Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Taking a Deep Breath of Heaven Each Time: Watching Young Frankenstein

#GeneWilder #GeneWilder1stDeathAnniversary #YoungFrankenstein #transylvaniastation

Today August 29 2017 is first death anniversary of Gene Wilder, a screenplay writer and hero  of 'Young Frankenstein', 1974, one of the greatest screen comedies ever.
 

Paraphrasing the Mr. Wilder, any time I watch Mel Brooks' movie, I take a deep breath of heaven!

"...We never improvised dialogue on the set. Physical actions, yes, but not dialogue. One day we were filming the scene of Madeline Kahn’s arrival at the Frankenstein castle. She was wearing a fox stole and a big turban on her head. The scene seemed flat to all of us. After we tried several things, Mel suddenly said, “Marty! When Gene says, ‘Eyegore, help me with these bags,’ you say, ‘Soitanly—you take da blonde, I’ll take da one in da toiben.’ ”
We all laughed and started the scene again, on film. I said my line, Marty said his, and then Marty—in one of his impulsive inspirations—took a huge bite out of the tail of the fox fur that Madeline was wearing around her neck, but the tail came off in his mouth. We all had to go on playing the rest of the scene while we looked at Marty with a tail in his mouth. Out of such lunacy great comedy is born.
When we were filming the Transylvania Station scene, in which “Eyegore” leads me off of the platform to the hay wagon, Mel suddenly said, “Marty, bend over as you walk away with your little cane and tell Gene, ‘Walk this way.’ ”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“I’ll tell you later.”

We did the scene. Everyone laughed, but I still didn’t know what it meant. After we finished the scene, Mel said, “Man walks into a drugstore and says to the pharmacist, ‘I got terrible hemorrhoids—have you got some talcum powder?’ Pharmacist says, ‘Yes sir—walk this way.’ Man says, ‘If I could walk that way, I wouldn’t need the talcum powder.’ ”

I hate to think what might have happened if we had been forced to make the film at Columbia. As it turned out, Alan Ladd, Jr., asked Mel and me to sign five-year contracts at Fox.

Making Young Frankenstein was the happiest I’d ever been on a film. Madeline Kahn (1942-1999), Peter Boyle (1935-2006),  Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Kenny Mars . . . and Mel directing. It was like taking a small breath of Heaven each day.

I’m always lonely when I’m on my own—a leftover I think from the Demon, who always struck when I was alone—but towards the end of filming I realized that I was going to be lonelier when I returned to my home and family. On the last day of filming, during our lunch hour, I was sitting in the Frankenstein bedroom set, staring at the fake fireplace. Mel wandered in and saw me.
“What’s the matter? Why so sad?” he asked.
“I don’t want to leave Transylvania.”...”

('Kiss Me Like A Stranger: My Search for Love and Art', 2005 by Gene Wilder)

'Walking This Way'

Gene Wilder (1933-2016) as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein and Marty Feldman (1934-1982) as Igor at Transylvania station

Castle knockers [ A device (usually metal and ornamental) attached by a hinge to a door]



"Freddy: What knockers.

Inga: Oh, thank you, Doctor."
 
Freddy admires the knockers on the castle door,  with Teri Garr as Inga!

Pictures courtesy: 20th Century Fox

Sunday, August 27, 2017

30th Death Anniversary of Naji al-Ali, One of the Greatest Political Cartoonists

# Najial-Ali30thDeathAnniversary
# Najial-AliOneOfTheGreatestCartoonists
  
Two days later, August 29 2018 will be 30th death anniversary of  Naji al-Ali (1938-1987), one of the greatest political cartoonists


This blog has already paid tributes to Mr. Ali on July 26 2009 here and another brilliant artist Ali Farzat on September 3 2011 here.


courtesy: FB page and Y. Taha

Saturday, August 26, 2017

तुम्ही १८वर्ष किंवा मोठे असाल तर गणपती म्हणा, बाप्पा नको ... Overgrown Children Hell-bent on Enshrining their Own Arrested Development

Holly Brubach: “Bogart’s appeal was and remains completely adult — so adult that it’s hard to believe he was ever young. If men who take responsibility are hard to come by in films these days, it’s because they’re hard to come by, period, in an era when being a kid for life is the ultimate achievement, and “adult” as it pertains to film is just a euphemism for pornography.”

Christopher Luna: “Subway Art is a beautiful and important cultural document of a generation of artists who embodied the spirit of the city before it was Disneyfied.”
Isabel Berwick:”...”Infantilization aims at inducing puerility in adults and preserving what is childish in children trying to grow up, even as children are ’empowered’ to consume.” What we are losing is our maturity. Benjamin Barber highlights some of the ways this changes us. By preferring easy over hard, fast over slow, and simple over complex, we are turning our backs on the fluency and thoughtfulness of the fully formed adult citizen, who can take informed decisions rather than be dictated to by marketing.”

काल मी फेसबुक वॉल वर हे लिहल :
"the most ridiculous thing in this age is the greetings received from robots of banks, mutual funds etc. on festivals, birthdays, anniversaries etc....
I delete them without even opening them....one day their 'stupid' robot will inform them that he does not even open your emails
the second most ridiculous thing is adults referring to Ganpati not as Ganpati but Bappa (बाप्पा)...."

'बाप्पा' हा शब्द लहान मुलांचा आहे , त्यांना तो exclusively वापरू द्या. त्यांच्या तोंडात तो शोभतो, आपल्याला ऐकल्यावर आनंद देतो.

आज हॅरी ब्लीस यांचे खालील कार्टून दिसले....त्याची कॅप्शन बदलली....



मूळचे कॅप्शन : "If I hear the word ‘mindfulness’ one more time, I swear I'm gonna lose it."

Courtesy: Artist: Harry Bliss

Thursday, August 24, 2017

मानवतावादी,। उद्योगप्रवण, असे हे दर्शन। विंदांचे...Vinda Will Soon Be 100!

(खालील नोंदीत पूर्वी याच ब्लॉग वर प्रकाशित झालेला काही भाग आहे.)
 
#विंदाकरंदीकरशताब्दी 
#VindaKarandikarAt100
 
Today August 24 2017 is the start of the birth centenary year of Vinda Karandikar (विंदा करंदीकर) २३/८/१९१८-१४/३/२०१०

संत एकनाथ:

"जगाचिये नेत्री दिसे तो संसारी, परी तो अंतरी स्फटिक शुद्ध"

वसंत बापट, लोकसत्ता, २२//१९९३:

"...विंदाने अनुवाद केले ते वैश्विक मान्यता असलेल्या ग्रंथांचे.  अॅरिस्टॉटलचे काव्यशास्त्र, ज्ञानेश्वरांचा अमृतानुभव, गटेचे फाऊस्ट, शेक्सपियरचे किंग लियर.. एकेक आव्हान त्याने रामाने शिवधनुष्य पेलावे त्या सहजनेते पेलले. स्वतंत्र लेखनातही स्वतंत्र चमक दाखवली. भल्याभल्यांना स्तंभित करणाऱ्या कविता, प्रौढांनाही तोंडात बोटे घालायला लावणारी बालगीते, जे शब्दांच्या पलीकडले आहे त्याच्या स्पर्शाची पालवी फुटलेले ललित- लेखन, आकाशाचा अर्थ उजळ करणारे निबंध आणि परंपरा आणि नवता यांतले नाते आकलनाच्या टप्प्यात आणून ठेवणारी समीक्षा अशी साहित्याची चतुर्विध रूपे त्याने पुरुषार्थी वृत्तीने श्रीमंत करून टाकली...." 

The late Vinda was a good writer and a better human. He had large heart, one of the largest I have known, among literati.

He has appeared on this blog a few times.

As I have said earlier, he was like his own depiction of Cārvāka/ Charvak (चार्वाक), in possibly his best book: ‘Ashtadarshane’(अष्टदर्शने), 2003.

In Vinda's words, Charvaka was like: 

"...सत्याचा स्वीकार। श्रद्धांचा अव्हेर,
हिंसेचा धिक्कार, । करोनिया,
मानवी जीवन। करणे सुखमय
हेच एक ध्येय। मानणारे
मानवतावादी, । उद्योगप्रवण,
असे हे दर्शन । चार्वाकाचे."

In my words, Vinda was:

"सत्याचा स्वीकार। श्रद्धांचा अव्हेर,
हिंसेचा धिक्कार, । करोनिया,
मानवी जीवन। करणे सुखमय
हेच एक ध्येय। मानणारे
मानवतावादी, । उद्योगप्रवण,
असे हे दर्शन । विंदांचे."

अमर्त्य सेन आणि विंदा या दोघांचे , त्यांच्या गाजलेल्या पुस्तकांतून व्यक्त झालेले , चार्वाक प्रेम दाखवून देणारे माझे पत्र 
सौजन्य : ललित मासिक , मे २००६



विंदांचे उत्तर  एप्रिलमध्येच कारण मी त्यांना ललित पत्राची प्रत पाठवली होती ! .... Vinda's letter to me dated April 26 2006