Vale Coleen Gray (3) - Noel Bjorndahl nostalges a little more

Barrie’s comments   on Apache Drums and Coleen Gray’s part in it reflect  my own admiration of that film and of Hugo Fregonese  generally. It is not surprising that this film conveys eerie heart-stopping atmospherics through the beautifully staged Indian attacks. It was of course the last film credit of the remarkable Val Lewton.

Vale Coleen Gray(2) - Barrie Pattison joins Noel Bjorndahl in tribute

Colleen Gray - star that wasn't and object of my pre-pubescent lusting, did get to do the Laura Hunt role in FRONTIER GAMBLER, a cowboy version of the Vera Caspary story but (until I caught up with the boggling NIGHTMARE ALLEY) I thought of her as the leading lady of my favorite B western, Hugo (The RAID) Fregonese's APACHE DRUMS. This was long before I found Hugo was the most revered director of the Argentine film industry. 

Vale Coleen Gray - Noel Bjorndahl's obituary (for which many thanks)

Coleen Gray in Kansas City Confidential

OMG, Coleen Gray, John Wayne's lost love in Red River has died aged 92. She was born Doris Jensen of Danish descent.She scored good roles in several 1940s and 1950s films noir: for example, -, Kiss of Death opposite Victor Mature (Director, Henry Hathaway); Nightmare Alley, opposite Tyrone Power a minor masterpiece directed by Edmund Goulding; and Phil Karlson's dynamic film Kansas City Confidential, opposite John Payne and a great cast that included Preston Foster, Lee Van Cleef, Jack Elam and Neville Brand, as colorful a collection of heavies as you'd see in one movie. She made some other decent westerns after her brief but memorable role in Red River. Fury at Furnace Creek was a taut little conspiracy theory western with Victor Mature, and one of the best studio films directed by resident Fox craftsman Bruce Humberstone; Tennessee's Partner was one of the neatest of Allan Dwan's 1950s westerns for producer Benedict Bogeaus and Ms Gray rose well to the task, holding her own very well in good company opposite seasoned second string pros like Ronald Reagan, John Payne and Rhonda Fleming. Her final really good film was Stanley Kubrick's early mini masterpiece The Killing, a heist film told from multiple viewpoints in which Marie Windsor was a standout but Gray again looked pretty cool in such good company as Windsor, Elisha Cook Jr and Sterling Hayden. I shall miss you, Coleen Gray. RIP

On Television (1) - House of Cards - Season Three

The US version of House of Cards started as a borrowed concept from the Brit TV series written by Andrew Davies and based on novels by Michael Dobbs. It was derived from Dobbs  background  as a major player in Conservative Party politics through the Thatcher era and beyond. A Conservative MP, the Chief Whip, Francis Urquhart stops at nothing to keep his party in office and in power. Ian Richardson got the dream part and his response to many matters during the series, as he betrayed his colleagues and even resorted to murder,: "You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment"  has entered the political lexicon world wide.

And there it might have stayed but for Beau Willimon and Netflix who have resited and retooled it into a running commentary on American politics though where it would be without the lives of Bill and Hillary Clinton is something we will never have to contemplate. Beau, and 16 others who get credits as producers of some kind, are now up to series three. Francis Underwood has moved on from Leader of the Democratic Party in Congress, one step below the Speaker, all the way to President. On the way he has, as did Urquhart, stopped at nothing including murder though by series three Underwood at least has desisted from that particular trait though there is a murder.

The esteem in which the series is now held can be objectively verified by noting how many famous people, especially from the commentariat who daily cover the White House, are happy to go on and play themselves in cameo roles. But this bit of verisimilitude is not something that gets extended very far. The raucous offices through which the key backroom players prowl in The West Wing  are not re-assembled here. The extras are reduced to just a couple of staffers and the President's subaltern, Meechum, a Secret Service officer with a momentary intimate relationship with both the President and his wife. No, this series has, like its Brit predecessor, Shakespearean ambitions to show the corrupting effect of power whether it be naked power exercised brutally by the President or the kind exercised by players operating out of the limelight. The show is assisted this season by introducing the Russian President in a continuing role and doing so via an acute spoof of Vladimir Putin. He's played by the incomparably cheekboned Lars Mikkelsen. Here you have someone just as devious as Kevin's Spacey's Underwood

In this series, the President's major challenge is in controlling an ambitious wife seeking her own place in the power structures. The chosen vehicle is an appointment as Ambassador to the United Nations. At first the appointment fizzles when she's outsmarted by an ambitious Senator during her confirmation hearings. But, here you learn the minutiae of the American system, the appointment goes ahead via a slick bit of work that gets round that problem. The First Lady however puts her foot in her mouth far too frequently, frustration builds. Meanwhile the President, never elected, embarks on a re-election strategy so devious and complex that it's dizzying.  

As a primer on US politics, House of Cards offers much to chew and chortle over.  Its array of producers and consultants must have a huge amount of fun sitting round dreaming up the plots and drawing on so much that has gone before. Its true that the way politics works is something that replays endlessly well. Its also true that being regularly reminded of just how much politicians quickly start to serve themselves rather than the people is a very useful little information trope to carry round and assist in any judgement that might be made.

Lubitsch Online- Kristin Thompson's Book is now available as a free download

Scholar Kristin Thompson, part of the luminous Thompson/Bordwell team that publishes Observations on Film Art , advises via her Facebook page that her book on Ernst Lubitsch's silent films is now available as a free download. To access it you go here .   When the book was published it was reviewed by Leonie Naughton in a post published here at Screening the Past. Leonie’s final para was enthusiastic. Herr Lubitsch goes to Hollywood is an illuminating study of the "filmmakers' filmmaker," his influence and place in history. Thompson provides an engaging account of two great national cinemas, one of which has never recovered from the might of the other.

AFTRS gets a prestigious listing - but is the story a bit slipshod

The Hollywood Reporter has just nominated AFTRS as one of the top fifteen film schools in the world. Click on the link to get the full list. The Reporter says “From Beijing to Berlin, here's a look at 15 film schools from around the globe that might just produce the next generation of international film talent. 

Australian Film, Television and Radio School

Benefiting from its location within Sydney's Entertainment Quarter in Moore Park, AFTRS boasts a number of leading Aussie filmmaking alums, including Jane Campion (The Piano) and Phillip Noyce (Salt).

Which is interesting in two respects. Noyce was in the first intake back in the 70s and Campion graduated sometime in the 80s. Designating them rather ignores what’s been happening more recently. The wonderful generation of black film-makers (Ivan Sen, Warwick Thornton, Rachel Perkins, Catriona McKenzie, Beck Cole, Steve McGregor, Darlene Johnson and Adrian Wills) who graduated between 1995 and 2002 are overlooked. They have directed 11 feature films between them. Nine non-Indigenous directors who graduated during the same years (including Cate Shortland, Kim Farrant and Claire McCathy) have since directed 11 features.

Also overlooked is the fact that from  2007 to 2015, during Sandra Levy’s term as CEO, no feature film directors that I’m aware of emerged.

Still, the Reporter gives as a reason to study at the Centro Sperimentale in Rome is that Michelangelo Antonioni studied there and the reason to study at France’s La Femis is that Louis Malle, Alain Resnais and Francois Ozon studied there and the reason to study at FAMU in the Czech Republic is that Milos Forman studied there.

Now I’m not saying that the team at the Hollywood Reporter didn’t put much effort into this piece...well actually I am saying that.....

After testing with a couple of insiders, I had a scoop. UPDATED on 3 August

Am I thus far the only commentator or observer who got to the end of the recent SA report on distribution. Buried away in the previous post was this bit of information, which is really about public investment in production, in the next para.

"Through the Multiplatform Drama program Screen Australia invests in the production of narrative projects that take risks and push the envelope of fiction storytelling on traditional and non-traditional platforms. Applications may be for any amount up to $500,000 per project. ...To date, Screen Australia has received no applications for low-budget feature films through this program. " (my underlining).

I 'd love this to become something that's debated and discussed. I cant believe that some adventurous spirits cant work their way over whatever hurdles there are to making a movie under these rules and limitations. And I assume that cheapjack genre ripoffs are not what Screen Australia has in mind. 

Since publishing the above post, industry sleuth Don Groves has got t the gravamen of the matter with a report published today here on the Inside Film website.

Key points in Don's post are the conditions to attract a grant. 

The fund, which has $4.2 million to invest this financial year, is willing to support feature-length projects from applicants who have a significant social media audience.

That’s defined as a channel with more than 100,000 subscribers or followers, or a video with more than 1 million views and at least 25,000 subscribers.

The creative team must include a producer and director with at least one credit on a comparable project which has been publicly released.

The program’s remit is to invest in the production of narrative projects that take risks and push the envelope of fiction storytelling on traditional and non-traditional platforms. 

They could be comedy or drama projects distributed on any platform (including traditional TV, online web series, tablet, mobile and PC based distribution) or on multiple platforms.

An online platform must form a central element of the project’s distribution plan.