“There’s no place like home”, “Frankly, Scarlett, I don’t give a damn”, “She gave me water”, “You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din.”…….

As a Film Historian,1939 is a very important year in the annals of film history. In 2014, we celebrate the 75th anniversary of such films as The Wizard of Oz, Gone With The Wind, Goodbye Mr. Chips, Gunga Din, Wuthering Heights, and others.

We are now eight months into 2014, and I have commemorated this very important year with a number of courses and film lectures. 

I recently returned to Hofstra University, to tape an Alumni edition of SOUNDTRACK, the film and theatre music program I used to host and write, as a B.A. English major at Hofstra University. Recently, I was invited back as an Alumni of WRHU to produced a SOUNDTRACK program. My hour was devoted to Film scores from Films of 1939.   As I brought out in the program, the question is: Why were so many wonderful films produced in 1939? Obviously, Directors and Producers did not get together and say, “Hey, this is 1939, and we are going to produce the greatest films ever”. No, not just that. But Hollywood was looking back at itself. The Museum of Modern Art, in New York, had been developing a Film Library, and a March of Time Newsreel presented an overview of how Hollywood was looking back on itself. What had Hollywood accomplished during the silent era, and its transition into sound films. Where was Hollywood going? What about the technology? That was constantly getting better: cinematography, sound, and the use of Technicolor.  There was also the fact that war was brewing in Europe. Poland would be invaded in the Fall of 1939.

There was a also a major influence in British themed films.  One of the courses that I taught twice this year, The British Influence: From Novel To Screen, 1939, at both LIU: C.W. Post, and as a series at the Syosset Public Library, I discussed and screened such films as Gunga Din, Wuthering Heights, The Hound Of The Baskervilles, and Goodbye Mr. Chips. The Bristish market was the only market not affected in 1939. MGM had set up studios in England, filming The Citadel and Goodbye Mr. Chips there (both starring Robert Donat).  The first two Sherlock Holmes films to star Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce (The Hound Of the Baskervilles, and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes) were both released in 1939, which then lead to a series, both in film, and radio, for Rathbone and Bruce.  Over at RKO, George Stevens filmed Gunga Din, starring Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. with Sam Jaffee as Gunga Din; At Goldwyn, William Wyler had his hands full with Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon, filming Wuthering Heights.  At Universal, Rathbone was busy with The Son of Frankenstein and Tower of London. So, heavy influences of British culture in films of 1939. 

Many directors were very busy in 1939: Michael Curtiz directed five films, including The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, Dodge City, Four Wives, and an Academy Award winning Technicolor short, Sons of Liberty. John Ford directed Stagecoach (with John Wayne as the RIngo Kid,  a breakout role), Drums Along The Mohawk, and Young Mr. Lincoln (the last two starring Henry Fonda). Director Victor Flemnig directed two very important films: Gone With The Wind  (Replacing George Cukor, who was terminated over creative differences with David O’ Selznick  -Cukor would get another job a week after leaving GWTW, by directing the all female cast of The Women). Fleming would also direct the beloved classic The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland.

Musicals were big in 1939: Babes In Arms, starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, in their last film at RKO, Broadway Serenade, with Jeanette MacDonald, and the aforementioned The Wizard of Oz. The King of Hollywood, Clark Gable, even had a chance to sing with a chorus of girls, performing “Puttin On The Ritz” in Idiot’s Delight.

James Cagney was very busy at Warner Brothers, shooting Humphrey Bogart twice, in The Roaring Twenties and The Oklahoma Kid, and in , Cagney was a reporter framed, and sent to prison with George Raft.

 To Be Continued……….

Yes, you must think I’m insane. In this age of downloading and I-Tunes, and CDs (even these are considered historical items of technology-how the times change).

I have always loved music. I have always loved to collect music: LPs, cassettes, 78s, and now, CDS. But, I have always had a passion for the past. The Music, the literature, the lifestyle, the wardrobe, the films, the theatre. When I moved from Long Beach, four years ago, I donated 99 percent of my LP and 78 rpm collection, due to the fact that I had no space to store these collections of music. O fcourse, I have over a thousand CDS. However, the albums and 78s I saved were stored away in my apartment. I frequent garage sales, antique markets and record shows, and I always browse through the many boxes  of LPS. I have always thought, it would be nice to have a turntable, so that I could just hark back to the days when I listened to vinyl and shellack. Record collectors always comment about the warm sound of listening to a vinyl recording.

Bed Bath and Beyond has been selling different types of turntables, sort of like retro-type items.   A Crossley combo player, which plays CDs, 78s, LPs, 45s, and cassettes, sells for $299. Well, that’s too much for me. At least right now. And I have learned that one part of a combo player goes on the blink, the rest soon follow.

No, I had been looking at a portable turntable which sold for $69.95. I would pick it up, touch the needle, brush my hand across the wood finish of the portable turntable. And then, I would shrug it off and move on. But then, the uge to listen to vinyl and shallack took control. I just had this need, this urge to listen to records. And I had a $5 coupon to Bed Bath and Beyond in my pocket for the longest time.   

Finally, this past Sunday evening, I made the decision to buy the portable turntable from Bed Bath And Beyond. Used my coupon. Was told that if I get my hands on a %20 coupon, I can bring it in to get a further discount.

I removed the turntable from the box. Set it up. And then, I played the first album: The Early Victor Herbert, a three record set released by the Smithsonian, in collaboration with RCA. Songs from The Fortune Teller (Recorded in 1898), Sweethearts, Naughty Marietta, The Red Mill, and others. Wonderful. Then, an LP of Victor recordings from 1928. Beautiful and bouncy!

Recently, a friend who had a garage sale, gave me two crates of albums. I donated most of the LPs to the Goodwill Store, but saved a few albums. One in particular had sentimental value: The Golden Library of Music: Music Of The Great Composers. This was part of a set of LPs which my mother had ordered many years before. My mother thought that she could introduce her sons to the great composers. The only one who found an interest in this set was yours truly. At the age of eight, I listened to this LP, which features short works by Schumann, Dvorak, Beethoven, Mozart, etc.

With this new turntable, I was able to listen to this LP, which I had not heard since those thrilling days of yesteryear when I was eight years old, hearing this music for the first time, and thinking , I want to hear more. Those were the days of visiting my local library, and borrowing those classical LPS encased in their plastic folders.

While listening to The Golden Library: Music of The Great Composers, I felt a sense of calm. I am sure my mother was watching over me, and smiling. If there is one thing I inherited from my mother Irene, is a love for good classical music. Thank you, Mom!

With a website forthcoming, and this blog, I am constantly being asked, “Do you have a website?”  Where are you going to be next? Well, to answer so many questions just like that, I am posting my Lecture/Teaching Itinerary for the remainder of 2014. Here goes:

Philip Harwood Itinerary: 2014: Courses and Lectures

 

APRIL

6: JCC In Manhattan: Baby Boomer Brunch: From Caesar To Hollywood, 11am-1PM

1. Hutton House: 1939 The British Influence: Wuthering Heights 1PM

18: Hutton House: 1939 The British Influence: Gunga Din 1PM

23: Oceanside Library: From Caesar To Hollywood-2PM-3:30

24: Friedberg JCC: The Director’s Vision-Vincente Minnelli 7:30PM

5. Hutton House: 1939 The British Influence-Goodbye Mr. Chips

26: Adelphi University: The Hollywood Musical: Dance On Film: Busby Berkeley, 10am-11:30am

MAY

1. Great Neck Adult Education: Jewish Composers: Irving Berlin 7PM

2: Hutton House:1939 The British Influence-The Hound Of the Baskervilles 1PM

3: Adelphi University: The Hollywood Musical: Dance On Film: Astaire and Rogers, 10am-11:30am

  5  Levittown Adult Education: Hollywood Musical: Dance On Film: Busby Berkeley 7PM

6: Levittown Adult Education: Jewish Composer and Hollywood Musical: Irving Berlin 7PM

7: Hewlett-Woodmere Library: Let’s Face The Music And Dance: Astaire and Rogers 1PM-2:30PM

8. Great Neck Adult Education: Jewish Composers-Jerome Kern 7PM

9:  Hutton House: Elizabeth Taylor at MGM: Father of The Bride 1PM

10: Adelphi University: The Hollywood Musical: Dance On Film: Gene Kelly, 10am-11:30am

 12: Levittown Adult Education: Hollywood Musical: Dance On Film-Astaire and Rogers 7PM

13: Levittown Adult Ed: Jewish Composer and Hollywood Musical: Jerome Kern 7PM

5. Great Neck Adult Education: Jewish Composers : The Gershwins 7PM

16:  Hutton House: Elizabeth Taylor at MGM: Ivanhoe 1PM

9. Cinema Arts Centre: Gene Kelly-Dance For The Common Man 7:30PM    

20: Levittown Adult Ed: Jewish Composer and Hollywood Musical: The Gershwins 7PM

21:  92^nd Street Y: Elizabeth Taylor at MGM: National Velvet, 6:30PM

2. Freidberg JCC: The Director’s Vision: William Wyler 7:30PM

23: Hutton House: Elizabeth Taylor at MGM: Cat On A Hot Tin Roof 1PM

28: 92^nd Street Y: Elizabeth Taylor at MGM: Father Of The Bride 6:30PM

29.  Great Neck Adult Education: The Golden Age of Television Drama: Marty 7PM

30:  Hutton House; Elizabeth Taylor at MGM: The V.I.P.S. 1PM

JUNE:

4: Hunter College: Jewish Composers and Hollywood Musical Open House, 2PM

5: Syosset Library: 1939-From Novel To Screen: Wuthering Heights 2PM-4PM

       Great Neck Adult Education: Golden Age Of Television Drama: Patterns 7PM

11: 92^nd Street Y: Elizabeth Taylor at MGM: Ivanhoe , 6:30PM

2. Great Neck Adult Education: Golden Age Of Television Drama-12 Angry Men 7PM

13: Hutton House: Norma Shearer at MGM: Private Lives, 1PM

14: Hunter College: The Jewish Composer and The Hollywood Musical: Irving Berlin, 2PM-5PM

16: Congregation Knesset Israel: Kings of Comedy-Mel Brooks 7:30PM

18: 92^nd Street Y: Elizabeth Taylor at MGM: Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, 6:30PM

9. Great Neck Adult Education: Golden Age Of Television Drama: Wuthering Heights 7PM

20: Hutton House: Norma Shearer at MGM: Romeo and Juliet, 1PM

21: Hunter College: The Jewish Composer and the Hollywood Musical: Jerome Kern, 2PM-5PM

23:  Congregation Knesset Israel: Kings of Comedy-Billy Crystal 7:30PM

25:  92^nd Street Y: Elizabeth Taylor at MGM: The VIPS , 6:30PM

26:  Friedberg JCC: The Director’s Vision-Frank Capra , 7:30PM

27: Hutton House: Norma Shearer at MGM: The Women, 1PM

28: Hunter College: The Jewish Composer and the Hollywood Musical: The Gershwins, 2PM

30: Congregation Knesset Israel: Kings of Comedy-Jerry Seinfeld 7:30PM

JULY

3: Syosset Library: 1939: From Novel To Screen-Hound of the Baskervilles 2PM

7: Port Washington Public Library: Tyrone Power Centennial: Mark of Zorro, 7PM

9: 92^nd Street Y: Cinema of Woody Allen: Sleeper, 6:30PM

11: Hutton House: Tracy and Hepburn: Woman of the Year, 1PM

14: Bristal of Lynbrook: New York On Film 2PM-3:30PM

         Port Washington Public Library: Tyrone Power Centennial: The Black Swan, 7PM

15^th: Hewlett-Woodmere Library: 1939 Michael Curtiz/Errol Flynn: Priv. Lives Elisabeth and Essex 1PM

16:   92^nd Street Y: Cinema of Woody Allen: Annie Hall, 6:30PM

18: Hutton House: Tracy and Hepburn: Without Love, 1PM

21: Port Washington Public Library: Tyrone Power Centennial: Captain From Castille, 7PM

23:  92^nd Street Y: Cinema of Woody Allen: Manhattan, 6:30PM

25: Hutton House: Tracy and Hepburn: Adam’s Rib, 1PM

30^th: 92^nd Street Y: Cinema of Woody Allen: Stardust Memories, 6:30PM

AUGUST

5: Hewlett-Woodmere Library: 1939 Michael Curtiz/Errol Flynn: Dodge City 1PM-2:30

6:  92^nd Street Y: Cinema of Woody Allen: Hannah And Her Sisters, 6:30PM

7: Syosset Library: 1939: From Novel To Screen: Goodbye Mr. Chips

8: Hutton House: Grace Kelly: Directed by Alfred Hitchcock: Dial M For Murder, 1pm

11.Bristal of Lynbrook: Katharine Hepburn on Film 2PM-3:30PM

15: Hutton House: Grace Kelly: Directed by Alfred Hitchcock: Rear Window, 1PM

22:  Hutton House: Grace Kelly: Directed by Alfred Hitchcock: To Catch A Thief, 1PM

29: Port Washington Public Library: The Cameraman, with Ben Model, 7PM

 

SEPTEMBER

5: Hutton House: Tyrone Power Centennial: From Novel To Screen: The Rains Came, 1PM

8: Port Washngton Public Library: Robert Wise Centennial: Day The Earth Stood Still, 7PM

12: Hutton House: Tyrone Power Centennial: From Novel To Screen: The Razor’s Edge, 1PM

15: Port Washington Public Library: Robert Wise Centennial: Executive Suite, 7PM

16, Bristal of Lynbrook: The Career Woman and The Television Sitcom, 2PM-3:30PM

19: Hutton House: Tyrone Power Centennial: From Novel To Screen: The Sun Also Rises, 1PM

22: Port Washington Public Library: Robert Wise Centennial: West Side Story, 7PM

OCTOBER

10: Hutton House: The Great War At Warner Brothers: The Dawn Patrol , 1PM

17: Hutton House: The Great War At Warner Brothers: The Fighting 69^th, 1PM

24: Hutton House: The Great War At Warner Brothers: Sergeant York, 1PM

NOVEMBER

2: Wanacue Reserve: The Comedy of Jack Benny

7: Hutton House: Humphrey Bogart: Directed by John Huston: The Maltese Falcon, 1PM

14: Hutton House: Humphrey Bogart: Directed by John Huston: Key Largo, 1PM

21: Hutton House: Humphrey Bogart: Directed by John Huston: The African Queen, 1PM

DECEMBER

5^th: Hutton House: Special Event Lecture: Chaplin at Keystone: Centennial Of The Tramp, 1PM

12^th: Hutton House: Special Event Lecture: Leonard Bernstein On Film: The Omnibus Years, 1PM

 

IMPORTANT CONTACT INFORMATION

Adelphi University Continuing Education: 516-877-3403

Barry and Florence Friedberg Jewish Community Center: 516-766-4341, FriedbergJCC.org

Congregation Knesset Israel  (Pittsfield, MA): 413-445-4872, knessetisrael.org

Great Neck Adult Education: 516-441-4949

Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library: 516-374-1667, www.hwpl.org

Hunter College Continuing Education: 917-720-4823

Hutton House: LIU: C.W. Post-516-299-2580

JCC In Manhattan: 646-5050-4444

Levittown Adult Education: 516-520-8450, Ext. 6,  Brochure@Levittownadulted.com.

92^nd Street Y: 212-415-5500, 92y.org

Oceanside Public Library: 516-766-2360, Oceansidelibrary.com

Port Washington Public Library: 516-883-4400, www,pwpl.org

Suffolk Y Jewish Community Center: 631-462-9800, Suffolk Yjcc.org

Syosset Public Library: 516-921-7161, Syossetlib.org

 

As you can see, I have also added a contact information section. Now, you can utilize this section to contact where I will be speaking, and to make reservations.

 

For the third time, in six months, I will be making a return appearance to the Sky Room of Huntington’s leading film theatre, The Cinema Arts Centre, where I will be presenting Gene Kelly: Dance For The Common Man.  Throughout his career, Gene Kelly wanted to create an American dance style. He certainly did this, and as Bob Fosse once said, Gene Kelly was like the guy on your local bowling team, only classier. Gene Kelly once said that while Fred Astaire was the aristocracy of dance, Gene was the proletariat. In this program, we will view some of the noteworthy ballet sequences, from such films as The Pirate, Words and Music, On The Town, An American In Paris, and Singin’ In The Rain. What will be seen thoughout the program on May 19th at 7:30PM, is that Gene Kelly advanced the genre of dance in the musical film. He made it an art form! For more information about Cinema Arts Centre, the program, or for tickets, please call 631-423-7610.

I have been lecturing on the great Katharine Hepburn, since 2002.  I recall my first lecture at the Barry and Florence Friedberg Jewish Community Center. I had selected clips from Hepburn’s best films, from 12 different VHS tapes. Now, ofcourse, I work with clips on a DVD. I was invited to present my Katharine Hepburn program at the Cinema Arts Centre, as part of their Womans Herstory festival, a series of programs and film screenings devoted to Woman’s History Month. I usually begin with some Katharine Hepburn quotes. She really said some really intelligent things. She held nothing back. She was the master of her soul. She said what was on her mind. Her film roles are outstanding. Four Academy Award wins: Morning Glory (1933), Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner (1967), A Lion In Winter (1968), and On Golden Pond (1981). Plus, many Academy Award nominations. You’ll get to see clips from these, plus films from her RKO period, The Philadelphia Story, teamings with Spencer Tracy. Even a short mini documentary to sum up the life and career of Katharine Hepburn. And what a life she led!

This April, I will be presenting my program, From Caesar To Hollywood: The Films of Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, and Neil Simon, at two different locations in the New York Area. On Sunday, April 6th, as part of a Baby Boomers Brunch lecture series, I will lecture on the three Sid Caesar writers at the JCC In Manhattan. Then, on April 23rd, I will present the same program at the Oceanside Public Library, as part of the Library’s “It’s ShowTime” Artists series. With the recent passing of Comic Legend Sid Caesar, I will be adding a little something extra to the program: a skit from Your Show of Shows, with Caesar, Carl Reiner, and Harold Morris.  It is an example of the writers, who would later go on to Hollywood fame. So, if you’re in NYC on Sunday morning, and would like some bagels and comedy, come to the JCC In Manhattan. Or, if you can’t make it into Manhattan, and live in the Oceanside, or surrounding area, come see me at the Oceanside Library.  I can assure you that you will feel better at the end of the program, than at the start.

I will be returning to the JCC In Manhattan in February, to present a five week series, devoted to the Hollywood musicals of George and Ira Gershwin. This film series was an idea that dates back to 1997, when I was a part-time instructor at The New School For Socail Research. The course was published in the New School bulletin, but did not run, due to only five students enrolled. I was asked whether I wanted to run the course. I should have, but didn’t. For the past few years, The Gershwins and the Hollywood Musical, has been part of my three-part lecture series, The Jewish Composer and The Hollywood Musical. Now, this one session lecture is now being expanded to five weeks of film screenings, which will include the following: Shall We Dance (1937), with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Girl Crazy (1943)with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, Rhapsody In Blue (1945),  the Warner Brothers biopic with Robert (son of Alan) Alda, the Academy Award winning An American In Paris (1951), with Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron, and closing with Funny Face (1956), with Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn. The course will run from Thursday, February 20th, through Thursday, March 20th. All classes will begin at 1PM. By taking this course, the students will discover not only the great music of George and Ira Gershwin, but how these five musicals advanced the genre of the Hollywood musical. Who could ask for anything more!

I have been presenting programs at the Barry and Florence Friedberg Jewish Community Center, since 2008. Based in Oceanside, NY, I have worked with three wonderful program directors in the past, and now work with a new program director who is also wonderful. We had a discussion about my upcoming Burt Lancaster Lunch and Learn, which was originally scheduled for this past Thursday, but was postponed until Thursday, January 30th, due to inclement weather. Since the prior Program Director had requested that I present this Lunch and Learn, based on the series she saw I did at C.W., Post last year, to commemorate the Lancaster centennial. Many attendees who reserved spots (there are 33 so far) were asking: Why Burt Lancaster at a JCC? What’s Jewish about Burt Lancaster. Ofcourse, I can tell the fine people that the prior program director chose the topic, but that’s an easy way out. No, as it turns out, Burt Lancaster portrayed two very important people in Judaic history, towards the end of his long career: In 1975, he portrayed Moses, in a television mini series. And then, in 1976, he portrayed Shimon Perez, the Israeli Prime Minister. Not only that, but Mr. Lancaster, a man not only of physical, but of moral strength, was a champion of civil rights. And that’s why we are doing a Burt Lancaster Lunch and Learn, at the JCC!