Le Détective Triste

Peanuts

Russian children's book illustrations

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/10/17/inside-the-rainbow-vintage-russian-childrens-books/

Fred Zinnemann

Top five Fred Zinnemann films:

1. High Noon
2. The Day of the Jackal
3. The Search
4. From Here to Eternity
5. The Nun's Story

To buy or not to buy

...that is the question. Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune. You will get Morrissey's side of the story, okay, but do you want to read a lot of bitching about Joyce and Rourke daring to ask for 25 procent of the royalties? That's one side of Morrissey I've never understood. The real money is in songwriting, that he only has to share with Marr. And 50 pages about the trial? I read Tony Fletcher's biography of The Smiths earlier this year, and I think maybe I'll just stick to that one and rather put on Hatful of Hollow or The World Won't Listen, listening to the music they created...

Cynical girl

The Ugly American from Hong Kong

The Ugly American, by George Englund.:
It's the Cold War. Marlon Brando has a moustache and smokes a pipe. A slow and talky film, not very exciting or visually interesting, but Brando is pretty good and gets to do some real acting, in contrast to a film like Desirée.

A Countess from Hong Kong, by Charlie Chaplin:
A screwball-ish comedy, with Marlon Brando trying his best to do chaplinesque physical humour. It's not a good film, and feels pretty dated, but the doorbell gag, where everybody jumps up and runs to the bathroom is somewhat funny. Sophia Loren looks great, though. I think this is just the second film I've seen with her, the first being Arabesque that she did with Gregory Peck. I'm sure she must have done some better films.