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Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City

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Archives for September 17, 2018

Hear me talking to you (cont’d)

September 17, 2018 by Terry Teachout

Titus Techera, who hosts a podcast for the American Cinema Foundation on which he and his guests discuss important films of the past and present, invited me back to talk about Nicholas Ray’s On Dangerous Ground on his latest episode. Our hour-long chat is now available on line.

Titus and I spoke at length and in detail about the 1951 film, produced by John Houseman, which starred Robert Ryan, Ida Lupino, and Ward Bond, was written by A.I. Bezzerides and Ray, and features a sublime musical score by Bernard Herrmann, Alfred Hitchcock’s close collaborator. While it was only modestly successful on its original release, On Dangerous Ground is now widely regarded by English-speaking critics as one of Hollywood’s film-noir masterpieces.

Here’s part of Titus’ summary of our conversation:

Nicholas Ray’s On Dangerous Ground, the best Robert Ryan noir…moves between social criticism and romanticism effortlessly, the tragic story of a man who believes in justice and who learns to believe in innocence, too. We talk about the many attractions of the movie—Ida Lupino, the Bernard Herrmann score, George Diskant’s cinematography, Ward Bond’s remarkable portrayal of a father mad to avenge his daughter’s murder—and we also talk about noir, genre pictures, social criticism, how America learned about tragedy in World War II, and the new depth of character in story-telling this ushered in.

To listen to or download this episode, go here.

* * *

The original theatrical trailer for On Dangerous Ground:

A scene from the film, featuring Robert Ryan and Ida Lupino and scored by Bernard Herrmann. The viola d’amore heard on the soundtrack is played by Virginia Majewski:

Just because: Lenny Breau plays “Bluesette”

September 17, 2018 by Terry Teachout

TV CAMERALenny Breau plays a solo version of his own “Taranta,” followed by a performance of Toots Thieleman’s “Bluesette” accompanied by his trio. This performance was originally telecast on the CBC in 1966:

(This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday)

Almanac: Oswald Spengler on optimism

September 17, 2018 by Terry Teachout

INK BOTTLE“Only dreamers believe in ways out. Optimism is cowardice.”

Oswald Spengler, Man and Technics: A Contribution to a Philosophy of Life (trans. Charles Francis Atkinson)

Terry Teachout

Terry Teachout, who writes this blog, is the drama critic of The Wall Street Journal and the critic-at-large of Commentary. In addition to his Wall Street Journal drama column and his monthly essays … [Read More...]

About

About “About Last Night”

This is a blog about the arts in New York City and the rest of America, written by Terry Teachout. Terry is a critic, biographer, playwright, director, librettist, recovering musician, and inveterate blogger. In addition to theater, he writes here and elsewhere about all of the other arts--books, … [Read More...]

About My Plays and Opera Libretti

Billy and Me, my second play, received its world premiere on December 8, 2017, at Palm Beach Dramaworks in West Palm Beach, Fla. Satchmo at the Waldorf, my first play, closed off Broadway at the Westside Theatre on June 29, 2014, after 18 previews and 136 performances. That production was directed … [Read More...]

About My Podcast

Peter Marks, Elisabeth Vincentelli, and I are the panelists on “Three on the Aisle,” a bimonthly podcast from New York about theater in America. … [Read More...]

About My Books

My latest book is Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington, published in 2013 by Gotham Books in the U.S. and the Robson Press in England and now available in paperback. I have also written biographies of Louis Armstrong, George Balanchine, and H.L. Mencken, as well as a volume of my collected essays called A … [Read More...]

The Long Goodbye

To read all three installments of "The Long Goodbye," a multi-part posting about the experience of watching a parent die, go here. … [Read More...]

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