The sublime Eric is still on my mind, and some other things besides, so I contemplate Rohmer’s first feature, a picture about a doppelgänger of mine, 1959’s Le signe du Lion, or The Sign Of Leo, over at The Auteurs’. The Foreign Region DVD Report is up early. Come to my place! Everyone!
Sounds great, but I’ve got only Region 1 capabilities right now.
I thought Jess Hahn was superb in NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY, a movie I didn’t love, but liked more than you. Director Hubert Cornfield reportedly clashed with Brando, who in turn caused problems by reporting to the set drunk and deliberately sabotaging scenes he didn’t like. Supposedly, Brando eventually got Cornfield canned, and co-star (the great) Richard Boone directed the remaining scenes. Despite all this, Brando’s pretty compelling, even if his commitment seems to waver from scene to scene, and Rita Moreno has one of her best roles as his drug-addled paramour. DP Willy Kurant gets a quality of light that reminds me somehow of Jean Boffety’s work for Claude Sautet (high praise). The story put me in mind of Kubrick’s THE KILLING, and I found out later that both are based on books by Lionel White. In fact, Kubrick originally wanted to film this book (original title: The Snatchers) instead, but switched to The Killing because of a supposed ban on the subject of kidnapping (um, so how did RANSOM! get made the same year, 1956?). Anyway, I’m glad I saw it, flaws and all.