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The truncated scribbled notes to the left were written while watching Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. None of the notes are worth a hill of beans other than the fact that when time-travelling Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) tells the Ernest Hemingway character that "All of modern American literature comes from Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn," he was in truth paraphrasing the real-life
Ernest Hemingway!
Ernest Hemingway!
Personally, the most important characters from the Parisian "Roaring Twenties" scenes are Scott And Zelda Fitzgerald. Because of my obsession with them, I was determined to hate Midnight in Paris. That Scott & Zelda had to play a secondary role to Hemingway is a puke-inducing fact vis-a-vis another fact that Scott Fitzgerald coigned the term "Roaring Twenties." But divine intervention over a cup of Peets coffee injected a respect for cinema reality
and I now kowtow to...
and I now kowtow to...
FIFTY YEARS AND COUNTING OF WOODY ALLEN's GENIUS!
If Woody had allowed the F. Scott Fitzgerald character to have shown his true Roaring Twenties personality, Tom Hiddleston–an actor with a perfect FSF face–
would have chewed up all the scenery.
Professional boxing has an expression: "Pound-for-pound, the best boxer is..."
If only the Academy Awards had a parallel expression: "Second-for-second, the best actor is..." For his seventy-two seconds on screen, a special Oscar should have been given to Adrien Brody for his portrayal of Salvador Dali.
If only the Academy Awards had a parallel expression: "Second-for-second, the best actor is..." For his seventy-two seconds on screen, a special Oscar should have been given to Adrien Brody for his portrayal of Salvador Dali.
I hereby hurl one thousand and one bouquets of praise to cast & crew of Midnight in Paris,
especially you: Alison Pill.
especially you: Alison Pill.
Your Zelda would have made Alabama Beggs proud!Can you find Alabama Beggs
in this collage?
How about now?
Ooops. My Bad: Alabama Beggs
is Zelda Fitzgerald through
the Looking Glass.
That is, the ballerina featured
on the book cover below is
"Alabama Beggs."
Technically, SAVE ME THE WALTZ is a work of fiction. Historically, it is much closer to the non-fiction story of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald and Francis Scott Fitzgerald. The only major nod to fiction is that the latter–named David Knight in the book–is a famous painter rather than writer.
The next Mark Twain reference appears here.
I believe Alabama was missing from the earlier version of Mischmasch and Me (Part Deux). Or perhaps I missed it. Or perhaps this entry grew Scwitterslike during the night. Anyway, I want to know how the caged bird got caged and who put her there. Forget whether she's singing or begging. Was it possible for a man to put his wife away simply because she got in the way? Or was it something less sinister than that? And--the questions keep piling up--what was her diagnosis?
ReplyDeleteAlabama Beggs is first mentioned immediately above the 2nd posted photo AND immediately after referencing "Allison Pill," the actress who portrayed Zelda Fitzgerald in "Midnight in Paris."
ReplyDeleteThe decision for Zelda's institutionalization wasn't necessarily Scott's alone.
In "F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Critical Portrait" author HENRY DAN PIPER devotes a whole chapter to "Save Me The Waltz." You might want to check it out.
Also, the pre-eminent biography of Mrs. Fitzgerald is entitled "Zelda" by Nancy Milford.
As for the Caged Bird: I will be corresponding with the people who have owned the property since before the bird was "caged."