This video features “Dickson” multiple times; with and without the soundtrack
The Plot: A violinist (William Dickson?) plays “The Chimes at Normandy” into a recording horn, while two men slow dance in the foreground. Stick around for the surprise ending where a fourth man randomly wanders into the shot.
Why It Matters: The NFR gives the film historical context, stating how it “contributed to the development of future sound on film technology”.
But Does It Really?: Like so many Edison/Dickson films, this is a yes on a historic and technical front. This is the earliest known attempt to synch film with sound, and that alone is worthy of preservation. My question: is the NFR entry just the film, or the film with the soundtrack? Technically, they are two separate recordings.
Everybody Gets One: That’s William Dickson himself playing the violin. Well, maybe not. Some sources believe it’s Charles D’Almaine, then violinist for the New York Metropolitan Opera. The identities of the other three men are unknown, though they are most likely employees of Edison’s.
Wow, That’s Dated: Gee I don’t know, maybe the giant recording horn in the middle of the shot?
Other notes
Kudos to legendary film editor Walter Murch and his team for resynchronizing this film with its audio, possibly for the first time since 1894. Fun Fact: Murch has only directed one movie: “Return to Oz”.
“Dickson Experimental Sound Film” was shot at Edison’s Black Maria studio in New Jersey. This film was created to test out Edison’s new invention: the Kinetophone. The Kinetophone was similar to Edison’s Kinetoscope, with the addition of a phonograph that could play the film’s sound. There was, however, no way to automatically synch the film with the phonograph, and the Kinetophone didn’t take off the way Edison had hoped.
Try as “The Celluloid Closet” might, two men dancing doesn’t necessarily mean homosexual subtext. All-male stag dances were a thing back then. Though now that I think about it…
I wanna know what the deal is with the fourth guy that shows up at the very end. What’s he up to? I like to think he’s gonna smash the recording horn or pull Dickson’s pants down. Now that would have been an ending.
That song again is “The Chimes of Normandy” from the opera “The Bells of Corneville” by Robert Planquette.
Legacy
While not the first film with true synchronized sound, this is the film that proved it could happen, so I’m gonna blame Dickson for the most annoying sound in the world.
And with that “Dumb and Dumber” reference, we have now crossed off the 300th movie on this list, and so ends Year Two of The Horse’s Head. I’m taking some time off for the holidays, but I’ll be back in 2019 with more movies. In the meantime, I believe a very long nap is in order.
Oh National Film Registry, I wish I knew how to quit you.
My early Christmas gift arrived this morning when the National Film Registry made its annual announcement of 25 American films deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. These 25 bring the official total to 750 movies. Here, in chronological order, are the 25. Films with * denote a movie I submitted to the list this year. Honorable Mention goes to “Rebecca” and “My Fair Lady”, which I submitted last year, but didn’t make my cut this time. Ah well, they did just fine without me.
Something Good – Negro Kiss (1898)
Dixon-Wanamaker Expedition to Crow Agency (1908)
The Girl Without a Soul (1917)
The Navigator (1924)
The Informer (1935)
Rebecca (1940)
Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
On the Town (1949)*
Cinderella (1950)*
Pickup on South Street (1953)
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
Hud (1963)
My Fair Lady (1964)
Monterey Pop (1968)
Hearts and Minds (1974)
The Shining (1980)*
Hair Piece: A Film for Nappy-Headed People (1984)
Broadcast News (1987)
Jurassic Park (1993)*
Eve’s Bayou (1997)
Smoke Signals (1998)
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
For the second year in a row, four of my picks made the final roster. Not bad says I. The 2018 inductees will be added to my rotation, with the first write-up appearing in February 2019. To quote another of this year’s entries, hold on to your butts.
OR “Jim Jarmusch Jim Jarmusch Will You Do the Fandango?”
Directed & Written by Jim Jarmusch
Class of 2002
The Plot: It’s Jarmusch, there ain’t no plot. “Stranger Than Paradise” is three acts of Jarmusch’s trademark black and white minimalist realism. The first act (“The New World”) sees Willie (John Lurie) playing host to his Hungarian cousin Eva (Eszter Balint) in his New York City apartment. Willie does not want Eva around, but with the help of his friend Eddie (Richard Edson), finally warms up to her. In the second act (“One Year Later”), Willie and Eddie travel to a very cold Cleveland to visit Eva and Aunt Lottie (Cecillia Stark). The final act (“Paradise”) is Willie, Eddie and Eva traveling to Florida, where they experience the closest thing this film has to a plot.
Why It Matters: The NFR calls Jarmusch “a leading figure in independent cinema” and states that this film “reflects his non-traditional style.”
But Does It Really?: Oh sure. Jarmusch isn’t for everyone, and while it took me a bit to get into this movie, ultimately I dug it. His movies are very thin slices of life that, while seemingly uneventful, capture a lot about human condition and the small “in-between” moments in life. Heck, “Stranger Than Paradise” is so minimalist you can read practically anything you want into it. I’m not familiar with the oeuvre of Jim Jarmusch, and I’m not in any immediate rush to watch his other films, but “Stranger Than Paradise” is a perfect representation of his work, and quite deserving of a place on the Registry.
Shout Outs: You can hear snippets of “Forbidden Planet” when Willie and Eva are watching TV.
Everybody Gets One: While studying to be a poet at Columbia University, Jim Jarmusch went to Paris as an exchange student and wound up seeing a bevy of landmark European films at the Cinémathèque Française. After Columbia, Jarmusch studied film at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, under the tutelage of film noir legend Nicholas Ray. Although he ultimately didn’t graduate from Tisch, Jarmusch’s final school project evolved into his first feature film: 1980’s “Permanent Vacation”.
Wow, That’s Dated: Landlines, and the world of early computers.
Seriously, Oscars?: Despite a heap of critical praise (and a Best Picture win from the National Society of Film Critics), “Stranger Than Paradise” received zero Oscar nominations. O Independent Spirit Awards, where art thou?
Other notes
All three of the film’s leads are primarily musicians: Lurie with the jazz group The Lounge Lizards, Edson as Sonic Youth’s original drummer, and Balint as a violinist in her native Hungary. Luckily, all three hold their own as actors, though it helps that there’s no heavy emotional lifting required for any of them.
How can I hate any movie in which Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You” is prominently featured?
A foreigner coming to America and crashing at their cousin’s apartment. Oh my god, did this movie inspire “Perfect Strangers”?
Shoutout to cinematographer Tom DiCillo. The cinematography takes some getting used to, but once you do it sets up the world quite well. Each scene is one continues take, with minimal, clean camera movements. They are well-crafted compositions that never take you out of the film. Fun Fact: DiCillo is also the airport ticket agent at the end of the film.
What’s with Willie and Eddie’s fedoras? This film is so minimalist I can’t tell if it’s a period piece or not. WHAT YEAR IS IT!?
Eszter Balint is so close to being Juliette Lewis.
The further along we go, the less I think this film will end with a car chase or a Bollywood-style musical number.
The “One Year Later” segment isn’t exactly a video from Destination Cleveland, is it? Jarmusch grew up in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio (about 35 miles south of the Cleve) and once told the New York Times, “Growing up in Ohio was just planning to get out.” Woof.
I will admit that it’s always deceivingly difficult to capture realism on film, especially minimalist realism. If I’m a little bored, does that mean Jarmusch is doing his job?
Every time there’s a blackout in this film I instinctively think, “Is that it? Is the movie over?”
Old people cursing will never not be funny.
I rarely read other people’s reviews while I’m writing these posts, but I stumbled upon a line in Roger Ebert’s original review of “Stranger Than Paradise” that tickled me: “Aunt Lottie turns out to make Clara Peller look like Dame Peggy Ashcroft.” That sentence could only have been written in 1984.
Why is the Florida section called “Paradise”? Is Florida Paradise? And if so, what could possibly be stranger than Florida?
Black and white always seems like a gimmick, but in this case, I get it. With three diverse locations, “Stranger Than Paradise” would look like a travelogue in color.
Hey hey hey, we’re 75 minutes in; it’s too late to add any drama.
This is one of the rare movies with a Junkie Ex Machina.
What do you suppose this movie’s blooper reel looks like?
If this film is going to be about three people sitting around talking about nothing, their wacky neighbor Kramer better show up soon.
Legacy
Jarmusch still cranks out a movie every few years. Highlights include “Mystery Train”, “Coffee and Cigarettes”, and that one where Kylo Ren’s a bus driver.
Unlike other indie filmmakers, Jim Jarmusch seems game to poke fun at himself, as evidenced in these clips from “The Simpsons” and “Bored to Death”.
Every indie film that’s shot in black and white where seemingly nothing happens owes its existence to “Stranger Than Paradise”.
Of the three leads, Richard Edson has continued acting, and even has two other NFR entries: “Do the Right Thing”, and his memorable turn as the parking garage attendant in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”.
And of course, this movie’s drastic departure of a sequel: 2006’s “Stranger Than Fiction”.
Here’s the key to the longevity of “The Sound of Music”: All the songs had to be written simple enough to be sung by children ranging from 5 to 16, so all the music is easy to sing, and therefore effective earworms.
“Climb Ev’ry Mountain” is quite stirring, although it’s pretty obvious Mother Superior is dubbed. Peggy Wood was an accomplished singer in her early stage career, but at age 73 she was not up to the song’s higher notes, and studio singer Margery MacKay dubbed Wood. This may be the only part of the movie the live TV remake improved upon.
I also really like the film’s other simple, beautiful song: “Something Good”. It was written by Richard Rodgers alone (Hammerstein passed away in 1960) to replace the song “An Ordinary Couple”, and it’s stayed with the show ever since. Man, there really isn’t a clunker in this whole score.
“How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?” is a weird choice to walk down the aisle to.
Though not mentioned in the film, Herr Zeller was promoted because Hitler’s best men were killed during the Ark of the Covenant incident.
You didn’t think the Nazi politics plotline would make a comeback in your lifetime, did you?
Does every song in this movie get a reprise?
All I need from this concert is one cutaway shot of Hitler in the audience, listening to the von Trapp’s with a single tear rolling down his cheek.
Richard Dawson: THAT’S who Max looks like!
And for those of you who found the love story and the kids too syrupy, please enjoy the suspenseful finale of our characters hiding from Nazis.
I didn’t delve into it here, but this movie takes some extreme liberties with the real von Trapp family’s story. I’ll get the ball rolling with the fact that Captain Georg von Trapp was 25 years older than Maria. And they married more for convenience than for love. Have fun trying to watch the movie now!
Legacy
“The Sound of Music” was a runaway hit and single-handedly saved 20th Century Fox from bankruptcy following the disaster that was 1963’s “Cleopatra”. Unfortunately Fox learned the wrong lesson, and doubled down on big-budget musicals. Titles such as “Doctor Dolittle”, “Hello, Dolly!” and “Star!” (also with Julie Andrews) failed to match the success of “Sound”, and Fox had to wait until 1977 for “Star Wars” to save them again.
Austria doesn’t really care for “The Sound of Music” (they prefer the German “Trapp-Familie” films), but they know a cash cow when they see it, and there are several “Sound of Music” tours throughout Salzburg.
This is one of the rare movies that cost a film critic their job. Pauline Kael’s write-up of “the sugar-coated lie people seem to want to eat” led to her dismissal as McCall’s film critic. She landed at the New Yorker, where her legendary dislike of anything commercial continued for the next 20 years.
The film is so popular (and untouchable) that there has been only one Broadway revival of the stage version. Subsequent stage versions have altered the score to better reflect the film’s song list.
The only other American remake of “The Sound of Music” was a live TV broadcast in 2013. Hewing closer to the original stage version, this production starred Carrie Underwood and a bevy of Broadway actors doing their damnedest while Craig Zadan and Neil Meron worked out the kinks of live TV musicals.
A slight improvement came from the Brits, with their own live version on ITV two years later.
Back to the original film, that’s where this gif comes from!
“The Sound of Music” not only has generations of fans, but quite the cult following as well. Sing-along screenings of the movie started in London in 1999, and came stateside shortly thereafter. Audience members come dressed as their favorite characters, from Maria to the nuns, and even the hills themselves!
Every song from this film has become a standard. There are a lot of covers out there, but for now let’s single out Julia Louis-Dreyfus singing a duet of “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” with a surprise partner.
Remember that time the internet went insane when Lady Gaga sang “Sound of Music” at the Oscars? Good times.
Seth MacFarlane has spoofed “Sound of Music” several times over the years on “Family Guy”, and a quick parody was the rare bright spot in his misguided stint hosting the Oscars.
And like any family, the cast of “The Sound of Music” gets together every few years to reminisce about their time making the film. Even the especially critical Christopher Plummer has softened in his older age.
Further Viewing: The real Maria von Trapp made a special appearance on the short-lived ‘70s variety show “The Julie Andrews Hour”. I can’t find the clip of them singing “Edelweiss” together, but here they are yodeling.
Listen to This: The “Sound of Music” soundtrack was added to the National Recording Registry in 2018, and their write-up is far more loving than the NFR’s. For starters, they call the movie “a beloved, multi-generational cornerstone of American life”, and go on to praise Julie Andrews, orchestrator Irwin Kostal, and musical supervisor Saul Chaplin. The soundtrack gets not one, but two expanded essays.
The Horse's Head 