The Daily Grand and Sundry

This is the 500th Edition of THE DAILY GRAND and SUNDRY Blog.

This Blog  would like to honor this occasion by ruminating on the TEA PARTY, WILD RIVER and Ms. Jo Van Fleet, and the prescience of Elia Kazan. Fifty years ago, his film,  WILD RIVER was released; in it is the best explanation of TEA PARTY principles ever given, by Jo Van Fleet to Montgomery Clift. 

Over the  course of the last year, I have gotten quite a few emails from denizens of Europe asking me to explain the notorious TEA PARTY. 

To my European readers, The TEA PARTY is deeper than a slogan, or fecklessness, or cribbing glibness, or designer shallowness. It is Jo Van Fleet in WILD RIVER(1960). Fifty years ago, FIFTY YEARS AGO, 50 years ago, Jo Van Fleet laid it all out in the film WILD RIVER.  Jo Van Fleet gave birth to the TEA PARTY right then. 

BACK STORY

The Tennessee River was a killer, so the United States Government, under Franklin Delano Roosevelt, decided to tame the river, the wild river, by creating the Tennessee Valley Authority(TVA) and building a series of dams along the river.

The dams would flood out old homesteads, so Federal agents fanned out through the path of the floods to buy the land.  WILD RIVER is about the one woman who would not sell out to the Federal Government, the first Tea Partier.

WILD RIVER is one of the great American films EVER made. It starred Montgomery Clift as the young do gooder from Washington, brought in to convince the lady farmer to sell out, and a radiant Lee Remick as the young widow who falls for him.

It was Directed by the towering genius of American theater and film, Elia Kazan.

If you have ever wondered where the ideology of the TEA PARTY comes from, it comes from Jo Van Fleet articulating the rights of the people above the rights of the government, even above the rights of progress(something we should all remember concerning the situation in Afghanistan).

With great honor, and humility, in this 500th Edition, this Blog honors the 50th anniversary of WILD RIVER by sharing with you, Jo Van Fleet in WILD RIVER.   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mUepS6mhL4

 Elia Kazan

This  Greek, born in a country which no longer exists(the Ottoman Empire) came to America at the age of four. This immigrant knew more about America, and the Tea Party  than any living pundit or politician, including Mama Grizzlies.

Jo Van Fleet in WILD RIVER, The First Tea Partier

There is something going on comparable to  La Nouvelle Vague ,happening right now on the West Side of Los Angeles. This WestSide New Wave is spearheaded by actor/film maker Nate Golon, Director/editor Andre Welsh, Writer/Actor Kimberly Legg, British actor Leanne Wilson and American actor, Chioke Jelani Clanton

British born and trained Leanne Wilson is an actor whose talent brings into focus the current state of  acting.

Actors ask me what I am looking for in actors?,

In male actors, that is easy; Nelson Mandela once said of Sean Connery that Connery reminded him of a lethal panther. Nelson Mandala who brought down a way of life, respected the image of Sean Connery, an actor.

Male actors, who want to be leading men, should aspire to that, lethal danger.

That does not mean mastery of the F word, histrionics, ranting, raving. It means a projection of quiet lethality, which men n the audience will recognize as dangerous. It means Sean Connery or Russell Crowe or Samuel L. Jackson.

To be an American leading man, you have to project an American danger, which Glenn Ford  summated in that underrated Western, THE VIOLENT MEN. “I will fight to be left alone.”

That is American leading man’s  danger in a nutshell, I will fight to be left alone;in the end that is what the American militia movement is all about.

What do you look for in female actors, beauty? figure? sexiness? Yes, but also two more subtle qualities, authenticity and authority.

So many current American female actors are burdened, chained, enslaved by modernity. In their acting, they troll and troll, and troll the superficial. Drawing their frame of reference from Reality Tv, or Music Videos or Modernity itself, they are incapable of giving an authentic performance.

Their performances are all caricature of the superficial, for example, CLOTHES. I submit that SEX AND THE CITY and THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA were all about clothes. They were both superficial trolling of clothes and women. A great many modern female actors could have played those roles, but if you made a movie about clothes that was not superficial very few modern American female actors could do it.

You, the reader, want a non superficial film about women’s clothes? I give you JEZEBEL starring Bette Davis, and Henry Fonda. The movie is based on the female lead wearing a Red dress to a White Dress Ball. She does, and all hell breaks loose. There are a handful of female actors who could do that role today,Halle Berry being one. One of the others is Leanne Wilson.

Modernity is a curse to modern female actors, it colors everything they do, so that they don’t act per se, they just replicate. Meg Ryan was wonderful in SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE and YOU’VE GOT MAIL. But when she had to do a role stripped of modern sensibility and act the role without affectation, like in RESTORATION; well, as she was doing the mad woman’s dance, you wanted to get up out of the audience, step into the movie, cover her head with a blanket and spirit her away.

These are the best all time female performances by a female actor

Lee Remick in WILD RIVER, in which the sheer ferocity of her lower class, white trash love will make a man out of the Wuss bureaucrat, and get her family a respectable middle class life.

Jo Van Fleet in WILD RIVER in which she memorializes the old ways, and in the scene with the dog and the black man symbolizes why people loathe the Government, regardless of how well intended that Government.

Bette Davis in JEZEBEL, the pure life force in every woman

Joan Crawford in MILDRED PIERCE, the dignity of struggle

Olivia De Haviland in THE HEIRESS, on why women really hate men; accused of being mean, she responds, based on her experience with men, “I have learned from masters.”

Meryl Streep in SOPHIE’S CHOICE, women against the Gods.

I look for a female actor who can do one or all of these roles;I am a fan of Leanne Wilson because she can.

THE AUTHORITY OF BEING WORTHY

The best of female roles is not the ones in which she has supernatural power like BUFFY, or is empowered to no end, like the typical Holly Hunter role, or when she can do cartoon things like LARA CROFT. Our current crop of female actors want to hide behind cartoonish ”:empowerment” in which they can slap or kick the men on the screen and nothing happens to them in return.

Female actors must have the authority to stand their ground with strong male characters, without karate, or tricks, or vampire slaying abilities. Helen Mirren comes to mind. Men defer to her inner strength, not her karate ability.  Holly Hunter would have you believe that a 6 foot man would not mess with her because she could knock him out. Helen Mirren asks you to believe a barbarian would not mess with her because he sees her as worthy.

The best female actor in the world today is  Sigourney Weaver; she is deft at side splitting comedy as in GALAXY QUEST, powerful as RIPLEY in  the ALIEN films, or  vain glorious  in WORKING GIRL (ten times better than THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA), and continually sexy. She has mastered the authority of being worthy, which I believe is critical to female leads.

No other young female acor has a better chance of being Sigourney Weaver than Leanne Wilson.

 www.leanne-wilson.co.uk

9http://workshoptheseries.com/watch.php?s=1&ep=9

She can also be seen in STORAGE and was featured   recently on NBC’s ‘Better Off Ted’ :
 
http://www.hulu.com/watch/119286/better-off-ted-the-long-and-winding-high-road 
 
She  is currently in talks to film a new 3D feature film.  

You go girl.

 

 LEANNE WILSON

Every week I get together with some old buddies from my days at the Defense Department, all divorced. Some weeks we play poker, other weeks we are engaged in a chess tournament, which I am losing.

Six guys, all of whom have acquitted themselves well in dangerous situations; all have proof that we are not cowards. We would all like to get married again; but each and  all are deathly afraid of modern women, not the power of modern women(that is a challenge), but their insane internal logic.

One of our favorite programs is the JOY BEHAR SHOW; it consoles us. After watching it, we know it is better to be single than married to one of those nitwit ninnies who appear on her program. Her show is a great relief to the loneliness of divorced men.

Case in Pont

See  this toothpick below , she wants a baby….at 35….so she is having IVF treatemnts which are televised on her own reality TV show.Her Doctor says that gaining five to ten pounds will enhance her chances of having a baby naturally, and she desperately wants a baby. But she does not  want a natural baby, naturally enough to gain five pounds. She thinks she looks good the way she looks now; thank God for Dominican women.

We use to hang Germans as war criminals when they made women this skinny.

My question is, with thinking like that, can the Apocalypse get here soon enough?

 

THIS IS THE TRANSCRIPT FOR HER APPEARANCE WITH HER DOLT HUSBAND ON THE JOY BEHAR SHOW, THIS IS UNEDITED.

GIULIANA RANCIC, E! NEWS: That was scary. You never want to hear your doctor say, “I`ve never seen that before.”

BILL RANCIC, “GIULIANA & BILL”: Yes, that`s not good.

G. RANCIC: So usually, the uterus in the middle?

B. RANCIC: Right. And this (INAUDIBLE) half their lifetime.

G. RANCIC: How weird is that.

Immediately I was like, we can`t have a baby. This is the problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BEHAR: She is the beautiful managing editor and anchor for “E News” and he`s the handsome winner of the first season of “Apprentice”; probably the best-looking one on there, besides Donald, of course.

Today they make married life look easy; I guess, they`re also magicians. On their hit reality series “Giuliana and Bill” on the Style Network.

Joining me now are Giuliana and Bill Rancic. Thanks for being here, guys.

G. RANCIC: Thank you Joy.

BEHAR: You know, you guys have been trying to get pregnant this season and I see that the cameras are right up there; a little intimate. I mean, Katie Couric did have a colonoscopy on television. So we`re sort of used to it at this point.

G. RANCIC: Right.

BEHAR: Are you?

G. RANCIC: If she did it, I can do it.

BEHAR: Yes.

G. RANCIC: You know what I mean, I know a lot of people call me and my mom is like, must you show your uterus on television? And I`m like, “Hey, mom if it`ll help people, you know and educate women, why not?”

BEHAR: Right.

G. RANCIC: Because what we are talking about and fertility is something that`s very taboo that a lot of people don`t talk about, especially people in Hollywood.

BEHAR: Why is that?

G. RANCIC: There`s a stigma tied to having a baby the unnatural way.

BEHAR: Oh yes.

G. RANCIC: But the way we feel is, it doesn`t matter if you have a baby through IVF, if through a surrogate mother, if you adopt a baby. At the end of the day, you have a baby, right?

BEHAR: What about the stork, have you considered that?

G. RANCIC: The stork?

BEHAR: Go ahead, Bill.

B. RANCIC: I just want to say, it`s amazing how many couples out there it affects. And how many people have identified with what we`re going through on the show. I don`t think a day has gone by in the last two months where someone hasn`t come up to us, whether it`s at an airport or whether it`s you know, walking across the street and saying, “I`m going through the same thing or my sister is going through the same thing.”

So a lot of people certainly have been identifying with we`re sharing in the show.

BEHAR: Do you like that when people come up and say I`ve seen your uterus on TV?

B. RANCIC: Well –

BEHAR: And I was wondering if you could help me.

G. RANCIC: Only when they compliment and when they go my God it`s a beautiful uterus.

BEHAR: What a gorgeous uterus you have.

B. RANCIC: That`s the best looking Italian uterus that I`ve ever seen.

G. RANCIC: You know, it`s a little funny at first –

BEHAR: Yes.

G. RANCIC: — but people used to come up to us for different reasons. And I actually would like them coming up to us for this reason, you know and saying thank you for helping us. More than seven women had problems getting pregnant.

BEHAR: It`s an age thing, right?

G. RANCIC: It is an age thing.

BEHAR: Mostly.

G. RANCIC: Yes.

B. RANCIC: For couples 35 years of age or older, it`s a — to get pregnant naturally on a monthly basis, you have about a five percent to seven percent chance. So the numbers are stacked against you –

BEHAR: Five to seven percent chance –

B. RANCIC: — of you getting pregnant –

BEHAR: — per month.

B. RANCIC: — per month, right.

BEHAR: Ok.

B. RANCIC: Of actually conceiving a baby.

BEHAR: Naturally, yes.

B. RANCIC: So — when you`re — when you`re 35 years old, the deck is — the odds are stacked against you.

BEHAR: I know.

B. RANCIC: You know, it`s not good.

G. RANCIC: When you`re 20, you can get pregnant like that.

BEHAR: I know and they never want to.

B. RANCIC: Right, right.

G. RANCIC: They never want to.

BEHAR: That`s the irony of it.

G. RANCIC: Of course and so meanwhile, they`re — we are — and that`s what I thought, I was in my 20s and I thought, my gosh, I would look at these women in Hollywood, these actresses with these kid and I would say, “Oh, when I`m 35, 40, I`ll pop out a couple of twins, too.

BEHAR: Yes, yes.

G. RANCIC: And then I reached 35 years old and I realized this is very difficult.

BEHAR: Yes, a lot of women in their 50s and 60s are having babies, too.

G. RANCIC: They are. They`re using surrogates, by the way. It`s because the egg –

BEHAR: Oh, right, so what about a surrogate?

G. RANCIC: You know, we`re not at that point yet. We`re not at that point yet, right now we`re starting our first round of IVF next week. So we`ll see what happens.

BEHAR: Right, now you were on “The View” this morning with me.

G. RANCIC: Yes.

BEHAR: Both of you. And people are buzzing. Of — after you left, there was buzz, buzz, buzz about your reluctance to gain weight. You`ve got a — let me show people what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

G. RANCIC: My doctor recommended that I gain weight in order to start ovulating consistently. You know –

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like a lot of weight like does he say like 15 pounds, 20 pounds?

B. RANCIC: Five to ten –

G. RANCIC: He said five to 10 pounds –

B. RANCIC: Yes.

G. RANCIC: — which I know isn`t a big deal and if you want to have a baby you should do whatever it takes. But it`s just — I had to bite that bullet.

B. RANCIC: Yes.

G. RANCIC: I finally did gain -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How much?

G. RANCIC: — five pounds, five pounds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BEHAR: Now, you realize if you get pregnant you`re going to gain weight.

G. RANCIC: Of course.

BEHAR: You know that?

G. RANCIC: Of course, but here`s the thing. I look at all these women who are thin and get pregnant. Look at Nicole Richie, she weighs 80 pounds.

BEHAR: She was considered anorexic at some point.

B. RANCIC: Right.

G. RANCIC: She had a couple of kids.

BEHAR: Yes.

G. RANCIC: You know, look at Angelina Jolie who carried twins, who`s half my size. So I see a lot of these women and my sister`s friends, I know a lot of people who have been very thin and gotten pregnant. Let me tell you something. If infertility were that easy, if the answer was to gain five pounds, infertility wouldn`t be a problem.

That`s not the real problem.

B. RANCIC: Yes.

G. RANCIC: And unfortunately we work in a very shallow business –

BEHAR: Yes.

G. RANCIC: — especially I do. Over — we`re not doing hard- hitting news over at E!, we`re critiquing fashion and the way people look. And so it`s a tougher bullet to bite. He doesn`t agree of course.

BEHAR: What do you think, Bill? Come on.

B. RANCIC: No, I think that`s — is that a factor? 100 percent, I think weight is a factor. When you exercise a lot, that puts a lot of stress on your body.

BEHAR: Yes.

B. RANCIC: Working the hours that she works, you know, you`ve got to — at some point you`ve got to slow the train down because your body is saying you`re not going to be able to have a baby with this pace and with this lifestyle.

G. RANCIC: But I have, I have.

BEHAR: But she has, but she`s reluctant.

B. RANCIC: Oh, very reluctant, yes.

BEHAR: She`s reluctant.

G. RANCIC: I`ve done, 35 years I`ve been busting my butt, you know, working hard. I don`t want to stop. I want to keep going –

BEHAR: I know, but that is that is the dilemma that women face constantly.

G. RANCIC: Right.

BEHAR: Because you know it`s a man`s world, Giuliana.

G. RANCIC: Yes.

BEHAR: I mean, really it is.

B. RANCIC: I don`t know about that.

BEHAR: In any way.

G. RANCIC: Yes.

BEHAR: It has to be, because who else gets IVF treatments and hormone shots and everything else.

B. RANCIC: Yes.

B. RENCIC: She`s got the hard job in this.

BEHAR: We had a guy on today who — his sperm count was like the worst. Yet his wife had to go through four years of IVF treatment.

G. RENCIC: Isn`t that incredible?

B. RENCIC: Well, it`s a bad deal.

BEHAR: But you know, I think, Giuliana, you might have to put some pounds on. Just gain some –

B. RENCIC: We`re going to take her out for a big bowl of pasta.

BEHAR: You know how to lose weight. You gain 10, you lose 10 the next month.

G. RENCIC: I know, I know. Everyone at home likes to e-mail and say, are you pregnant? You look fat today.

BEHAR: I know. But it`s unbelievable.

(CROSSTALK)

It is unbelieveable; she wants a kid, but won’t gain five pounds to get a kid, how do you deal with a mentality like that?

As we played poker, we were watching this show as background noise;as we paid attention, the six of us became very quiet, all born out of our time. We are six orphaned Knights Templar,all in love with Lee Remick(Yes Richard I read your email)

. LEE REMICK about to make a man out of Montgomey Clift in WILD RIVER.

WILD RIVER Directed by Elia Kazan is one of the great American films of all time, with two of the greatest female acting experiences ever, the one by Ms. Remick, and the towering one by Jo Van Fleet. 

As I was watching the scenes between O’Rourke and the female actor who played the daughter, I kept going back to Peter O’Toole’s performance, as a disappointing father, in MY FAVORITE YEAR. There is a scene in the film, set after O’Toole has gotten the audience to love him, in which his big, black limousine drives out to some suburb to reconcile with his young daughter. The automobile stops, and across the way, the young daughter is playing in the yard.  The camera lingers on the car just sitting  still, and the audience is rooting, begging, imploring O’Toole to get out of the car and embrace his daughter, reconciliation, redemption. But his car slowly drives away; with his daughter watching it leave, astride her bicycle, knowing that it was her father running away from her again.

As  a  father who lost his daughter permanently, the heartbreak of that scene, of missed opportunity, is overwhelming.

Anyway, Marisa Tomei was wonderful.

On another issue, in fifty years, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE  will have as much classic cred as IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE.