Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll and Lucie Mannheim in the Alfred Hitchcock movie ‘The 39 Steps’

The mystery, thriller movie The 39 Steps (1935) is an Alfred Hitchcock film loosely based on the 1915 novel The Thiry-Nine Steps by John Buchan. Charles Bennett and Ian Hay garner screenwriting credit for this movie taking place in England and largely in Scotland.

(From left, Robert Donat as Richard Hannay and Lucie Mannheim as Annabella Smith in the Alfred Hitchcock movie The 39 Steps).

This story of The 39 Steps is one of the wrong man, Canadian Richard Hannay as portrayed by Robert Donat, suspected of murder getting mixed up with an attractive blonde, Pamela as portrayed by Madeleine Carroll, while hoping to clear his name. The death in play is that of one Annabella Smith, as portrayed by Lucie Mannheim, who turns to Hannay for help before coming to her end after implicating him; Smith introduces to Hannay the notion of an abstract and unexplained phrase The 39 Steps.

(From left, Madeleine Carroll as Pamela and Robert Donat as Richard Hannay in the Alfred Hitchcock movie The 39 Steps).

The opening confusion with Annabella Smith begins in London at a music hall event featuring Mr. Memory; Wylie Watson portrayed Mr. Memory. It’s while Smith fleeing to Hannay’s bedroom and getting murdered that Hannay retrieves a map of the Scottish Highlands held by Smith; that map leads Hannay to a building labeled Alt-na-Shellach in the village of Killin, Scotland. Hannay first meets Pamela aboard the Flying Scotsman, learning at Waverly Station in Edinburgh, Scotland of his being suspected of murdering Smith. Hannay escapes police custody at the Forth Bridge when Pamela aims to support his capture.

(From left, Robert Donat as Richard Hannay, Peggy Ashcroft as Margaret and John Laurie as John in the Alfred Hitchcock movie The 39 Steps).

The police ultimately follow Hannay to the the croft of John and Margaret, where the couple has granted Hannay an evening of respite. Margaret, as portrayed by Peggy Ashcroft, gives Richard the coat of her husband John, as portrayed by John Laurie, to assist Hannay in making an escape. The notion of an extended police chase in cinema gains an expression multiple ways through The 39 Steps, leading for now to Alt-na-Shellach.

(Godfrey Tearle as Professor Jordan in the Alfred Hitchcock movie The 39 Steps).

It is at the home there that Hannay encounters Professor Johnson and his wife; Professor Johnson and Mrs. Louisa Johnson were portrayed by Godfrey Tearle and Helen Haye, respectively. A bullet meant for Hannay at the home of the Johnson’s misses its mark when a hymnal in the coat jacket of John, as presented to him by Margaret, saves Robert Hannay’s life. Pamela, intending to reveal Robert Hannay to police again, leads the pair on a trip with police impersonators aiming to take the pair to Inverary, Scotland.

(Wiley Watson as Mr. Memory in the Alfred Hitchcock movie The 39 Steps).

Cleverness by Hannay helps Robert and Pamela, handcuffed together, escape their captors once again. The pair make their way to the London Palladium, where the movie comes to a satisfying conclusion. The film’s ongoing chase sequences resolve provided an interesting mix of humor and directorial winking. Owing to the overall enjoyment that was experienced, I grant The 39 Steps as directed by Alfred Hitchcock 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Saturday, May 4, 2024

The Vaselines and the EP ‘Dying for It’

It was March, 1988 that The Vaselines of Scotland released their EP (extended play) Dying for It. Composed of four (4) songs, the performance offers glimpses of alternative pop/rock, alternative indie/rock, indie pop and twee pop. Musicians contributing to the performance included Eugene Kelly on vocals and guitars, Frances McKee on vocals and guitars, James Seenan on bass, Charles Kelly on drums, David Keegan on guitar and Sophie Pragnell on viola.

(EP cover for Dying for It, the extended play released in March 1988 by The Vaselines).

Dying for It opens the EP of the same name as a bit of an awkward teenage song craving for physical intimacy. Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee sing of having time with little to do and a floor seemingly begging for action.

As mentioned here, Molly’s Lips “is about the Scottish actress Molly Weir, who played Hazel The McWitch in late ’70s/early ’80s BBC children’s show Rentaghost.” As Eugene Kelly was quoted in the same place, Weir “always struck us as a great character, so we just wanted to sing a song about kissing her.”

Teenage Superstars is the first of two songs from Dying for It to cast the singer into a starring role of sorts for Jesus. The twist for this song is the notion of the band being unburdened among teenagers for the band’s aspiration beyond angst while being mourned by angels for efforts to sacrifice their soul in reaching for reaching fame.

Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam, as noted here, “is a parody on the Christian children’s hymn I’ll Be a Sunbeam” as composed by Edwin O. Excell. The song indicates that Jesus would prefer doing without the advocacy for souls that The Vaselines could perform, yet they declare their choosing not to do so.

Matt – Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou and Jean Reno in the Ron Howard movie ‘The Da Vinci Code’

Released as a movie in May 2006, the adaptation of the 2003 Dan Brown book The Da Vinci Code became the Ron Howard directed movie The Da Vinci Code (2006). With screenplay writing credit for Akiva Goldsman, the movie focuses on “art history, Christianity’s origins, and arcane theories,” as mentioned here.

(Jean-Pierre Marielle as Jacques Saunière in the Ron Howard movie The Da Vinci Code).

The movie begins with the pursuit if Louvre Museum curator Jacques Saunière, as portrayed by Jean-Pierre Marielle, in the world famous Paris, France art museum by Roman Catholic, albino monk named Silas; Silas was portrayed by Paul Bettany. Saunière, while coming out of the exchange dead, leaves clues amongst the artwork of Leonardo da Vinci, the namesake for the movie, the book, and the clues embedded in the art around the museum that lead the police to summon renowned Harvard University symbologist Robert Langdon to the case.

(From left, Paul Bettany as Silas and Alfred Molina as Bishop Aringarosa in the Ron Howard movie The Da Vinci Code).

Robert Langdon, as portrayed by Tom Hanks, initially is suspected of the murder of Jacques Saunière, by police captain Bezu Fache, as portrayed by Jean Reno. Police cryptologist Sophie Neveu, as portrayed by Audrey Tautou, disagrees that that Langdon should be suspected of her grandfather’s, that is Saunière’s, murder; Neveu and Langdon shake Fache’s pursuit and deduce that Saunière was a grand master of the French founded Priory of Sion.

(From left, Audrey Tautou as Sophie Neveu and Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon near the Louvre Museum in the Ron Howard movie The Da Vinci Code).

Silas, meanwhile, works for an anonymous to him person he calls The Teacher, which has links to the Bishop Aringarosa led Opus Dei. Aringarosa, as portrayed by Alfred Molina. Circumstances send Langdon and Neveu to Sir Leigh Teabing, as portrayed by Ian McKellan.

(Jean Reno as Police Captain Bezu Fache in the Ron Howard movie The Da Vinci Code).

It was Teabing, a purported expert on the Holy Grail, who introduces a theory contrary to accepted religious canon about a relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus, which motivated much of the subtextual mystery functioning in the movie. Charlotte Graham portrayed Mary Magdalene in The Da Vinci Code.

(Ian McKellen as Sir Leigh Teabing in the Ron Howard movie The Da Vinci Code).

The thriller aspects of the movie, along with the intrigue underpinning the mysteries animating the story for the movie, largely worked. That the resolution went in the direction it did was a bit provocative for my taste, though that does not mean the fiction did not work. I give The Da Vinci Code as directed by Ron Howard 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Saturday, March 23, 2024

Arthur Conan Doyle and the book ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’

Released over a course of nine months in the first decade of the twentieth century, The Hound of the Baskervilles was the third of four novels featuring mastermind detective Sherlock Holmes. Written by Arthur Conan Doyle of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom, the novel features the sudden death of Sir Charles Baskerville. Suspected in the death is an extravagantly large ghostly hound said to have haunted the Baskerville family for generations. Holmes is presented as the detective to answer to this mystery.

(Arthur Conan Doyle, as seen here, wrote four crime novels featuring Sherlock Holmes as the detective).

Location and timing feature in the story, with the supposed curse of a demonic hound haunting Dartmoor, England dating back to the English Civil Wars of 1642-1651. Dr. James Mortimer brings Sherlock Holmes to London to inform him of this haunting, in that Charles Baskerville of Dartmoor had taken the legend seriously prior to his, Baskerville’s, death. While Baskerville’s death ostensibly looks to have been a heart attack, the look of horror on the man’s face coupled with gigantic hound footprints found near the scene of the philanthropist’s death brought forth the question.

(Alternative covers to The Hound of the Baskervilles, which was first released in serial form from August 1901 to April 1902).

Serving as executor to his friend’s estate, Mortimer is concerned over passing the estate over to Charles Baskerville’s nephew, Henry. While Holmes dismisses the notion of the legend as nonsense, seems eager to stay at Baskerville Hall in spite of receiving an anonymous note warning him to stay away. Henry is returning to the Dartmoor region from Canada, standing to inherit a considerable financial sum in addition to the property. Sherlock Holmes has Dr. Watson travel with Henry and Mortimer when Holmes finds that Charles Baskerville’s nephew is being followed.

(Of the crime novels written by Arthur Conan Doyle, shown here, The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of four to feature Sherlock Holmes as the detective).

An interesting cast of characters are found at the estate upon arrival, with Watson sharing investigation details to Holmes after the larger party recognize strange happenings at the Dartmoor property. Hidden familial relationships among people that Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson encounter give rise to suspicions of guilt among allowing detective Holmes to bait a trap to kill the howling hound while pointing to the guilty party for Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard. The truth is revealed in the end with the underlying motivations revealed satisfactorily for all to see.

(Additional covers to The Hound of the Baskerville as written by Arthur Conan Doyle).

The correct interpretation of who had been acting in self-interest to cause the underlying mysteries eluded me, though I was at least on the proper track for the motivations that were in play. These points contributed to my enjoyment of the mystery overall. Thus, I give The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle 4.0-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Annie Lennox and the album ‘A Christmas Cornucopia’

In her fifth studio album, Annie Lennox of Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom set her musical gaze on the Christmas season with the holiday album 2010 album A Christmas Cornucopia. Set to music genres including holiday, pop/rock, carols, Christmas and holidays, musicians assisting Lennox on the presentation of this album included Dave Robbins, Mark Stevens, Mike Stevens, Barry Van Zyl and the African Children’s Choir.

(The Annie Lennox album A Christmas Cornucopia was released in November of 2010).

Angels from the Realms of Glory opens A Christmas Cornucopia as a carol reminiscent of many worship services I’ve attended over the years. Upliftingly presented with backing orchestration and chorus, the music for the song was published as written by hymnwriter and poet James Montgomery of Scotland in 1816.

(Scottish born hymnwriter, poet and editor James Montgomery wrote the hymn Angels from the Realms of Glory. The song is the first on the Annie Lennox album A Christmas Cornucopia).

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen follows the album opener with tidings of comfort and joy upon the birth of the historical Jesus. The charm for me is the focus on the singing featuring Lennox throughout, the subtle vocal accompaniment for the first stanza, and the orchestration through the full performance. The accentuating drums add a full-bodied beauty for me that combines with subtlety for what I take as flute through the last quarter of the song, ending as flute in isolation.

See Amid the Winter’s Snow manifests more beautiful orchestration as led by Dave Robbins throughout this album. First published in 1858 for English hymn writer Edward Caswall, English organist and composer John Goss composed a hymn for the original piece in 1871. The presentations then and now express joy in the birth of Jesus Christ at the commemoration of his original arrival.

Il est né le divin Enfant is French for He is born, the divine Child. Lennox sings the French Christmas carol in the original language in narrating the story of the 4,000 year wait for the humble birth of Jesus in a manger.

(A Christmas Cornucopia album by Annie Lennox was released in November of 2010).

The First Noel as a piece of music is “a traditional English carol most likely from the 16th or 17th century, but possibly dating from as early as the 13th century”, as quoted here. The chorus vocals in a brief dreamy spell between verses at a pair of points elevates the piano and strings that accompany the Annie Lennox singing for this song. The trumpeting of the joyous event of Jesus‘ birth to close the song presented an unexpectedly uplifting conclusion to this piece.

Lullay Lullay (The Coventry Carol) draws from the Gospel according to Matthew to tell of the Slaughter of the Innocents in Bethlehem as ordered by Herod. The song results in a lullaby that mothers would have sung, and Lennox did sing, to their children as a means of comfort.

The Holly and the Ivy is a traditional folk Christmas carol of British origin. The song harkens back to the association between Christmas and holly, which has origins in the Middle Ages (or Medieval times). The cadence performs a bit quicker than my senses and heart wanted to experience this song.

(This portrait of Christina Rossetti was made by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, her brother. Christina Rossetti‘s poem In the Bleak Midwinter was published under the title A Christmas Carol).

Written as a poem by Christina Rossetti, In the Bleak Midwinter is frequently performed as a Christmas carol as done by Annie Lennox on A Christmas Cornucopia. The song postulates a series of cJoseph (Earthly Father of Jesus Christ)omparisons of religious importance foe how Jesus came to exist, the prophesied two comings of Jesus, Jesus‘ birth and surroundings, and the affection types offered Jesus by angels and Mary, his birth mother.

As Joseph was a Walking (The Cherry Tree Carol) surprised me as both a Christmas carol and a children’s ballad. The lyrical version presented by Lennox includes an angel previewing the birth of Jesus for Joseph, Jesus‘ father on Earth.

O Little Town of Bethlehem plays to different music than I’ve heard it presented previously. The song is presented solemnly and traditionally with an almost understated piano accompaniment. The chorus that joins Lennox at periodic points makes for a beautiful rendition of this song.

Silent Night with lyrics by Joseph Mohr and composition by Franz Xaver Gruber presents the second to last song on A Christmas Cornucopia. Presented with a traditional piano approach that grows to include a children’s choir and strings, the musical arrangement does as much for the song as does the Annie Lennox singing.

(Universal Child is a single released in 2010 to support the Annie Lennox album A Christmas Cornucopia).

Universal Child is the original Annie Lennox composition on A Christmas Cornucopia. As quoted here, the song is an advocacy for all kids to experience “Safety, security, access to medical care, to love, protection, education, a future, a decent place to live – a child must have all these things.”

Matt – Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Led Zeppelin and the album commonly called ‘Led Zeppelin IV’

The fourth studio album by Led Zeppelin never received a proper name. The eight song album commonly called Led Zeppelin IV was released November 8th, 1971 with style labels including pop/rock, blues, album rock, arena rock, blues-rock, British blues, British metal, hard rock, heavy metal and regional blues. The core band for the album, as one would expect, included singer and harmonica player Robert Plant, electric guitar, acoustic guitar and mandolin player Jimmy Page, drummer John Bonham and bass, electric piano, mandolin, recorder and synthesizer player John Paul Jones.

(Cover art for Led Zeppelin‘s fourth studio album. The album, commonly called Led Zeppelin IV, was released November 8th, 1971).

Black Dog is named for a Labrador retriever that wandered the grounds where the song was recorded, per Songfacts as referenced here. The opening idea for the song came from John Paul Jones having “wanted to try “electric blues with a rolling bass part,” and “a riff that would be like a linear journey.”” The 1968 Muddy Waters album Electric Mud proved an inspiration for Black Dog, which charted as high as fifteenth in the United States.

(Black Dog was released as a single and charted in several countries with Misty Mountain Hop as the B-side, though the songs were not released as a single in the United Kingdom).

Ian Stewart contributed piano playing to Rock and Roll, the second song on Led Zeppelin IV. Having charted as high as forty-seventh in the United States, the drum work for this reportedly was inspired by the Little Richard song Keep a Knockin’. John Bonham had become frustrated with “a pretty much unplayable drum pattern” for the recording of Four Sticks, per this background. The inspiration from Keep a Knockin’ became part of the signature sound for Rock and Roll, whose lyrics were written by Robert Plant.

(Rock and Roll by Led Zeppelin was released as a single with Four Sticks as the B-side in February 1972).

Sandy Denny contributed duet vocals on The Battle of Evermore, the third song on the Led Zeppelin IV album. Robert Plant wrote the song’s lyrics, per information found here, “after reading a book on Scottish history. The lyrics are about the everlasting battle between night and day, which can also be interpreted as the battle between good and evil.”

Per this feedback from Songfacts, “[t]he most famous rock song of all time, “Stairway To Heaven” wasn’t a chart hit because it was never released as a single to the general public. Radio stations received promotional singles which quickly became collector’s items.” To the best of my reckoning, the lyrics themselves are rather opaque. Two message are clear. The first is that material wealth makes getting to heaven challenging. The second message is that a wealthy woman got everything she wanted without giving anything back.

Misty Mountain Hop references the Misty Mountains that reportedly exist in Wales. The location itself is referenced in The Return of the King, the third book in The Lord of the Rings series of books by J.R.R. Tolkien; Robert Plant is reportedly a fan of the books. As mentioned here, the song itself “is about a “love-in” near London that was broken up by the police.” Jimmy Page wrote the song.

Four Sticks reportedly “was named because drummer John Bonham played it with four drumsticks – two in each hand.” Bonham reportedly had difficulty physically playing this song. The song “contains elements of Indian music.”

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant wrote Going to California, reportedly “drawing inspiration from Joni Mitchell, specifically her song “California.” In the Led Zeppelin song, “the guy in the song is looking for a girl just like [Mitchell], one with “love in her eyes and flowers in her hair” who “plays guitar and cries and sings.”

Based on a 1927 Memphis Minnie song about The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 in Mound Landing, Mississippi, the Led Zeppelin song When the Levee Breaks offers a distinctively different sound to Memphis Minnie‘s When the Levee Breaks. As reported here, the Led Zeppelin song was “[h]eavily produced in the studio.” “All this studio wizardry made the song very difficult to perform live, which Led Zeppelin did only twice: once in a “warm up” gig in Denmark before their 1975 US tour, and again on their second night in Chicago.”

Matt – Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Virginia Woolf and the book ‘To the Lighthouse’

An important modernist writer of English ancestry, Virginia Woolf wrote the book To the Lighthouse. Focused less on actual action than on the allegiances and tensions of family life and of conflicts between men and women, Woolf gives us an examination of those tensions of the characters through the thoughts and feelings of the characters across one afternoon the day after a promise to visit a nearby lighthouse is not honored.

(Virginia Woolf wrote To the Lighthouse, a book focused on expressing thoughts and making observations in support of philosophical introspection).

Set in a house on the Isle of Skye (or simply Skye) in Scotland, To the Lighthouse is populated by a the Mr. Ramsay, Mrs. Ramsay, their eight children, and their guests. While addressing a period from 1910 to 1920 in a single day, the book is broken in three parts identified as The Window, Time Passes and The Lighthouse. Using an all-knowing narrator to tie the perspective sharing together, harsh gender attitudes are expressed with self-identity, academic admiration and generational sentimentalism giving way to the death of characters, World War One, the passage of time brings ideas raised in the opening section coming to fruition with the third section. Broken relationships ultimately give way to self-reflection and understanding that in important ways heal perspectives that were broken to begin the book.

(Alternative covers to the Virginia Woolf book To the Lighthouse, which was originally published May 5th, 1927).

The philosophical reflections offered in To the Lighthouse are really top notch. The experimental structure of the novel, at least for the time it was published in 1927, can be difficult for some. Overall, these factors lead me to offer To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf 4.0-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Saturday, October 14, 2023

Carson McCullers and the book ‘The Heart is a Lonely Hunter’

Written in the Southern gothic tradition of the American literary canon for its “emphasis on individuals who are considered outcasts because of race, politics, disability, or sensibility,” as quoted in the Encyclopædia Britannica here, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter as written by Carson McCullers receives our attention today.

(The writing career of Carson McCullers, shown here, saw its first success with the publishing of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter on June 4, 1940).

The central protagonist of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is John Singer, a deaf man living in a mill town of 1930s Georgia, a state in the southern region of the United States. Singer is left lonely when his Greek companion, a mute named Spiros Antonapoulos, is committed to a psychiatric hospital as insane. Singer becomes the glue for the community of disaffected misfits who confide their feelings to him with no understanding of his, John Singer’s, inner world.

(Alternate book covers for The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers).

The remaining story focuses largely on the confidences placed into Singer, as quoted here, by “Mick Kelly, a tomboy who loves music and dreams of buying a piano; Jake Blount, an alcoholic labor agitator; Biff Brannon, the observant owner of a diner; and Dr. Benedict Mady Copeland, an idealistic physician.” In the absence of spoken feedback from Singer, who communicated through sign language with Antonapoulos, each of Singer’s acquaintances assume that Singer emotionally sympathizes with their particular demographic. It was in this revelation that we as readers get to know the characters without addressing the pursuit of loved understanding that each of the characters’ needs. This comes to a head for the novel, and for Singer, when Antonapoulos suffers a fate that devastates Singer more than an insanity diagnosis.

(The title for the book The Heart is a Lonely Hunter came from the poem The Lonely Hunter by the Scottish poet William Sharp. Pictured here is Carson McCullers, the writer of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter).

The experience of the Carson McCullers book The Heart is a Lonely Hunter earns 4.0-stars on a scale of one-to-five stars for its heart, its unique narrative structure of using a mute as the protagonist, and the semi-autobiographical nature of the character Mick Kelly.

Matt – Saturday, September 23, 2023

Pink Floyd and the album ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’

Milestones are fun touchpoints for remembering popularly received albums. Originally released on March 1st, 1973, the eighth studio album for Pink Floyd was first shared with the world. The Dark Side of the Moon would land the first of a wider recognition in North America for one of England‘s premier progressive rock bands.

(Shown here is the cover art for The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd‘s eighth studio album).

Speak to Me opens The Dark Side of the Moon with, as quoted from here, a “heartbeat, followed by sounds representing things that can drive you to madness: spoken bits, a clock ticking, a cash register, coins clinking, synthesizer, then at the end, a mad shriek.” The song is preliminary to the second album track, with writing credit going to Pink Floyd‘s drummer, Nick Mason.

Presented here with the Speak to Me introduction included, Breathe (In the Air) is the second track from The Dark Side of the Moon. With writing credits granted to Richard Wright and David Glimour, there are interesting facts about the song related here. “This song is about an older man speaking to a baby, [describing] the unfortunate working life the baby will have to face.” While implying a message to do what inspires us, while interestingly being synchronized to parts of the movie The Wizard of Oz (1939).

With a synthesizer as the lead instrument for On the Run, as noted here, the song is also considered an early example of technology driven music. “This song deals with the pressures of travel, which Rick Wright said would often bring fear of death.” The song is clearly an instrumental without lyrics.

(Time was the fourth track on the Pink Floyd album The Dark Side of the Moon. The song was released as a single in the United States).

Time “is about how time can slip by, but many people do not realize it until it is too late. Roger Waters got the idea when he realized he was no longer preparing for anything in life, but was right in the middle of it. He had just turned 28.” As noted here for the previous and next quote, “[t]his song takes on the topic of mortality.”

The Great Gig in the Sky continues the exploration of “life…gradually descending into death,” as noted here. With writing credits recognizing Richard Wright and Clare Torry, the song includes an “angrier and more intense first half” getting into realizing death is coming. The second half that is “is gentler, as the dying person gives into the inevitable and fades away.”

(Money was the sixth track on The Dark Side of the Moon album. The song’s release as a single helped make it a hit for Pink Floyd in the United States).

Money charted as high as number 13 in the United States, as indicated here. “This song is about the bad things money can bring.” I had a pretty cool teacher in the ninth grade that encouraged students to practice learning to type accurately and faster on typewriters synchronously with this song.

(Us and Them earned some modest success in the United States and Canada when released for the Pink Floyd album The Dark Side of the Moon).

Us and Them serves as the longest song on The Dark Side of the Moon album, running at 7-minutes and 49-seconds. The song originally “came up with while [Richard Wright was] working on the soundtrack to the 1970 movie Zabriskie Point.” The movie in its original form was rejected for that album, with the song incorporated into the effort for this album.

(Any Colour You Like is the eighth song from Pink Floyd‘s eighth album, The Dark Side of the Moon).

As mentioned here, the instrumental Any Colour You Like was named in recognition of “a catch phrase used by former Pink Floyd road manager Chris Adamson. When asked for a guitar, Adamson would respond, “Any colour you like, they’re all blue.”” The songfacts.com website further mentions that this song is a reprise of the song Breathe (In The Air) from earlier in the album.

Brain Damage “is probably about insanity, something the band was quite familiar with,” as noted here. “Ex-singer/guitarist Syd Barrett‘s experiments with hallucinogens caused his unfortunate fall in the late ’60s.” The song lyrically invokes the album title, The Dark Side of the Moon.

Frequently played on the radio immediately after Brain Damage, Eclipse again reprises the song Breathe (In The Air) from earlier in the album. The notion here expresses a relatable descent into the insanity suggested by Brain Damage, with the notion of an eclipse being a metaphor for descent into insanity.

(From left, Roger Waters, Nick Mason, David Gilmour and Richard Wright of Pink Floyd).

The primary musicians for The Dark Side of the Moon were David Gilmour of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, Nick Mason of Birmingham, England, Roger Waters of Bookham, Surrey, England, and Richard Wright of Hatch End, London, England. Additional musicians on the album included Dick Parry of Kentford, Suffolk, England, Clare Torry of Marylebone, London, England, Doris Troy of Bronx, New York City, New York, United States, Lesley Duncan of Stockton-on-Tees, Durham, England, Barry St. John of Glasgow, Scotland and Liza Strike of the United Kingdom.

Matt – Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law and Ezra Miller in the David Yates movie ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’

It’s my contention that the low grades offered by other reviewers of the David Yates directed Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022) were harsh and not completely fair. As the sequel to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) and Fantastic Beast: The Crimes of Grindlewald (2018), this third installment into the wizarding world pre-dates the Harry Potter world by approximately seventy (70) years.

(From left, Oliver Masucci as Anton Vogel and Mads Mikkelsen as Gellert Grindelwald in the David Yates movie Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore).

Writing credits for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore rested with J.K. Rowling and Steve Kloves, with Kloves reemerging after several successes as a screenwriter for many of the novels written by Rowling for the Harry Potter movies. That Gellert Grindelwald appears in this Fantastic Beasts movie in a third incarnation is perhaps the biggest distraction entering this movie. *Remember that Colin Farrell had portrayed American auror Percival Graves in the original movie, only to be revealed as Gellert Grindelwald in disguise as portrayed by Johnny Depp for the remainder of the first and second movies. Mads Mikkelsen entered that role with Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.

(From left, Dan Fogler as Jacob Kowalski, Jessica Williams as Eulalie ‘Lally’ Hicks, Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander and Callum Turner as Theseus Scamander in the David Yates movie Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore).

The central story of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore in large part continues to focus on the theme of blood relationships coupled with the future of the magical world. The central action for the movie transitions from Paris, France with Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald to Berlin, Germany with touchpoints in Kweilin (also spelled Guilin), China, Scotland (Hogwarts), and New York City, New York, United States. Grindelwald looks to gain control of the International Confederation of Wizards, which is due to elect a new head in Berlin.

(From left, Jude Law as Albus Dumbledore and Richard Coyle as Aberforth Dumbledore in the David Yates movie Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore).

The pair of secrets that informs much of the conflict are, indeed, the conflicts among siblings that inform much of the Fantastic Beasts world. The nature of the blood pact between Albus Dumbledore, as portrayed by Jude Law, and Gellert Grindelwald keep the two from acting in opposition to one another, despite contrasting world views. With the notion of a fantastic beast known as a qilin central to the Grindelwald’s ambitions, Grindelwald had dispatched Credence Barebone to the birth of a qilin in Kweilin to interfere with some special qualities for the birdlike creature. Barebone beats Newt Scamander to the quick in protecting the qilin’s birth, with much to come from the exchange. Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander as Ezra Miller portrayed Credence Barebone.

(From left, Alison Sudol as Queenie Goldstein and Katherine Waterston as Tina Goldstein in the David Yates movie Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore).

The relationship that Credence Barebone has to the Dumbledore bloodline invokes brotherly questions between Albus and Aberforth Dumbledore, with Aberforth Dumbledore portrayed by Richard Coyle. Newt Scamander and his brother, Theseus Scamander as portrayed by Callum Turner, must join forces to with non-magical helper Jacob Kowalski, American Charms teacher Eulalie ‘Lally’ Hicks from Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Newt’s assistant Bunty and French wizard of Senegalese descent, Yusuf Kama. Dan Fogler, Jessica Williams, Victoria Yeates and William Nadylam portrayed Kowalski, Hicks, Bunty and Kama, respectively.

(From left, Ezra Miller as Credence Barebone, William Nadylam as Yusuf Kama and Victoria Yeates as Bunty in the David Yates movie Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore).

The goals of Dumbledore’s group overlapped in opposition to those in some ways as the roles portrayed by Anton Vogel and Queenie Goldstein. Oliver Masucci and Alison Sudol, portrayed Vogel and Goldstein, respectively. Tina Goldstein, Queenie’s sister as portrayed by Katherine Waterston, had a small role with Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore that did more for the Fantastic Beasts franchise than it did for this particular movie.

(From left, Steve Kloves and J.K. Rowling wrote the screenplay for the David Yates movie Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore).

Lynn, my wife and significant fan of the Harry Potter books and movies, rates Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore as the third movie for her in the Fantastic Beasts movies currently released. There’s an early and difficult scene with a qilin that was arguably too graphic for this franchise that I think set the stage for the larger movie experience for her. The emotional impact that this action had for the larger story is understandable, yet could have been depicted with more subtlety, in my personal opinion. The larger story did work for me, however. I grant Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore as directed by David Yates 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, July 13, 2022