. The plotter is the author that has an idea of a story, prepares a structure, and knows what happens next in the story and the way the story ends. It prepares a synopsis and sticks to it. For some authors, plotting is the only way (Laura Greaves). The arguments are different from author to author: plotting helps some authors to see their books coming together quicker (Dr. Kim Wilkins), or the need to have a planned structure for a novel-length project (Gary Kemble), and sometimes is the background, such as the screenwriting one, that taught on the importance of having a structure first (Margret Morgan).

On the other side are those authors who call themselves ‘definitely a pantser’ (Tamsin Janu), ‘ultimate pantser’ (Natasha Lester), ‘absolute pantser’ (Sandie Docker), or ‘fundamentally a pantser’ (Lisa Jewell). It is hard not to notice the determination in the answer of all these authors! There are authors who tried to be a pantser, but the call of the plotting voice was stronger. Others used to be pantser, but after being published turned to plotting. Some authors combine both plot and no-plot. For example, Ben Hobson who considers himself only a 90 percent pantser, Carole Wilkinson plots some parts, and Gabrielle Tozer who has at least the beginning prepared. Therefore, the pantser is the author who enjoys the freedom of writing, who let the story take her/him, while s/he enjoys the writing adventure.

Am I a plotter or a pantser? – Good question! I love different writing experiences. For essays, comments, and reviews, as well as humorous sketches I do not plan, but I think before I switch on my computer and start writing. Sometimes I need to research first (watch a movie before the review, read an article, etc.) and I take notes (names, dates, etc.) that accompany me while I am writing.

When it comes to political plays, from the moment I have the idea of a story to the moment I sit and start writing, there are several months I think of the story. The actual writing does not take too long, but the thinking of it takes months. And I think all the time: when I walk, drink my coffee, cook, or do the dishes. From the moment I pick up a topic, there is a thought that constantly preoccupies my mind.

I first make a large research on the topic that only 25-30 percent will show in the play. It is during the research that the story unfolds well in my mind. By the time I start writing, the story is already in my head. I settle on a premise that is unchangeable, but only a general structure (based on drama rules) that is in my mind. I write down words, timetables, and other issues that are relevant and I do not want to omit them. A very detailed outline and concrete synopsis – that I tried – makes me feel preventing new great ideas from sparking anytime during the writing process – and ideas I love. Writing drama is writing dialogue and dialogue is for me more spontaneous, more of a pantser-type, although a certain unfolding plan is ‘imposed’ by the drama rules.

First and foremost, I love the incredible feeling that writing gives. That is the reason why since very young I tried to make time to write some humorous sketches – when one has school and homework, time is limited. Life arranged itself in such a way that later I could research and write all day long. I cannot possibly know how long this divine treat will still last. As it is still given, I make the best use of this time and I am grateful for the joy - a particular type of joy that all authors – plotters or pantser – definitely feel.

Tweeting on Twitter

by Laura Lai/ Uncategorized

Long time no see? It’s been one month break from blogging! It was an August staycation with a precise do to list. With lots (I mean lots) of discipline, I succeeded in ticking almost everything on my list: I learned new things, I read new things, and I also started tweeting – well, not properly, but figuratively, of course!

When? Who?  Since August 2020, I’m also @LaiWriter.

How?            I found a good tutorial on the way to use Twitter (watch here). Then I followed a short tutorial on the proper use of #hashtags on Twitter. Specialists recommend the use of a maximum of two hashtags, expressed in one word, and if there are several words together, to use capital letters for each word (watch here).

 

Why?     My main reason for starting ‘tweeting’ was my wish to meet the #WritingCommunity and those squeezing their minds to participate in the #FuriousFiction contest of the Australian Writers’ Centre. Bytheway, the criteria for the month of August were 500-word funny text containing the following words: dizzy, exotic, lumpy, tiny, twisted, and the word ‘sandwich’. It was an unusual lovely feeling to be alone in front of the computer, but, in the same time, to know that in those 55 hours many great writers are doing their best to answer the challenge and the fun of this monthly writing contest. Despite pandemic restrictions, the month of August was full of emotions: I’ve watched authors opening boxes with their delivered books, I’ve read from authors, who have published their books, I celebrated #InternationalDogDay and I tried to answer the best I could interesting questions and polls.

 

What…      do I tweet? I try to bring the best input I can to the followers and the #CreativeCommunity. I tweet great articles I find on arts in general and writing, in particular; I tweet great political achievements and cartoons; and I tweet great environmental concerns. And when any of my manuscripts are published or self-publish, I’ll let people joining me in enjoying the news.

 

Where…        did I subscribe? I follow mainly writers, as well as film festivals, the White House (because whatever happens in the US impacts the entire globalized world), and I sweeten the sour taste of politics following two great chefs: the #cakeboss Buddy Valastro and Paul Hollywood. Valastro’s cakes are pure art and with Paul Hollywood, the cuisine is not only a creative (practical) field, but a creative science (about the air inside a dough or the way to arrange a dough so that it grows vertically not horizontally, etc.).

 

If the month of August were a bit longer, I would have finished learning to photoshop, but it is just yesterday that I started to learn some tricks. I need to photoshop some pictures for a picture book series project I recently started and enjoyed far more than I expected. After writing a (political) play that is objective and realistic, I write a children’s book to find myself in a true fantasy world, but now, after the last play, I found myself in a short series of pictures books! J