I watched Humoresque this week, which deals with a violinist named Paul. This of course made me think of Paul Zukofsky, especially the parts of the film dealing with the child violinist, which reminded me of Louis Zukofsky's Little, the story of a violin prodigy based on Paul. As a child a saw a commercial for Humoresque which included the opening to "The Flight of the Bumblebee." This made me think of The Green Hornet. (I enjoyed the use of the Al Hirt version of the Flight in Kill Bill, Volume One.) I enjoyed Humoresque and its classical music content: a reference to Shostakovich, a Hammerklavier joke, etc. I find it interesting that the commercial for Shine also used the opening to "The Flight of the Bumblebee." I remember as a kid I had a Captain Action figure and the Batman costume. I didn't have the Green Hornet costume, but I yearned for it. I also yearned for a die-cast metal Black Beauty from the show.
I watched The Green Hornet at around five or six, but then I saw it again a few years ago, and that served as my introduction to Bruce Lee. I don't remember registering him the first time around.
Humoresque reminds me of Pynchon because of John Garfield. Isaac Stern actually played the violin parts for that film, IIRC. And Joan Crawford, rich and depressed, walking into the sea like something out of a 19th century romantic novel. Garfield has talent but not money; Crawford has money but no Art: the film subtly argues it's better to have some special means of expression than dough, although that's how I remember it. I've seen it about 4 times, but it's been at least 5 yrs since I saw it so I may be remembering the film in a way contaminated with other films my nervous system says are "like" Humoresque, and possibly books, too...
ReplyDeleteJean Negelesco: yet another Expressionist run out of Europe by Hitler. I love the way films from this period (1944-51) look, and will DVR something from TCM that I haven't seen if only because the year is right.
And: John Garfield gets to me in a way he seems to get to Pynch. "Julie"'s bio speaks to a lot of us.
Oscar Levant's bio seems another thing entirely.
I once got a guitar teaching job from a guy who owned a music store, a guy who was an old-time jazz guitarist. He knew a couple guys who got gigs playing guitar on Carson's Tonight Show. And he said both guys warmed up before each show by playing "Flight of the Bumblebee," which, believe me, I've tried. Oh, I can do it - it's almost entirely chromatic scale sequences to mimic the movement of the bee - but at THOSE SPEEDS? Too many hrs of metronome work.
Since then, Rimsky-Korsakov's delightful and thrilling ditty has become a mainstay in metal "shred" guitar technique approaches.
Thanks for your comment. I thought of _Inherent Vice_ as well watching the film. I got hooked on Isaac Stern's playing back in college when I saw the film "From Mao to Mozart." I loved his recordings of the Prokofiev Violin Sonatas and the Brahms Violin Sonatas, especially #3 which he played in the film.
ReplyDeleteJoan Crawford 's death in "Humoresque" made me think of Virginia Woolf. You know, she and Joyce have very similar lifespans, 1882 - 1941. Lately I've found myself thinking about the term "middlebrow." I think she may have invented that. David Thomson often uses that as a pejorative, and J. G. Ballard did as well.
I love Oscar Levant, especially in "The Bandwagon."
I find it interesting to watch films from the mid-40's. The War, housing shortages, and rationing seem to mark the period. I love the noir look as well as the great Technicolor.
Thanks for sharing the Bumblebee info.