This photo is well known, though it’s origin is not. It appears on the cover of the English translation of Guy Debord La Société du Spectacle (The Society of the Spectacle, tr. by Fredy Perlman and Jon Supak, Black & Red, 1970; available online). It was originally taken by Life photographer J.R. Eyerman (1906-1985) at “the premiere screening of film ‘Bwana Devil,’ directed by Arch Oboler, the 1st full-length, color 3D (aka ‘Natural Vision’) motion picture” (Life.com). I don’t know for sure if it ever appeared in Life Magazine itself, though it was later used in 1984 on the cover of the brochure that accompanied an exhibition of photographs from Life Magazine held at the International Center of Photography (New York) and entitled: The Second Decade, 1946-1955 (Boston: Little, Brown, 1984; used copies still available online).
Here’s what Thomas Y. Levin has to say about this photo in his essay “Dismantling the Spectacle: The cinema of Guy Debord”
This picture, taken by J.R. Eyerman, has since become a veritable cliché not only for the alienation of late consumer culture but also for the ten years following World War II: it appears, for example, on T-Shirts, bags, and buttons as well as on the cover of the brochure that accompanied an exhibition of photographs from Life magazine held at the International Center of Photography (New York) and entitled: The Second Decade, 1946-1955. Few realize, however, that this depiction of the latest stage in the drive towards cinematic verisimilitude exists in at least two versions: the one, employed for the cover of the Society of the Spectacle (Detroit, Black & Red, 1970, repr. 1977 and 1983), depicts its elegantly attired audience in a virtually trance-like state of absorption, their faces grim, their lips pursed, in the other shot of the same audience, however, the 3-D spectators are laughing, their expressions of hilarity conveying the pleasure of an uproarious, active spectatorship.
(‘Dismantling the spectacle. The Cinema of Guy Debord’, in On the passage of a few people through a rather brief moment in time. The Situationist International 1957-1972, MIT Press : Cambridge 1989, pp. 72-123; available online at the Media Art Net website.
I first found the reference to this photo via Beetle In A Box Tumblr blog, though it needs some correction : the photo did not appeared in any of Life Magazine November issues of 1952.
• Oct 06, 2010 link notes tagged: art photograph photographer film movie cinema 3D vintage BW crowd audience spectator spectacle Debord entertainment America 50s technology vision Debord society
Boston.com: Arthur Penn on the set of 1975’s Night Move
Arthur Penn, the stage, television and motion picture director whose revolutionary treatment of sex and violence in the 1967 film “Bonnie and Clyde” transformed the American film industry, died Tuesday night at his home in Manhattan, the day after he turned 88. (The New York Times: “Arthur Penn, Director of ‘Bonnie and Clyde,’ Dies” by Dave Kehr, September 29, 2010)
• Sep 29, 2010 link notes tagged: art movie film cinema filmmaker Arthur Penn obituary
Great opening title sequence.
• Sep 27, 2010 link notes tagged: art movie film cinema western opening title movie still
Roger Ebert’s Journal: “Roger Ebert presents At the Movies” September 10th, 2010
“Roger Ebert Presents At the Movies,” a weekly half-hour film review program, was announced today by its producers, Chaz and Roger Ebert. The program continues the 35-year-old run of a reviewing format first introduced by Gene Siskel and Ebert and later by Ebert and Richard Roeper.
It will return to its birthplace, launching nationally on public television with presenting station WTTW Chicago, where it began in 1975 as “Opening Soon at a Theater Near You” and then in 1976 as “Sneak Previews,” became the highest rated entertainment show in PBS history. The original format moved into syndication as “At the Movies” in 1982 with Tribune Entertainment and a quarter-century with Buena Vista Television.
The Eberts said the new program will air in January 2011, and in addition to reviewing new movies will expand into coverage of New Media, special segments on classics, on-demand viewing and genres, and an extended website. It will use the copyrighted “Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down”® format made famous by Siskel & Ebert. (read on)
• Sep 17, 2010 link notes tagged: art film movie cinema critic history America United-States television show Roger Ebert
Nina Leen fascination with the world veiwed through a camera lens extends to both the human and animal kingdom. Born in Russia, Leen grew up in Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, where she achieved acclaim as an animal photographer. Upon first arriving in the United States in 1939, her reporter’s eye led to a series of wryly amusing works on the habits and rituals of her newly adopted homeland. Her series on, “A Teenager Monopolizes the Telephone,” or her descriptions and images of “The American Male,” are timeless evocations of symbols of modern American society. (read on)
Read The New York Times obituary for Nina Leen. Browse her “teenagers” series for Life Magazine.
• Sep 14, 2010 link notes tagged: art photography photographer teenager America vintage 40s BW theater love movie film cinema romance United-States
Roger Ebert seems to think this documentary is authentic. Others are speculating that it could be a big artistic hoax, something similar to Banksy’s Exit Through The Gift Shop documentary. But Casey Affleck says it’s all true (Time). Watch the trailers and visit the official website.
• Sep 07, 2010 link notes tagged: art movie film cinema filmmaker hoax artist music poster design actor celebrity lost loser confusion reality truth
 | Beverly Hills, CA (August 25, 2010) — The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted last night to present the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to producer-director Francis Ford Coppola and Honorary Awards to historian and preservationist Kevin Brownlow, director Jean-Luc Godard and actor Eli Wallach. All four awards will be presented at the Academy’s 2nd Annual Governors Awards dinner on Saturday, November 13, at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center®. |
Will Godard travel all the way there to get his award ? This kind of award? That will be interesting to see.
• Sep 06, 2010 link notes tagged: art movie cinema film filmmaker Godard award Oscars irony French United-States America history
| ― How come suddenly you’re an expert on women? ― I’ve got seven wives. How many you’ve got? ― So why aren’t you at home with your seven wives? ― I know how to marry them. Nobody knows how to live with them. ― So why did you marry them for? ― Shee-shee… someday I have to tell you the facts of life. |
• Sep 02, 2010 link notes tagged: art movie film cinema fact life women marriage humor
Alfred Hitchcock left a peerless legacy of the stylishly macabre. In this year’s Hollywood Portfolio, Keira Knightley, Javier Bardem, Seth Rogen, and other stars channel iconic moments from the director’s greatest hits. (see the whole slide show)
Spotted via Douglas Haddow’s Tumblr blog.
Previously on Skandalon : “Force By Northwest”
• Aug 23, 2010 link notes tagged: art movie cinema film Hitchcock movie still still photograph photographer actor humor hack hommage Hollywood
| I have watched and read your reviews for years with great honor. I disagree so strongly with your review of “Eat Pray Love” that it makes me sick. You just don’t get it, and many others like you don’t get it. You do not know at all what it is like being a woman in this day and age (or previously) who did not want to be defined by a man or married off to one. If you think Stephen in the movie was an OK husband, you are out to lunch. He was horrible!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (except on paper to people who do not need emotional sustenance). David was the narcissist from hell that many of us have fallen for… do you not get that??????????? Many of the males of the species are frankly overrated and the women’s movement has proven this (or frankly not sufficiently). I hope your wife will bring you up to speed. (Jeanine Carlson, Ph.D., Licensed Clinical Psychologist) |
The quote is from a woman complaining to Roger Ebert about his review of Eat, Pray, Love. Somehow, I found interesting the fact that she’s a “Licensed Clinical Psychologist”.
• Aug 20, 2010 link notes tagged: art movie film Ebert critic review psychology woman women humor license wife pathology anxiety rage frustration
Tootsie is second in the AFI’s 100 Years…100 Laughs list. The film also feature Jessica Lange and Bill Murray. Sydney Pollack plays the role of Hoffman’s agent.
• Aug 13, 2010 link notes tagged: art movie film Beckett theater actor acting Pollack still movie still
