User:TPoole/sandbox: Difference between revisions

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to consider and understand. I believed those words as I spoke them, and most of the time I still do. I am both a film historian and a filmmaker, so I probably have little choice in the matter.

After all, the best film education is viewing films, and viewing them repeatedly. Orson Welles did just that with Ford’s ''Stagecoach'' (1939) before he directed ''Citizen Kane'' (1941).Over six decades later, a graduating film student that I knew—one who was highly astute and very talented—told a university program director that he believed the money he spent on tuition would have more wisely been used to purchase the entire Criterion Collection on DVD. The program director did not appreciate or understand his argument

After all, the best film education is viewing films, and viewing them repeatedly. Orson Welles did just that with Ford’s ''Stagecoach'' (1939) before he directed ''Citizen Kane'' (1941).Over six decades later, a graduating film student

that I knew—one who was highly astute and very talented—told a university program director that he believed the money he spent on tuition would have more wisely been used to purchase the entire Criterion Collection on DVD. The program director did not appreciate or understand his argument

but, well, that is hardly surprising. Most of the stupidest people I’ve ever met have the letters “PhD” after their names.

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Mailer’s film career is another matter. Cinematic adaptations of his literature

began with ''The Naked and the Dead'' (1958), and continued with such films as ''See You in Hell, Darling'' (1966), ''Marilyn: The Untold Story'' (1980), and ''The Executioner’s Song'' (1982). But then there is also the quartet of films that Mailer directed over a period of two decades: ''Wild 90'' (1968), ''Beyond the Law'' (1968), ''Maidstone'' (1970), and ''Tough Guys Don’t Dance'' (1987). At the time of this writing, the first three are not available on DVD in the United States.

began with ''The Naked and the Dead'' (1958), and continued with such films as ''See You in Hell, Darling'' (1966), ''Marilyn: The Untold Story'' (1980), and ''The Executioner’s Song'' (1982). But then there is also the quartet of films that Mailer directed over a period of two decades: ''Wild 90'' (1968), ''Beyond the Law'' (1968), ''Maidstone'' (1970), and ''Tough Guys Don’t Dance'' (1987). At the

time of this writing, the first three are not available on DVD in the United States.

''Tough Guys Don’t Dance'' is readily available, as are its many bad reviews.

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Mailer later admitted that ''Wild 90'' was “tremendously amateurish,” but he was also firm in his belief that there were “elements in it that . . . were different from all the movies” he had ever seen {{sfn|Mailer|1967}}. “Together with all the rough hewn sloppiness of the film,” he said, “there was also in it something vital that I liked” {{sfn|Mailer|1967}}. It was that same kind of vitality that he tried to explore in ''Beyond the Law'' and ''Maidstone''. As he claimed onscreen during a scene in ''Maidstone'', “We made a movie by a brand new process.”

In his published essay “A Course in Film-Making,” which was ostensibly about the production of ''Maidstone'', Mailer modulated his position. He noted that he was not the first to “do fiction in documentary form” {{sfn|Mailer|1971|p=217}}. Some person or group of persons had evidently brought this fact to his attention. Various filmmakers had worked without scripts, including the likes of Charlie Chaplin. The faking of non-fiction footage had long roots, ranging from the early cinema period (with its fabricated images of the Spanish-American War and famous boxing matches) to newsreels of the thirties (as lampooned in MGM’s 1938 feature ''Too Hot to Handle'' with Clark

In his published essay “A Course in Film-Making,” which was ostensibly about the production of ''Maidstone'', Mailer modulated his position. He noted

that he was not the first to “do fiction in documentary form” {{sfn|Mailer|1971|p=217}}. Some person or group of persons had evidently brought this fact to his attention. Various filmmakers had worked without scripts, including the likes of Charlie Chaplin. The faking of non-fiction footage had long roots, ranging from the early cinema period (with its fabricated images of the Spanish-American War and famous boxing matches) to newsreels of the thirties (as lampooned in MGM’s 1938 feature ''Too Hot to Handle'' with Clark

Gable). And fictional films like ''Citizen Kane'' (1941) had employed documentary

film aesthetics nearly three decades before ''Wild 90''.

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Of Mailer’s first three films, the inaugural ''Wild 90'' is the most austere. Onscreen text informs us, “Once three guys from Brooklyn were hold up in

a room and couldn’t get out for various vague reasons.” These guys, who are

“Maf Boys,” have already spent 21 days in that location when we meet them. One is Prince, played by Mailer. Another is Buzz Cameo, who shares his first name with Buzz Farber, the actor who portrayed him. The third is Mickey (aka, “20 Years”), who also bore the same first name as the man who assumed the role: Mickey Knox, the only one of the three who was a professional film actor.

“Maf Boys,” have already spent 21 days in that location when we meet them. One is Prince, played by Mailer. Another is Buzz Cameo, who shares his first name with Buzz Farber, the actor who portrayed him. The third is Mickey (aka, “20 Years”), who also bore the same first name as the man who assumed

the role: Mickey Knox, the only one of the three who was a professional film actor.

The trio pass the time by talking, by arguing, by fighting. “If you ever find

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they are, but not by rival gangsters or by the authorities. A film camera watches them. Prince acknowledges that fact at the film’s conclusion, when he looks directly into the lens and says, “Goodnight,” thus violating a longstanding Hollywood taboo. The observed has become the observer. It is in that moment that Mailer best captures the tension between fiction and nonfiction

filmmaking.

Shortly after completing ''Wild 90'', Mailer wrote and directed ''Beyond the

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 to consider and understand. I believed those words as I spoke them, and most of the time I still do. I am both a film historian and a filmmaker, so I probably have little choice in the matter.
-After all, the best film education is viewing films, and viewing them repeatedly. Orson Welles did just that with Ford’s ''Stagecoach'' (1939) before he directed ''Citizen Kane'' (1941).Over six decades later, a graduating film student that I knew—one who was highly astute and very talented—told a university program director that he believed the money he spent on tuition would have more wisely been used to purchase the entire Criterion Collection on DVD. The program director did not appreciate or understand his argument
+After all, the best film education is viewing films, and viewing them repeatedly. Orson Welles did just that with Ford’s ''Stagecoach'' (1939) before he directed ''Citizen Kane'' (1941).Over six decades later, a graduating film student
+{{pg|170|171}}
+that I knew—one who was highly astute and very talented—told a university program director that he believed the money he spent on tuition would have more wisely been used to purchase the entire Criterion Collection on DVD. The program director did not appreciate or understand his argument
 but, well, that is hardly surprising. Most of the stupidest people I’ve ever met have the letters “PhD” after their names.
@@ Line 29: / Line 32: @@
 Mailer’s film career is another matter. Cinematic adaptations of his literature
-began with ''The Naked and the Dead'' (1958), and continued with such films as ''See You in Hell, Darling'' (1966), ''Marilyn: The Untold Story'' (1980), and ''The Executioner’s Song'' (1982). But then there is also the quartet of films that Mailer directed over a period of two decades: ''Wild 90'' (1968), ''Beyond the Law'' (1968), ''Maidstone'' (1970), and ''Tough Guys Don’t Dance'' (1987). At the time of this writing, the first three are not available on DVD in the United States.
+began with ''The Naked and the Dead'' (1958), and continued with such films as ''See You in Hell, Darling'' (1966), ''Marilyn: The Untold Story'' (1980), and ''The Executioner’s Song'' (1982). But then there is also the quartet of films that Mailer directed over a period of two decades: ''Wild 90'' (1968), ''Beyond the Law'' (1968), ''Maidstone'' (1970), and ''Tough Guys Don’t Dance'' (1987). At the
+{{pg|171|172}}
+time of this writing, the first three are not available on DVD in the United States.
 ''Tough Guys Don’t Dance'' is readily available, as are its many bad reviews.
@@ Line 45: / Line 51: @@
 Mailer later admitted that ''Wild 90'' was “tremendously amateurish,” but he was also firm in his belief that there were “elements in it that . . . were different from all the movies” he had ever seen {{sfn|Mailer|1967}}. “Together with all the rough hewn sloppiness of the film,” he said, “there was also in it something vital that I liked” {{sfn|Mailer|1967}}. It was that same kind of vitality that he tried to explore in ''Beyond the Law'' and ''Maidstone''. As he claimed onscreen during a scene in ''Maidstone'', “We made a movie by a brand new process.”
-In his published essay “A Course in Film-Making,” which was ostensibly about the production of ''Maidstone'', Mailer modulated his position. He noted that he was not the first to “do fiction in documentary form” {{sfn|Mailer|1971|p=217}}. Some person or group of persons had evidently brought this fact to his attention. Various filmmakers had worked without scripts, including the likes of Charlie Chaplin. The faking of non-fiction footage had long roots, ranging from the early cinema period (with its fabricated images of the Spanish-American War and famous boxing matches) to newsreels of the thirties (as lampooned in MGM’s 1938 feature ''Too Hot to Handle'' with Clark
+In his published essay “A Course in Film-Making,” which was ostensibly about the production of ''Maidstone'', Mailer modulated his position. He noted
+{{pg|172|173}}
+that he was not the first to “do fiction in documentary form” {{sfn|Mailer|1971|p=217}}. Some person or group of persons had evidently brought this fact to his attention. Various filmmakers had worked without scripts, including the likes of Charlie Chaplin. The faking of non-fiction footage had long roots, ranging from the early cinema period (with its fabricated images of the Spanish-American War and famous boxing matches) to newsreels of the thirties (as lampooned in MGM’s 1938 feature ''Too Hot to Handle'' with Clark
 Gable). And fictional films like ''Citizen Kane'' (1941) had employed documentary
 film aesthetics nearly three decades before ''Wild 90''.
@@ Line 65: / Line 74: @@
 Of Mailer’s first three films, the inaugural ''Wild 90'' is the most austere. Onscreen text informs us, “Once three guys from Brooklyn were hold up in
 a room and couldn’t get out for various vague reasons.” These guys, who are
-“Maf Boys,” have already spent 21 days in that location when we meet them. One is Prince, played by Mailer. Another is Buzz Cameo, who shares his first name with Buzz Farber, the actor who portrayed him. The third is Mickey (aka, “20 Years”), who also bore the same first name as the man who assumed the role: Mickey Knox, the only one of the three who was a professional film actor.
+“Maf Boys,” have already spent 21 days in that location when we meet them. One is Prince, played by Mailer. Another is Buzz Cameo, who shares his first name with Buzz Farber, the actor who portrayed him. The third is Mickey (aka, “20 Years”), who also bore the same first name as the man who assumed
+{{pg|173|174}}
+the role: Mickey Knox, the only one of the three who was a professional film actor.
 The trio pass the time by talking, by arguing, by fighting. “If you ever find
@@ Line 92: / Line 104: @@
 they are, but not by rival gangsters or by the authorities. A film camera watches them. Prince acknowledges that fact at the film’s conclusion, when he looks directly into the lens and says, “Goodnight,” thus violating a longstanding Hollywood taboo. The observed has become the observer. It is in that moment that Mailer best captures the tension between fiction and nonfiction
 filmmaking.
+{{pg|174|175}}
 Shortly after completing ''Wild 90'', Mailer wrote and directed ''Beyond the