Tuesday, March 01, 2016

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

... you can learn from:


Peter: "Give me my scallop-shell of quiet, My staff of faith to walk upon, My scrip of joy, immortal diet, My bottle of salvation, My gown of glory, hope's true gage; And thus I'll take my pilgrimage." Sir Walter Raleigh wrote that. I'd rather have written that than flown through Hitler's legs! 

Today would have been the 106th birthday of the actor David Niven, you know, if people lived that long.  (Okay some people do, but I don't envy them. No thanks! That is too many years.) Anyway I bought a copy of one of Nivens' autobiographies a few months back, having heard he was a terrific storyteller (and that he knew everybody and told the tales), but I still haven't cracked it open yet. Have any of you read any of his books? He published several. 

And any fans of this film? It's from the geniuses Powell & Pressburger (the duo behind The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus and Peeping Tom so on) and it's pretty great, if not in my estimation quite as estimable a force as the three I just mentioned. I had previously posted some images from the film, since it's typically-for-them gorgeous to gaze upon.
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5 comments:

joel65913 said...

I've read two of his bios and they are delightful. He did indeed know just about everyone there was too know.

A Matter of Life and Death is well made but I can't say that I loved it or would want to catch up with it again.

Pierce said...

I think A Matter of Life and Death is, along with the 1940 Thief of Bagdad, one of the finest uses of technicolor ever put on film!

verbocity said...

"scallop shell of quiet" is a better turn of phrase than "Quantum of solace." Other than that, i'd rather fly through hitler's legs.

Black Narcissus is, I think, Pressburg's finest achievement.
A remake with Rachel Weisz, Kate Blanchette, Brie Larson and June Squibb as the nuns and Fassy as the communal lust object would not be unwelcome.

DownDownYouFool said...

The Moon is a Balloon is a delight. There are some great stories in there. Sad ones, too. I haven't cracked Bring On the Empty Horses yet, but I plan to soon.

Anonymous said...

That soft British Technicolor is exquisite, something to do with the water used in its processing I understand, and the use of colour and monochrome in the film is fantastic. One of my favourite Powell and Pressburger movies and one of my favourite movies ever.