Thursday, January 21, 2010

Wow! John Waters has been directing for a while!

About 20 years before he was born, in fact.

Kooky Film Credits - who was Granville Heathway?

I've been a fan of kooky film credits ever since reading the "Worst Credit Line" chapter in the Medved Brothers' bad movie Oscars book The Golden Turkey Awards. They chose the scandalous "with additional dialogue by Sam Taylor" from the 1929 The Taming of the Shrew as the winner. But I've always been intrigued by the nomination of one Granville Heathway, Orgy Sequence Advisor (sometimes Orgy Sequence Technical Advisor) for Solomon and Sheba (1959). And having finally seen the film on DVD, I was all set to offer a screen grab of the credit that screamed, no doubt majestically, ORGY SEQUENCE ADVISOR - GRANVILLE HEATHWAY. But alas, no such credit appears in the film.

Which only deepens the mystery. Who was Granville Heathway? Was he really paid to advise on how the Solomon and Sheba set orgied it up? How much was he paid? Who felt his expertise (in what again?) was necessary?

In the absence of answers and a nifty credit to display, I offer you a shot of Anne Sellors whose sole screen credit is "Woman who urinates herself" in the British TV movie Threads.



Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Why Must We Die? Kate McGarrigle RIP

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/arts/music/20mcgarrigle.html

I'm devastated that Kate McGariggle has passed. One of the many fabulous things about Rufus Does Judy At Carnegie Hall was her appearance on it. You could just see a giant arc from Garland to PFLAG form over their rendition of "Over The Rainbow." And did ever a song step so jauntily (and so bitingly) as "Complainte Pour Ste-Catherine?" RIP.


Complainte Pour Ste-Catherine

Moi j'me promène sous Ste-Catherine
J'profite de la chaleur du métro
Je n'me regarde pas dans les vitrines
Quand il fait trente en d'sous d'zéro

Y'a longtemps qu'on fait d'la politique
Vingt ans de guerre contre les moustiques

Je ne me sens pas intrépide
Quand il fait fret j'fais pas du ski
J'ai pas d'motel aux Laurentides
Le samedi c'est l'soir du Hockey

Y'a longtemps qu'on fait d'la politique
Vingt ans de guerre contre les moustiques

Faut pas croire que j'suis une imbécile
Parce que j'chauffe pas une convertible
La gloire c'est pas mal inutile
Au prix de gaz c'est trop pénible

Y'a longtemps qu'on fait d'la politique
Vingt ans de guerre contre les moustiques

On est tous frères puis ça s'adonne
Qu'on a toujours eu du bon temps
Parce qu'on reste sur la terre des hommes
Même les femmes et les enfants

Y'a longtemps qu'on fait de la politique
Vingt ans de guerre contre les moustiques
Croyez pas qu'on n'est pas chrétiens
Le dimanche on promène son chien