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lej222 · 3 months ago

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Literary Allusions and Pop Culture References in ASLFUA

After School Lessons is a series that has minimal plot, but great underlying themes and references to other famous creations/pop culture moments. I thought it would be fun to collect as many as I can in this post and their possible narrative connection, not necessarily in order. :)

Cheol & Miae

One of the biggest running gags of the series is that the main characters have the same names as the famous Korean musical duo Cheol and Miae. The group was formed in 1992, with Cheol as the rapper and Miae as the singer. Their single, 'Why do you' became a huge hit and was referenced in ASLFUA plenty of times. Obviously, the main joke here is that the singer Miae was taller than rapper Cheol and they were only friends, while Unripe Apples Cheol is taller than Miae.

Nostradamus

The prophecy of Nostradamus said that in the 7th month of 1999 a great king of terror would descend from the sky and bring end to the world. Which makes it even more interesting that the supernatural powers in the story started to be very active around July with the end of the first term and the start of the summer break.

Miae's posters on the wall: E.T (1982) and The X-Files (1993)

Interestingly enough, both feature aliens. E.T The Extra-Terrestrial might be more interesting for us readers, as it features a young boy named Elliott who befriends an alien. In one of the most famous scenes of the movie, E.T. is riding Elliott's bike in his basket, and the bicycle lifts off from the ground and two are shown flying in front of the full moon. In fact, in a poll made by Universal it was voted as the most memorable movie scene in 100 years of cinema.

Needless to say, there are some ovbious similarities with our story - the boy with the bike, the strange friend, the moon symbolism. In fact, Cheol is always looking at the moon so it wouldn't be a surprise if it was inspired by Spielberg's movie, plus one of the most impactful scenes of aslfua is when Cheol allows Miae to ride his bicycle with him in ep 95, the scene that I personally consider the end of the first part of the story.

Backstreet Boys

Miae is singing the 1997 hit song 'As Long As You Love Me'. Miae, like a typical teenager, likes boybands like the Fire Boys who might be the parody of The Backstreet Boys😃

Romeo and Juliet

There are quite a few references to the 1996 Romeo and Juliet movie, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. On 3 separate cover pages, Miae is portrayed as Juliet, while Cheol and Jisu are dressed like Romeo. There's also a scene where Miae imagines being Juliet who is not allowed to meet her Romeo when she cannot see Cheol. I wonder if Jisu will also have a Romeo-like element in his story that could create a similar situation, it would be an amazing foreshadowing element.

Man in Black

It looks like Soonkki really loves her alien references, because we also have the 1997 movie starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, who play agents tasked with monitoring extraterrestrial life on Earth.

Titanic

Another movie that is mentioned many times in the story, the Titanic (1997) is one that Miae seemingly loves and has watched many times. In fact, it's funny how her favourite part is the car scene because it really shows us readers that Miae is interested in the idea of love, even if she doesn't know what it truly entails to be in a relationship.

Green Day

People born before the 2000s all know that characters listening to the American band's songs were often the slacker/stoner stereotypes. I've also written a post about how Jisu is seemingly the subversion of the 90s slacker/stoner and nerd archetype, while Cheol seems to be the subversion of the jock trope. Jisu is listening to Basket Case (1994) that has become the anthem of many slackers/stoners in the 90s, and weirdly fits his character really well considering Jisu is usually described as a strange person. I've also made several posts about Jisu possibly being on the spectrum, and it's interesting to see how Jisu expresses himself with the songs he listens to, no wonder his hobby is listening to music. If we consider Jisu might be bad at expressing his feelings through his body language, it makes this scene even more precious.

Speed

Cheol invites Miae to watch a movie together and it happens to be the 1994 classic starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. Reeves plays a police officer who has to save the passengers of a bus without the speed of the bus dropping below 50 miles per hour, otherwise a bomb would explode the vehicle. It's one of the most creative action films ever made, but if someone wants to watch it, I advice not to watch the sequel because it is awful lol.

Scream

Miae wants Cheol to join the academy kids watching an R-rated movie which leads to a hilarious misunderstanding. To Cheol's relief, the movie turns out to be the horror movie Scream (1996).

Shakespeare and Carl Jung

Like I've mentioned in my supernatural involvement post under ep 116, we get a close-up of 2 interesting posters.

One of them is about the forest in Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare. The 4 central characters in the play all get entangled with the supernatural, and the forest symbolizes a world where the line between reality and fantasy is blurred. Dreams play an important role in the story as they are sometimes real, sometimes simply dreams. In aslfua, we also have dreams, a forest where young Miae and Cheol played, a stone tower fairy that allegedly grants wishes and an unknown supernatural power that talks to Miae.

The coincidences poster is likely a reference to Carl Jung's synchronicity, a concept that states that seemingly meaningful coincidences have a deeper meaning. One has to realize the connection between their psyche and the material world to experience synchronicity, so basically you have to notice the coincidences that keep happening and put meaning to them. Because these coincidences have no rational explanation, they can be proof for a deeper order in the universe, almost like destiny, no wonder Jung used this concept to argue for the existence of the paranormal. A simple example: you really cannot decide what to study in the future, but have seen many posters on your way about one school. You go home and it pops up on the Internet. You start to wonder if it's a coincidence, and decide that it's a sign from above and eventually choose it. You've experienced synchronicity.

-> this happens when seemingly unrelated events become meaningful to you. Miae wonders how she keeps bumping into Cheol. She says he must have come to her neighborhood because of her wish. Miae experiences synchronicity when it comes to Cheol. Or we could say Miae acknowledges a deeper order in the universe that, through coincidences, let her meet Cheol again. Jisu also notices that he keeps meeting Miae through coincidences, he acknowledges the deeper order, he even remarks it's fun, but he goes beyond and says he feels like there's a higher power involved. Miae has no idea about her coincidences with Jisu so she her psyche doesn't make the connection with the material world. So we have synchronicity experienced by: Miae->Cheol and Jisu->Miae.

Jisu, the grateful magpie

Jisu's backstory gives us a reference to a famous Korean folktale about a man who saved a group of baby magpies from a snake and in return the magpies sacrificed themselves to protect him. Here, the illustration clearly shows Miae as the person who uses her bow and arrow to kill the snake, while we know she called Jisu a magpie when they were kids. Throughout the story, we see Jisu trying to protect Miae and repay the favor without much luck, which pretty much foreshadows one big possible role for Jisu in the storyline, no wonder he's the one who's aware of Shim bullying Miae. It's no coincidence either how in the present she thinks Jisu resembles more of a bald eagle, a predatory animal.

Stone tower

Although it's not an allusion, I wanted to include this one because it's a very famous superstition in Korea. People used to pray to the mountain Gods by building stone pagodas so their wishes would be answered. This tradition is still alive, though nowadays most people tell their wishes or pray for good luck. You usually put your stones on an existing stone tower because it also shows how people are interconnected and how you should respect others so your wish can come true through the wishes of others. That's why you should never destroy a pagoda that somebody else made, and it's also very disrespectful. Miae also makes wishes to the tower so Cheol can become her friend and he would one day come to her neighborhood. When Cheol wants to give her a book, he accidentally falls on the pagoda and injures himself.

The Matrix

The Matrix (1999), one of the most famous movies of all time, is about how reality is actually an illusion, and people can be blinded about the truth about their own existence. The main character Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, is someone who awakens within the Matrix, similarly to what we see in The Truman Show starring Jim Carrey.

In one of the most iconic moments of the movie, the oracle tells Neo not to worry about the vase, while Neo doesn't know what she's talking about until he accidentally drops a vase. This scene poses many different questions about predetermination and free will. Was Neo's act predestined by prior experince, free will, or maybe both?

If you look at my aslfua screenshot, you can notice the code from Matrix in green. And what happens in the scene? Miae and Jisu injure a plant in a pot. An accident, right?? Well, depending on how you interpret it based on the movie. And what does Jisu do? He intentionally throws the pot and destroys the plant. Can Jisu's act be considered a sign of free will? Because that is what he tells Miae- that he is not a bully, so he took the blame by flipping over the plant. Jisu might just be a glitch in the system if you know what I mean :D

The Bible

Last but not least, we have this super symbolic illustration at the end of ep2 after Miae meets Cheol. The biblical allusion is obvious, Miae is holding out a green apple to Cheol, a half-eaten apple. In the first part Miae is the one providing her knowledge to Cheol in order to help him mature. :)

There are probably way more references, but I'm kind of tired so I might add others in the future. :) If anyone read this whole thing, thank you so much! :D

#aslfua #after school lessons for unripe apples

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themoonofblueside · 6 months ago

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Nico "i a part of the most famous f1 rivalry" rosberg doing the podium interviews where lewis "i am the other half of that rivalry" hamilton gets his 200th podium where the 1-2 of the race had a teammate drama with two guys who are also close in age with a very quick car...this is cinema

#lewis hamilton #lando norris #oscar piastri #nico rosberg #hungarian gp 2024

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vidavalor · 1 year ago

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"You love trains": Crowley & Aziraphale inspired 'North by Northwest'

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Putting my film studies background to good use here with some film history & historical context under the cut.

The "what does the J stand for?" exchange in The Blitz, Part 1 and the inability for the audience to initially understand what Aziraphale is mouthing in The Blitz, Part 2 are both references to Hitchcock's classic spy thriller, 'North by Northwest'. I didn't link the clip that goes along with The Blitz, Part 2 in case some of you have never seen this film because it would ruin your experience of it. (Definitely watch it if you have not as it's a masterpiece.) Since The Blitz scenes are taking place in 1941 and 'North by Northwest' was released 18 years later in 1959, Crowley and Aziraphale aren't referencing the film in the dialogue but, instead, could be presumed to be the source *of* the dialogue in the film... just like how Shakespeare lifted Crowley's love poetry for 'Antony & Cleopatra'... and the 'North by Northwest'-referencing part of The Blitz, Part 1 *is referencing* the 'Antony and Cleopatra' reference because it's the reveal of Crowley's first name. But... it gets even better...

The writer of 'North by Northwest' was legendary Hollywood screenwriter Ernest Lehman, whom we're now presuming to have been a friend of probably at least Aziraphale's. Lehman wrote a dozen or so classic films and, outside of 'North by Northwest', is most famous for writing adaptations of several famous musicals, including the adapted screenplay for... 'The Sound of Music.' But, no, somehow, we aren't done yet with how amazing this is lol.

The thing that makes this all even funnier is that 'North by Northwest' is responsible for probably the most famous train metaphor in cinema. I'll spoil just this bit as it won't really ruin the overall movie for you if you haven't seen it but don't go any further than here if you don't want to be spoiled at all. If you've already seen it, you totally know what I mean. *laughs*

In 1959, when this film was released, you still couldn't really show sex on screen in a mainstream film. If you showed two people in a bedroom at all, they were cisgender, heterosexual and married and they slept in two separate beds. The level of sex happening in the above clip was *wild* for the era and the fact that it was put into the film the way it is-- that an unmarried woman picks up a hot guy on a train and they sleep together and she's still the heroine of the film and all of that-- was really nothing short of feminist revolution in a film in this era.

The film has a famous "love scene" of sorts that follows not long after the one I linked above, where the two of them are in a cabin on the train and starting to get it on but constraints of cinema coding at the time limited how far it could go. So, to imply that the main characters do, in fact, sleep together, the film famously cuts away to a shot of the train entering a tunnel-- making the train itself symbolic of sex. Because of how famous the film overall--and this scene in particular--became, it became a thing to use trains euphemistically for sex in other cinematic works following it. There is literally no way that Crowley and Aziraphale have not seen this movie so while Aziraphale was happy to make The Bentley into a sexual metaphor while angling for the car keys, Crowley is half-heartedly griping in flirty response by continually referencing trains, another sexual mode of transportation-- the one that that they inspired lol. Hence Aziraphale's bemused little lololol-but-won't-give-him-the-satisfaction-of-seeing-my-amusement face here:

Sunglassed!Cary Grant is Crowley and the old movie chemistry and the semi-coded flirty banter and someone please, please write a fic where Aziraphale says "I don't particularly like the book I've started"-- I will pay you lol.

#ineffable husbands #aziracrow #good omens #good omens 2 #good omens meta #crowley #aziraphale #north by northwest #good omens 1941

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allwaswell16 · 8 months ago

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All the One Direction fics I read and enjoyed in May 2024. You can listen to my podcast to hear me talk about each of these fics as well as an overview of what was posted on ao3 including the fics on this month’s fic roundup [ @1dmonthlyficroundup ] which you can find here! Please let the writers know if you liked the fics by leaving kudos and comments! Happy reading!

Fanfictional Podcast #62 | ko-fi | fic recs

- Louis/Harry -

🍃 Ocean Wave Blues by babyhoneyhslt / @babyhoneyheslt

(M, 49k, pirates) After the gruesome death of his Alpha, Harry takes over as the Captain of the Rose Arrow. Trying his best to uphold her reputation as being the most dreadful pirate ship to sail the Seven Seas.

🍃 and so I have to say (before I go) by we_are_the_same / @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed

(M, 27k, mystery) Sometimes falling in love is taking a leap of faith, jumping into the unknown with your eyes closed, hoping someone will be there to catch you. Sometimes falling in love is seeing the person in front of you, all their flaws and imperfections, and taking that leap nonetheless.

🍃 Room For One More Troubled Soul by patdkitten / @babyarcanacasey

(M, 25k, supernatural elements) Louis Tomlinson is the chief medical examiner of the Centre for the Law Enforcement of Supernatural Beings - more commonly referred to as simply "The Centre".

🍃 High heels on, 'm feeling alive by thebreadvan / @thebreadvansstuff

(M, 14k, uni) Harry damages a car when drunkenly stumbling home after a fun night out with his friends. Feeling horribly guilty, he tries to find the owner and make it up to him.

🍃 oh so familiar by @insightfulinsomniac

(E, 13k, witch Harry/vampire Louis) A story of misguided enemies to lovers brought together by a stubborn orange tabby.

🍃 I Dig Your Cinema by @silverstuff50

(E, 12k, exes) It wasn’t that Louis didn’t want to see Harry’s latest film; it was a tragically pathetic fact that Louis had watched every single show and film, every interview, every red carpet that Harry had done since his ex-boyfriend had decided to leave Uni in the second year and pursue an acting career.

🍃 Haze on the horizon by @lunarheslwt

(E, 6k, established relationship) Louis finds himself unexpectedly going into soft heat. Which would’ve been fine, except he is hundreds of miles away from his alpha, Harry, and he needs him. They make it work.

🍃 You're Already Home by LadyLondonderry / @londonfoginacup

(G, 5k, magical realism) It's Christmas Eve and Harry's life is normal. Then he finds someone's barred the door to his favourite hiding spot -- the old groundskeeper's cottage -- and suddenly Harry's life isn't normal anymore.

🍃 just a couple of my cravings by YesIsAWorld / @louandhazaf

(G, 3k, crush) Summer's just around the corner and Louis' battling his addictions... Cigarettes and Harry Styles.

🍃 I'm not that other guy by @jaerie

(E, 3k, omegaverse) Harry has just come back from maternity leave when he unexpectedly goes into heat. He runs into a coworker on his way out.

🍃 Change of Plans by @haztobegood

(G, 2k, omegaverse) Harry and Louis plan to visit their families over Christmas. Sometimes, plans don't work out.

🍃 Into the Woods by @kingsofeverything

(E, 2k, tree adjacent porn lol) Whenever he hikes, Harry keeps an eye out for trees with knots and scars that resemble buttholes. What started as fodder for his silly little Instagram account has become his favorite way to masturbate.

🍃 Lights Are So Bright by QuickedWeen / @becomeawendybird

(G, 2k, famous/famous) Newly first-string quarterback Louis Tomlinson mentions enough times in interviews that he's a fan of mega-famous popstar Harry Styles that people start to notice. At least one person does...

🍃 mosquito bites and cheap beer by @juliusschmidt

(M, 2k, exes-ish) Harry’s careful not to look at Louis as he plays. At least, he starts out that way. Part 2 of Cabin on the Bluff

🍃 Different Than You Do by galactic_larry / @galacticlarry

(T, 2k, love confession) Louis and Harry have been friends for a little over four years. Louis has been in love with Harry for most of those years, even if he didn’t want to admit it at first. What happens when he impulsively decides to tell him?

🍃 On Love's Doorstep by @hellolovers13

(T, 1k, neighbors) Harry Styles: a day in the life...Stuck in a dress, Abandoned by his best friend, Date with hot neighbour. All in all, not the worst day ever

🍃 My heart's in overdrive, and you're behind the steering wheel by @louisthiccsexyglitteryass

(E, 1k, uni) Being late to class means Harry and Louis have to pose together for figure drawings. That being said, the hate each other, but maybe they don't?

🍃 Expresso by @reallynotmemoi

(NR, 880 words, uni) Louis falls in love at first sight with a boy from his Tuesday lectures, and proceeds to make a fool out of himself in front of said boy. But maybe not all is lost…

- Rare Pairs -

🍃 better latte than never by @disgruntledkittenface

(M, 1k, Zayn/Harry) Harry was looking forward to the coffee cart at work. Until the subject of the previous night's fantasies lined up next to him.

🍃 No Constraints by @lululawrence

(NR, 863 words, Louis/Greg James) Louis is really not understanding this particular section of his Vector Calculus course, and his tutor doesn't seem to get what Louis is having a hard time with. Until he does.

#28th appreciation #ficrec #1dficvillage #hljournal #hlcreators #1dsquad

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smilesstyless · 2 years ago

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Birthday show with surprises

Summary: it’s Harry’s birthday show and you find out you’re pregnant. Harry is starting a conversation with you

Pairing: singer!harry x fem!reader

Wordcount: 793

Trigger warnings: a bit angst at the end

Inspired by this

You are nervous you got the results of your pregnancy test back and today was also Harry’s birthday and you’re supposed to go.

You slowly open the letter and look at the results. You couldn’t believe what stands there. You’re pregnant. She can’t believe that.

You spend too much money on this ticket, you can’t stay home. Y/n is still shocked, she cried a bit and then she made a sign, I found out I’m pregnant.

Harry is looking through the crowd, he was asking if everyone is okay and the crowd said no. He was making sure everyone was having a good time.

He already sang a few songs like cinema, keep driving, and canyon moon. then he got back to reading the signs. He looked at the crowd, some of them said, shaved for Harry or sing grape juice but he didn’t care about them. His eyes stopped at your sign.

“You found out today?” Harry asks you.

“Yes, I’m three months pregnant,” you say a bit shyly. Today is Harry’s day and you make it about yourself but Harry doesn’t think like that he thinks it’s wonderful.

“Three months, congrats. Are you excited? Are you terrified? It’s gonna be fine,” he smiles friendly at her.

“I am terrified, I’m on my own,” she looks at Harry. She still is shocked he’s talking to her.

“Is it the first one? I know you will be a great mum,” he smiles. “I wish you luck,” he added.

“I can tell from looking from the window of my soul into the window of your soul,” Harry first points at his eyes and then he points at y/n her eyes. “Through those beautiful windows, that you’re gonna be great you seem like a great person. You’re gonna be great,” you blush at the statement from Harry, that your eyes are beautiful. She’s still shocked that Harry talked to her. The crowd is cheering.

During the rest of the show Harry checked on you a few times, he makes sure everything is alright. “I wish I could hug you,” He saw her crying and said it right after Matilda.

•••

One of the security guards stopped her, “H wants to talk to you,” she follows the guards backstage. She stands in front of Harry’s dressing room. She was about to knock, he opens the door. He isn’t wearing a shirt, just the pants from earlier. He lets her go inside.

“May I hug you?” She nodded her head. Harry wraps his arms around her body. He puts his hands into fits and touches her back. His hug is warm and comforting.

“You will do great, don’t be scared,” he whispers into her neck.

“I’m alone, I have nobody,” she sobs. Harry noticed she started crying. He slowly rocked them both back and forth. Y/n hides her face in his chest.

“You’re not alone,” he coos.

“I am, you wouldn’t understand. So many people support you and I have nobody’s support with the baby,” she sobs out.

“You have mine,” y/n looks up at Harry who is smiling at the thought of babysitting them. "I can babysit," he smiled.

“You don’t mean that, you are famous,” she mumbles to herself. She can’t even afford some things a baby needs, like a crib.

“And that doesn’t mean I’m no human. I care about so much and let me care about you,” he wipes her tears away.

“H, we are celebrating. Are you coming out?” Mitch asked.

“One minute,” he says.

“What’s your name? I forgot to ask you earlier,” he puts a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“It’s y/n,” she smiled shyly. “I need to go home now,” she told Harry. He lets go of the hug and grabs himself a sweater and some sweatpants, he puts the sparkly pants off and the gray sweatpants on.

“I’ll bring you to the car,” he offers her his hand.

“But your party—” she mumbles. She grabs Harry’s hand and he interlocks his fingers with hers. “Can wait, first I need to bring you safely to your car,” he says.

Outside are a few cars left, Harry pulled his hood up, he doesn’t want to be seen.

Y/n and Harry arrive at the car, she opens it and slides in the driver's seat, and Harry opens the door to the passenger's side.

“Enter your number, and I’ll call you okay?” He’s kind of scared she will give it away. “Don’t give this number to anyone else. I’ve never done this before,” he admits.

“I won’t,” Harry gets out of the car and was about to close the door. “I wish you a happy rest birthday,” Harry’s smile brightens.

“Thanks, get home safely,” he added.

#harry styles fluff #harry styles blurb #harry styles x reader #harry fanfic #harry styles au #harry styles fic rec #harry styles fic #harry styles concept #harry angst #harry styles drabble #harry styles writing #harry styles one shot #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles blog #harry styles x fem!reader #harry styles x plus size reader #harry styles x pregnant!reader

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gavisuntiedboot · 2 years ago

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Dim the lights (Gavi x Reader)

28 day writing prompt challenge - prompts are here

Day 5: Holding Hands

"If you play Titi me pregunto again, I will crash this car."

Your laugh rang loudly through the car. Pedri smiled cheekily, leaning one arm against the window, the other gripping the steering wheel. The windows of the mini Cooper were rolled down, letting in the warm air of the summer night in Barcelona. Bad Bunny was streaming through the speakers, creating an excited vibe in the small vehicle.

"But it's his best song! Come on, even Ale agrees, and he doesn't even like Bad Bunny."

Alejandro looked up from his phone in the back seat. He has been scrolling through Instagram to quell his anger at being made to sit in the back seat. "Please stop telling people I don't like Bad Bunny. It's really hurting my social reputation."

Pedri swerved into the parking space outside the cinema. The stars had finally aligned for you to hang out with Pedri for the first time in months. He opened your car door, helping you step out, and then falling in step beside you into the cinema. You had met Pedri several years ago at a COVID testing site you were working at to make some extra money. He had to wait for about 4 hours to get his results. In that time period, you sparked up a conversation. He leaned against the chair in the clinic, legs spread comfortably, easily passing 4 hours while chatting with you. You exchanged phone numbers at the end.

"Is it okay if I save you in my phone as Pedri?"' "No offense, but no one would believe that you have my phone number."

Since then, you and Pedri had gotten closer as friends. He was sarcastic and dryly funny, a sense of humor that you could easily relate to. You tried to hang out at least once a month, but it was difficult with your school schedule and with him being an international football superstar. Most times, you went over to his place, hanging out with him and his teammates. It was at one of these hangout that you had first met Pablo.

You had pulled up to the house, a case of beer in one hand, and pounding on the door in the other. "Pepi, open the door! This beer is heavy and I'm a delicate and frail woma-"

The door swung open, and it wasn't Pedri. Pablo Gavi stood there, leaning against the frame of the door. His brows were scrunched together (as usual), and he looked you up and down, yelling over his shoulder, "Pedri, who is the woman banging down your door?" Pedri came over quickly, spying you over Pablo's shoulder. "Hermano, at least help her with the beer. This is y/n, she's one of my friends."

Surprising as it was to hear that Pedri had friends outside of the club, Gavi stepped aside, allowing Pedri to grab the case from your arms. You followed the boys inside as Gavi fell back dramatically onto the couch, and you took the spot beside him. He flinched, looking at you with bewilderment. "Are you afraid of women, Pablo?" "How do you know my name?" "Did you forget that you're famous?"

Pablo cracked a smile. He liked that you were able to fire back at him quickly, keeping up with his fiery and fast-paced nature. He exchanged numbers with you that day, getting your Playstation info to challenge you in Fifa 22, ego still bruised from how bad you had beaten him last time. He was like a schoolboy with a crush: always finding odd moments to text you. He referenced inside jokes the two of you had on his Instagram. He was, as the kids would say, whipped. But he had yet to build up the courage to ask you to hang out - just the two of you.

You walked into the cinema, laughing with Pedri and Alejandro, and Gavi's eyes lit up. ""y/n!" He called out, walking up to you with his hands in his pocket. He hoped the move made him look cool, even though it was to hide the slight tremble that he developed when he was around you. "Hello to you too Hermano!" Alejandro yelled at Pablo, who had forgotten to meet his two teammates that you had walked in with. "Where is Ferran?" "Right here Pepi, rest easy, no need to miss me." Ferran held 5 tickets above his head, reaching into the popcorn bucket in Pablo's hand. "Y'all ready to scream?"

The group had gathered to watch "Bones and All". Movies were an easy pastime, as no one would recognize the guys in the dark of the theater. You had been salivating over Timothee Chalamet the entire car ride over. As you shuffled into the theater, you found yourself at the middle of the group, sitting in the row next to Pedri and Ale.

"Hermano, switch with y/n." Gavi said. He was sitting beside Pedri at the end of the row.

You looked up at Gavi, confusion on your face. "Why?"

"Because Pedri eats popcorn and you don't. I don't want to hear you complaining the whole time that you're acting as a courier."

"Fine. But I will be salivating over how fine Timothee is for all 2.5 hours of this movie. So I don't want to hear a word from you Pablito."

He let out a breathy laugh like this watching as you sat beside him. He took this moment to stare at your side profile. He loved the way your eyes lit up when you laughed, crinkling at the edges. He traced the curve of your lips with his gaze, watching intently as your tongue poked out to wet them. A few minutes later the lights in the theater dimmed.

You brought one leg up, making yourself more comfortable, and causing you to lean slightly into Pablo.

"You're gonna thirst over him already? He's not even on screen. You're such a simp." He whispered to you. You looked over at him, meeting his eyes even in the dark. "Don't be jealous Gavi. Someone will thirst after you eventually."

The movie began, and you sat back to watch intently. You brought your hand to rest at your side, brushing against Pablo's in the process. He flinched away from the touch like he had been electrocuted. You met his eyes in the dark, trying to silently apologize, when you felt him grab your hand. You continued to look at him, now confused, as he laced your fingers together.

"Your hands are cold." He whispered in your ear, causing a shiver to run down your spine. This interaction had caught Pedri's attention, who sat beside you, and he glanced at the two of you with a look of "Please shut up and stop being weird". You tried your best to ignore how hot your cheeks felt, sitting back against the chair. You were no longer paying attention to the movie on the screen, but rather to the warmth of Pablo's hand against yours. He started to caress the back of your hand with his thumb, and you thought you would explode.

Did you think Pablo was attractive? Absolutely. You had eyes. Had you felt a spark between the two of you in the time you had gotten to know each other? Also yes. Did you ever expect Pablo to make a move so bold when he was sitting around all his friends, given he had never hung out with you alone? Not in a million years. When the movie ended, Gavi quickly separated his hand from yours as to not be caught once the lights came back on. Your face was hot, and it was obvious you were anxious. Pedri asked if you were feeling okay, a small smirk playing on his lips, as if he could read your mind.

"Yeah I'm fine, just ready to go home."

Pedri, Ale and Ferran glanced at each other, as they had all planned to go out for drinks. You told the to go, and Pedri tossed you his car keys, reminding you that you didn't make enough to get him a new one if it crashed. You let out a forced laugh, trying to play it cool.

"I'll go with her, make sure she drives safe."

"You might encourage her to drive off the road, Pablo."

The group laughed, and once you said your goodbyes, you and Pablo walked over to Pedri's car at the back of the dark lot. You went to the driver's seat, but before you could unlock it, you felt two arms around you, caging you to the door of the car. You turned to face Pablo, and he pressed his forehead against yours - lips an inch away from meeting.

"Wow Pablo. First you go seven or eight months without daring to see me alone, and then you hold my hand and get in a car with me on the same night? Have you been drinking?"

His breath fanned across your face as he laughed. His gaze shifted between your eyes and your lips, and his chest heaved slightly with the weight of his breathing. You could tell he was on edge - nervous about ruining this charged friendship you two had developed.

"I've been wanting to do that for a while, but you've never given me the chance."

"You never asked." Your heart was hammering in your chest, your back against the door of the car. He took another step towards you, cupping your face in his hands.

"Alright, then let me ask now: can I kiss you?"

You bit your lip and looked up at him, feeling more shy than you ever have in your life. You tried to lean up and capture his lips with yours, but he pulled his face away.

"I asked, bonita. Now I need an answer."

"Yes."

Despite you answering at just above a whisper, Pablo heard the response loud and clear, practically ringing in his ears. He brought your face to his, closing the gap and kissing you passionately. You grabbed the front of his shirt in fist fulls, trying to bring him even closer, kissing him with a hunger you didn't know you had. You kept him close, barely breathing, and biting at his bottom lip, making him moan out slightly. Once you both pulled back for air, he rested his forehead against yours again, he looked you deep in the eye, pushing your hair behind your ear.

"Pablo... we should probably not do this in public where people can take photos."

"You're right... Pedri's house is going to be free for the next couple hours, and you have his keys."

Your friendship with Pablo had been broken forever, but it had now ben replaced with something different, something better: a place for your romantic feelings to grow. You had also broken some laws and driven way over some speed limits on the way back to Pedri's, but you could worry about that when you weren't making out with one of the hottest Spanish men alive, who kissed you like you were the air that filled his lungs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A/N: Hey y'all - thanks for tuning into day 5! Tried to make it a little longer. I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has read and enjoyed my writing. On Wednesday I posted a Gavi oneshot inspired by the headache I was feeling that day. Today (Sunday), that imagine is on over 300 notes. I am overwhelmed by all the love and support, and hope you guys continue to enjoy!

#pablo gavi x reader #pablo gavi #pablo gavi imagine #pablo martín páez gavira #gavi #gavi x reader #gavi x you #gavi one shot #gavi imagine #pablo gavi one shot #footballer imagine #pablo gavi fluff #gavi fic #pablo gavi fanfiction #gavi fluff #gavi fanfic

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paisainvests-1 · 5 months ago

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The Most Iconic 16 Hollywood Cars: Pop Culture Revamp

Ever wonder what makes Hollywood cars truly iconic? From the roaring engines that defined eras to the sleek designs that stole every scene, Hollywood has given us some unforgettable rides. Buckle up as we take a journey through the 16 most legendary Hollywood cars that not only ruled the silver screen but also became timeless symbols of pop culture.

😀 Let’s explore the Hollywood Cars wonders 😀

Hollywood has gifted us with some of the most iconic Hollywood cars ever to grace the silver screen. These vehicles aren’t just modes of transportation—they’re characters in their own right, carrying with them a legacy that transcends the films they appear in. From the time-travelling DeLorean to the gadget-laden Aston Martin DB5, these Hollywood cars have become ingrained in popular culture, influencing everything from car designs to video games. Let’s take a ride through the world of Hollywood’s top cars and see why these vehicles have become legends.

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bestgaddi-com · 5 months ago

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The Most Iconic 16 Hollywood Cars: Pop Culture Revamp

😀 Let’s explore the Hollywood Cars wonders 😀

1. The Batmobile

2. DeLorean from Back to the Future

3. Aston Martin DB5 from James Bond

4. KITT from Knight Rider

5. Herbie from The Love Bug

6. General Lee from The Dukes of Hazzard

7. Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters

8. Greased Lightning from Grease

9. The Mystery Machine from Scooby-Doo

10. Ford Mustang from Bullitt

11. Lightning McQueen from Cars

12. Mach 5 from Speed Racer

13. Charger from Fast & Furious

14. Which Hollywood Cars Have Inspired NASCAR Racing Video Games?

15. Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit

16. Christine from Christine

Conclusion

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technicolorfamiliar · 6 days ago

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A Woman's Face Dir. George Cukor 1941

Torsten Barring.

That's it, that's the review.

It's taken me a minute to come back to this movie. There's no real reason except for me it's kind of like looking into the sun, something you shouldn't do often. But in my initial epic Veidt Watch, A Woman's Face was the point of no return. Up until this, I'd been watching a lot of Connie's silent film work, which I think you can see trace elements of in his performance here. If I was interested in his work as an actor before seeing A Woman's Face, afterward there was no way I could stop this train even if I wanted to.

The more I rewatch this movie though, the more I'm convinced that the story doesn't really work. If I was a producer in 1941 and this script came across my desk, I would probably throw it in the garbage or pass it along to a lesser studio. But it does work as a challenge for its actors, especially Joan Crawford. And it works because George Cukor clearly had a unique eye and sensibility that translate the weird, melodramatic plot into a relatively layered and complicated film.

I'm even more convinced that the story itself is eye-rollingly obnoxious because of how absurd the two radio play versions are. But in my heart I want to give these recordings a pass because they're basically pure camp in a way the film is not. There's so much nuance and subtlety in the film that could never be captured by a purely audio format like radio, no matter how accomplished and famous your lead actresses are (sorry, Bette Davis and Ida Lupino >.<).

I'd be interested to see the original 1938 version with Ingrid Bergman (on Internet Archive) to see how the Hollywood remake measures up. I'm curious if the Swedish version is also held together by its actors and director the way Cukor's film is.

From reading a few interviews with George Cukor, one gets the impression he didn't really hold this picture in very high regard. It sounds like they had fun making the movie, everyone got along pretty well, but it's not considered a high point in Cukor's filmography by him or by film critics. Which is interesting because the movie is not lazy, it's made extremely well and there are a lot of interesting, careful creative decisions that influence the impact the film has, at least on me. But I guess compared to his other films, of which I have seen embarrassingly few, A Woman's Face isn't considered as high brow or accessible because it's a little too out there for American cinema in the early '40s.

There's a soft gothic look and feel to the way the movie is shot. There are some clever moments with shadows that I really like that feel less like a nod to the graphic high contrast of German Expressionism and more simply about mystery and things that are hidden. It's a brilliant move hiding their lead actress until well into the film, and her eventual reveal, also expertly done without any crazy underscoring, is empathetic rather than shocking. There are a number of moments like that throughout the movie where the lack of an accompanying soundtrack or dialogue add to the tension, like in the scene where Anna and Lars Erik are in the sky car above the waterfall or her unbandaging post-surgery. Dramatic music or narration over these scenes would have cheapened them.

On this watch, a new thought occurred to me. Something about the visuals and themes make this movie feel like a dark and surreal fairytale. I think the fact that they kept the story set in Europe and didn't choose to relocate it adds to this feeling. This is definitely only a half baked idea, but hear me out. There are of course the themes of beauty and goodness, how they are or aren’t connected, but also belonging and love, and maybe most importantly thinking you want one thing at first and realizing you actually wanted something else the whole time. There is this idea of masks, whether it's Anna's scars or the "well-tailored person suit" Torsten wears (yes I am quoting Hannibal, yes it will happen again). There's something about the proximity to and power of nature -- the forest where the story properly begins, the snowy mountains and waterfall near the Barring estate. But the thing that sparked this idea initially was watching Anna arrive at Torsten's apartment for the first time. It's very much the fairytale heroine walking into the monster's castle. Anna has to enter and pass through two iron gates guarded by a crone (has to be intentional, right?, it could have been a doorman but they chose an old woman), then she has to go through the ordeal of facing her own reflection in a long hall of mirrors (so cruel, so messed up) before she reaches his door. Then there's Torsten's apartment itself. It's all gilded opulence, none of the furniture looks particularly comfortable, it's more like a museum than a home. And, maybe I'm wrong, but there aren't any windows?? And if there are, we don't get any sense of the outside world. He's created in his home a seemingly beautiful and well-curated cave or cage where he traps Anna behind closed doors and with his body language. I can’t stress enough how smart and intentional all these decisions feel.

The religious references maybe are a little obvious, but it's fun to throw around devil language about Torsten. And the allusions to saints, whether specific or general, in regards to Anna may be too on the nose, but she knows and the audience knows she's not saint-like, even at her best. The talk about God seems to center around Doctor Segert which really only makes sense because he's a surgeon and what do surgeons do if not play god?

The first time I watched this movie I was surprised by how subversive it felt. My impression of films made at this time was that they were all pretty conservative in order to pass the Hays Code. Of course I know now that wasn't always the case. Directors, actors, and writers were always doing increasingly creative and interesting things to circumvent the Hollywood censors. And A Woman's Face absolutely belongs to that class of surprisingly taboo films for this era. Anna and Torsten's relationship is clearly uhh not vanilla. There are pretty clear indications of sadism and dominance in how he handles and speaks to her, and in the way she reacts and responds to him. They're not exactly hiding it. And of course the only way they were able to get away with any of this was because Anna inexplicably winds up with the doctor in the end.

And on top of that it's a wonderfully queer movie made by a bunch of queer people. The assumptions of traditional American gender roles and expectations were thrown out the window. Anna doesn't neatly fit in any standard film archetype for a female character at the time. And having a queer coded villain wasn't exactly a new thing in filmmaking, but it suits this particular and allowed Connie more room to play with the character. And on top of George Cukor being gay, his two leads were bisexual according to multiple sources. There was no way this movie wasn't going to slay the house down boots.

The only thing about the movie that really bothers me is the casting of Dr Segert. I hate to say it because I feel like a lot of people really love Melvyn Douglas, but he was a weird choice for this film. I hadn't even seen him in anything else before I saw this movie, but something bothered me about him in the role. Now I know it's because they cast him against type, he usually played snarky or annoying or goofy characters. He can’t possibly match Connie and Joan, and I'm not asking him to. But it would have been nice if they had cast someone likeable, then maybe the end of the film would have made more sense. The only other cast member worth shouting out is Osa Massen as Vera Segert, I love her, she's too much.

I haven't seen a lot of Joan Crawford's movies, she had a long career with a lot of ups and downs, but I have seen Mildred Pierce, the film everyone cites as her best work as an actor. And I have to say she's better in A Woman's Face. Anna is a thousand times more interesting and complex a character than Mildred Pierce. I mean, if I had to choose between a bitter, lonely, outcast blackmailer and a tragic, betrayed, single mother, I would pick the hardened criminal every time. I think people point to Mildred Pierce as Joan's best film mainly because they haven't seen A Woman's Face, and maybe because Michael Curtiz gets more accolades as director because of Casablanca where as Cukor just made "women's pictures", I don't know. But Joan Crawford surprised me with this performance, I think it was the first time I saw her and thought, hell yeah, now that's an Actor.

She builds up Anna's defenses so much that when she finally lets her guard down when one person finally really sees her and isn't afraid of or disgusted by her, it's like *chef's kiss* perfect. There's a realness to her vulnerability that simply couldn't be matched by other leading actresses at the time, and I think that has a lot to do with Cukor pushing her beyond her comfort zone. Apparently he made her do the scene where she describes her past and the accident that left her scarred over and over to get just the right amount of detachment, so she wasn't performing the story. But I also think she was pushed to deliver a really excellent performance by her primary costar; I don't know off hand any other instance where Joan had such an accomplished and grounded scene partner as Conrad Veidt. He's so anti-Hollywood in his style and approach that I have to believe some of his work ethic and energy influenced her and helped pull this amazing performance out of her.

Anna is such a great character, she represents the monstrous female, something society tells us to fear. Because she's not just scarred on the outside, but her emotional scars made her self-sufficient and unyielding, traits unacceptable in a woman. People keep calling her heartless, but she had a heart the whole time; she's not a sociopath, she does everything she does because of her wounds, because her heart feels the pain of rejection and loneliness so deeply. Of course she has a heart, she falls in love with Lars Erik after, what, a week?? It's gut-wrenching to be treated and thought of as repulsive and ugly your whole life only to one day meet someone who doesn't look away and who treats you as though maybe you're not repulsive, not ugly, as though maybe you are desirable and worth wanting (and totally not relateable in any way lolololol). So when given the chance, of course she would take any opportunity, no matter how difficult or painful, to change herself if it meant acceptance or even desirability. Her whole concept of love evolves throughout the film, but there's a deep connection for her between love and sacrifice or total surrender. She sacrifices her autonomy and submits to the painful ordeal of intense cosmetic surgery in order to be loved by Torsten. She's willing to sacrifice her very life in order to protect Lars Erik. Anna's guilt and shame drive her to decide to commit suicide by the end, something I feel like is glossed over in the film. And it's even more tragic because she's established as this survivor character pretty early on. That's why the ending of the film is so unsatisfying.

It's funny, I recently also watched Now, Voyager and I can't help comparing the two films. Bette Davis's Charlotte in Now, Voyager is also shunned and mistreated because she's considered ugly, but the damage done to her wasn't an accident, it was intentional abuse. But both Charlotte and Anna were young victims of forces outside of their control that warped them into easy targets for male intervention. Charlotte's trauma made her neurotic and riddled with anxiety; Anna's made her brittle and vengeful. They both had two separate and very different men and someone else's child in their lives. But I prefer Charlotte's ending, her ultimate decision to devote her life to herself and her foster daughter. By the end of A Woman's Face on this rewatch, I was yelling at the screen, "Girl, you don't love that doctor!" She says want she wants: "I want to belong to the human race." And I believe she really cared for Lars Erik, so forcing a last minute love connection with Segert at the end of the film feels like nothing other than a band-aid to make the movie palatable to the censors and average American audiences. And Joan and Melvyn Douglas have like zero chemistry. It's so frustrating, Anna deserves better -- sure she's probably avoiding jail time because the judge will declare Torsten's murder as justifiable homicide, but UGH that doctor does not love her! The whole doctor/patient "I can fix you" thing is just as problematic as her relationship with Torsten to be perfectly honest.

And oh Torsten. That nasty, nasty man. You can just tell Connie had the time of his life getting to be "Lucifer in a tuxedo." And it's so, so good because he refused to make his villains one dimensional. On paper, Torsten is entirely ridiculous. But if a script did not provide enough backstory or motivation, Connie would go above and beyond to craft a whole inner world for these bad men in order to flesh them out. And Torsten is no exception.

Torsten's evil is insidious. To continue to beat the fairytale comparison to death, Torsten is a big bad wolf if I ever saw one. He may not exactly be a wolf in sheep's clothing, but he does wear this "person suit" that continues to slip by degrees through the film so that by the end he can barely contain the slavering, glassy eyed monster underneath. There are moments even early on when you can see through his carefully crafted façade, one so much more nefarious than Anna's. The first time he really looks at her, you can see the wheels turning in his head almost immediately as spots his prey. He even bares his teeth to her, in a diabolical and disarming smile that I love so goddamn much. He knows early on he can use her but isn't sure how much to reveal, how much of himself to let her see. When she returns after her surgery, he greets her with charm tinged with mild annoyance. But when he sees her new face, the mask cracks open and he inspects her like an animal sniffing out a threat. He decides he can take advantage of her new confidence to bind her even closer to him, starting to play the weaving song on the piano, laying the groundwork for the next phase of his plan. When he makes it sound like she's the one suggesting they kill Lars Erik, a previously unseen intensity and fire creep into his eyes. His cruelty and malice are suddenly right under the surface but he doesn’t raise his voice or hand to her.

His whole demeanor and energy is such a wonderful contrast to what Joan is doing as Anna, that I wonder whether he made that decision during filming. I love that Connie chose to keep Torsten's voice silky even when he's being nasty. There's occasionally a slight change in his tone, becoming less seductive when he's actively annoyed. The only time he distinctly changes his vocals is during the attic scene when he finally shows his true face to Anna. That's the first time he raises his voice to her, but only when his back is turned. There are a lot of interesting things happening whenever Torsten turns his back -- when Anna reveals her true "vocation" as a blackmailer, he's facing away from her but we get to see the fraction of a second where he knows everything is falling into place, and that look disappears the instant he turns back to her. It's only then that he carefully and calculatedly reveals his own damaged nature to Anna, saying they're just alike, "both poor, both wretched." And I think he really believes it, too.

I do think in some twisted way Torsten does genuinely like Anna, but because he probably doesn't have a single close relationship that isn't some form of manipulation, he's incapable of truly caring for her. His own interests and desires are his only priority. Torsten's seemingly sudden 180 degree shift into power hungry psycho killer at the end does at first maybe come across as absurd and unrealistic, but as I see more and more men IRL turn out to be absolute fuckbags, I have to think maybe Torsten's not as much of a caricature as people assume. The reveal of his ambiguous plans for some kind of authoritarian power grab doesn’t feel as far fetched. The whole time, he plays Anna like a fiddle to get what he wants: money. And with money comes influence and power, not just to pay off his increasing debts, but money to control and subjugate others. He believes whole heartedly that he was cheated from the family fortune and that belief festered in his mind until it made him sick, sick for any kind of alternate future where he's the one doing the taking instead of being taken from. It's an all too common male power fantasy we still see over and over. The fact that we don't see this side of him right away feels unfortunately prescient.

Let's talk about the attic scene. It's the scene people talk about the most. It's Connie's moment to shine, his monologue is perfectly executed, it's just unhinged enough. Up until and including this point, you don't want to take Torsten seriously, but there are moments here when his eyes glaze over and he's almost literally panting when you realize this guy isn’t fucking around. His utter contempt and superiority and disgust at Anna's decision to be a decent person is a masterclass in classic cinema villainy. And again when he stalks away from her saying "the spirit of love has triumphed, yes; God is in his heaven, yes!", he pauses, turns back to her and reveals another layer, the core of his being. He's no longer charming playboy Torsten Barring, he's the fucking devil, cast out of heaven, steeped in his own bitter rage and resentment, contorted into a hungry, dangerous animal. It's interesting there aren't a lot of cuts in this scene, it's mostly a single shot and we don't get any direct closeups of Anna. She's always in the foreground, but the camera doesn't single her out, it keeps both of them in the shot, eventually pushing in to an uncomfortable closeup of him with his hand around her throat. And she barely speaks, and instead of fighting with him, she shuts down.

Am I the only one who wishes Anna and Torsten got to have more of a final moment together? While the chase scene is exciting, maybe they could have struggled at the waterfall's edge in a final showdown. Something face to face between them would have felt way more satisfying than her shooting him in the back from a distance.

How Connie doesn't have second billing for this film is beyond me. I love this role for him because it's such a departure from his other Hollywood villains in the '40s. He very nearly steals the film from The Joan Motherfucking Pepsi Cola Crawford. It's nearly impossible to take my eyes off him in this film (ok that's been true for all of his films, but with A Woman's Face it's even more of a problem). He looks incredible, his suits are impeccable, his voice is sensually sinister, what more could you want? He has this presence and hypnotic quality especially in this role that audiences ate the fuck up and wouldn't see again in another actor for decades. I'm telling you, there are only a very small handful of other actors who get typecast as villains who could do this kind of delicious dark magic on an audience.

This was the Conrad Veidt film that got me hooked. Torsten sunk his claws into my mind and hasn't let go yet. And as it's still Conrad Veidt's birthday when I'm writing this, I have to give him his flowers. This movie really should be more celebrated if only for the fact that Connie and Joan Crawford and George Cukor absolutely killed it.

Bonus: look how cute his gloves are!

#my writing #conrad veidt #joan crawford #a woman's face #hbd connie you big bad bisexual legend

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blueberryforestelf · 8 months ago

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Russian Influence in Moral Orel:

Okay so a while ago I just finished watching Moral Orel and I noticed that there were some connections between it and Russian culture. I also noticed that the show had just become popular in Russia and there are dubbed episodes available on VK. Even though Moral Orel is an American TV show and the creator of the show is of Greek descent, here are some connections on the show that linked to Russian culture and social cues:

The heavy alcoholism on the show: Clay and most of the people in Moralton are straight-up alcoholics, and even Bloberta was an alcoholic before she met Clay. Of course, alcohol is a significant part of Russian culture and the country has the highest consumption of alcohol in the world. Not only are alcoholic beverages are consumed in high amounts, but is also very much socially accepted and encouraged. Even underaged children are encouraged to drink. In the episode Maturity, Orel thought drinking would make him “wise and mature” like his father and in Help young Bloberta stated that drinking alcohol “makes us better people”.

There’s a city in Russia called Orel.

Orel means “Eagle” in Russian (and other Slavic languages). So in the Russian dub Orel’s name is Eagle.

Ms. Censordoll loves pickled eggs and keeps a jar full of them in her library. Russian cuisine consists of a lot of pickled foods, including pickled eggs, cabbage, potatoes, fish, watermelon, etc.

If you notice in the Puppington household, you’ll see an oriental carpet on the living room floor. Oriented carpets are very common in Russian households and are often on floors or hung on walls.

Clay’s reckless driving and Russia is famous for its many reckless drivers and very frequent traffic accidents (I just had to add this to the list lol)

Clay’s car looks like a Lada (a Russian brand of cars).

The “depressing”, conservative, perfectionistic, and collective culture of Moralton is quite similar to that of Russian culture. The entire town is centered around a church which literally controls everything in the town and how it operates. The people are fed Christian propaganda and are not allowed to think differently or do things differently than what is socially acceptable, otherwise they would be outcasted and have to face harsh consequences. This pretty much relates to Russia’s Soviet/Communist Era of when housing, stores, businesses, etc. were all controlled by the government and not the people. People were not allowed to solely own their own property or businesses, and if they were to speak up about problems and issues facing their economy or speak out against propaganda or the government, they would would face the harsh and legal consequences (i.e. prison camp or deportation). Moralton is quite similar to that, except it’s in the United States where people have more freedom to do want they want and express themselves.

Many people in Moralton tend to be “cold”, reserved, strict, and cynical, which is a common stereotype among Russians.

The townspeople’s love for classical arts, music, and theatre, like in the School Pageant episode. Also Bloberta comes from a family of choir singers/musicians and her singing voice is similar to that of an opera singer. Russians are known for their love for classical and opera music as it is a very significant part of their culture. I’ve met many Russians who come from a family of musicians, are talented musicians outside of their occupation, or happen to own a musical instrument in their homes.

Moral Orel is a satire that explores the hypocrisy of religious and social institutions with a touch of dark humor and irony, which is similar to the works of Russian authors like Fyodor Dostoevsky, who used similar techniques to critique religious and social mores.

Moral Orel is a stop-motion animated series and Russians are very fond of stop-motion animation as it has a rich history in Russian media and cinema. Famous Russian animators such as Roman Kachanov, Ladislas Starevich and Ivan Ivanov-Vano were pioneers of stop-motion media during the Soviet Era. Many beloved animated films and shows made during the Soviet Era were stop-motion animated. Also a lot of stop-motion animated media known today (such as Coraline, Corpse Bride, Isle of Dogs, etc.) are becoming very popular in Russia. Also, Orel loves making little stop-motion movies!

Thanks for reading! 😁

#Russian influence in Moral Orel #Moral Orel #russia #russian influence #russian culture #orel puppington #clay puppington #bloberta puppington #miss censordoll #ms censordoll #moralton #bulleted list #list #text #my writing

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fibula-rasa · 8 months ago

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How’d They Do That?

Special Effects & Stunts of Silent Cinema - Part 2

This is the second installment (here's the first) of an open-ended series where I try to highlight and illustrate the work of special effects and stunt artists of silent filmdom. Using articles from contemporary fan and trade magazines, I’ll make gifs or dig up images and/or video clips to accompany the descriptions of how the sequences were executed.

My notations will be bracketed and highlighted in a different color. Hope you all enjoy! Fair warning: this is a long read.

Risking Life and Limb for $25

[from Photoplay, November 1927]

By Dick Hylan

True tales of “stunt” men and women. You cannot afford to miss a single paragraph of these thrilling yarns. There’s one towards the end of the story that alone is worth the price of admission. Read—and don’t jump—this story

DUST—the crash of six-shooters—the thunder of horses’ hoofs on hard ground—the roar and rumble of an onrushing train—the shrill call of man to man—and out of the dust and roar ride thirty men to board the speeding train. Jesse James and his men are on the loose and heaven help the poor working girl!

The horses are alongside the train—and the dirty deed is done. No one seemed to notice that the train was going thirty miles an hour when the men “transferred” from horse to car and engine. No one seemed to care that underfoot the ground was dangerously uneven. No one seemed to worry about the wheels rolling over the steel rails. Nasty wheels that would cut, mangle and kill anything getting under them.

And closest to these wheels, riding the brake beams under the oldest and most dilapidated coach Fred Thomson could find for his latest feature, “Jesse James,” was one man. As Thomson climbed down out of the engineer's cab he saw him.

[Jesse James (1927) is unfortunately considered lost and I was not able to dig up any stills that depict a train-specific stunt. However, here are a few promotional images of Thomson and his amazing horse, Silver King from the film.

Thomson was a stunter turned star whose popularity at the time of this article rivaled Tom Mix. Like Jesse James, the majority of Thomson’s films are now presumed lost and only one film featuring Thomson in a cowboy role is extant: Thundering Hoofs (1924).]

“Mason! What the devil are you doing under there? That's one stunt I don’t remember the script calling for. What's the idea?” He really seemed put out about it. Those brake beams were old and rusted and liable to fall apart.

“Aw, Boss. don't get sore. I didn’t have anything to do on that scene and wanted to get a good look at you crawling into that cab from your horse.”

And so I first saw “Suicide” Buddy Mason, stunt man extraordinary. Like the mail-carrier who went walking on his day off Buddy liked to be in the middle of things. Later I talked to him.

[Buddy Mason was a stunting legend working as a stunt performer/double and stunt coordinator from the 1920s into the 1970s. That’s impressive longevity for the profession!]

“Who are stunt men,” I asked him. “And have you any standard by which stunt men are judged—by other stunt men?”

“Nope. It’s just—well, when you get so they call you by your first name when you come into the hospital, then you belong.”

READ on BELOW the JUMP!

Their creed might be Nietzsche's famous line, “Be hard. Live dangerously.”

It was Winnie Brown, most famous of feminine “stunt men,” who once defended a director like this: “Can't nobody run that man down to me. He treated me whiter than any director I ever worked for. You remember the time I was doing that stuff on a trestle in one of Mix’s pictures? Say, every time I made that jump he had an ambulance waiting right there on the bank for me. That’s the kind of a guy he is.”

Photo caption: Winnie Brown — stunt woman. Some directors are so kind to her that they have ambulances waiting for her after she takes a jump

[Winnie Brown appears to be one of those unsung heroes of the stunt world. There’s very little biographical information out there about her, and none of the films I could confirm her work in (as stunt rider, stunt double, or actor) are extant or accessible for gif making. That said, I’m planning an addendum to this post with a profile of Winnie from a 1922 issue of Photoplay, so stay tuned!]

AN author will have a nightmare and wake up with it still in his mind. He'll put it in his next script and think it’s fine. And it is because when the time comes to do it the casting director for Fox or First National or M-G-M will just take down the telephone and call Al Wilson.

“Hop over to the studio, kid. You’re due to take a dive out of a flaming aeroplane with a parachute which won't open for company.”

And Al will hop—and dive—and then the nurse will say, “Hello, Al. Back again?”

The golden age of the stunt men is passing. That is why it is well to write this brief saga now. To sing a little of the song of their amazing deeds, their mad courage, and their inevitable laughter. Nor is it well to forget that some of the greatest stunt men in the world are high salaried stars, such as Tom Mix and Douglas Fairbanks.

But the progress of photography is rapidly writing the epitaph of the stunt man. The magic double exposure of the Williams process and other inventions in trick photography and development of film are fast rendering it unnecessary to subject any man to the long chances of “stunts.”

[With the privilege of hindsight, we know that optical/photographic effects did not in fact put stunt workers out of a job. Although, the technological developments that progressed out of The Williams Process have made formerly dangerous stunts much safer and impossible stunts possible. To learn more about The Williams Process, you can check out the first part of this series: How They Do It]

So, before they pass, let’s chronicle a few tales by which to remember them.

The average life of the stunt man in motion pictures is under five years. He either gets killed or he gets a little sense and quits.

When you've talked to a few of them you'll realize that they are the kind you like to have around when a fight is brewing, but that they have more nerve and less sense than any other man you've ever met. Few quit.

The greatest stunt man who ever lived—he is dead now and the manner of his death, of which I will tell you, is a typical page in stunt history—was Gene Perkins. The fraternity itself, and such directors as specialize in stunt pictures, seem to agree on that. He was twenty-four when he was killed and had been in the game a little over four years.

THE secret of Perkins’ greatness lay in his amazing ability to figure out a stunt ahead of time, calculating it perfectly according to time and distance, and in the icy clear-headedness which enabled him to carry it out to the hairline the way he had planned it. His nerves—he had none.

Clarence Brown, the director who has just finished “The Trail of ‘98” and who has put on a heap of thrilling stunts in his day, told me a lot of things about “Perk,” particularly the day he asked him if he’d jump into the top of Nevada Falls in Yosemite National Park.

Now Nevada Falls is seven hundred feet high and the water in the stream just before it pours over the cliff, from which drop no man could possibly return alive, dashes and whirls along over jagged rocks at a perilous speed.

Brown and Perkins went to the river bank and shouted at each other above the roar of the falls.

“Can you make it, Perk?” Brown asked. “I want you to jump in here,” indicating a spot some forty feet from the edge of the falls, “and go as near to the edge as you think safe.”

“Just a minute and I'll tell you,” said Perk.

He broke the branch off a tree and threw it into the water at the spot the jump was to be made. His eyes narrowed as he watched it intently.

“Sure, I can do it,”’ he said. “When I get here,” he pointed to a spot only two feet from the brink, “throw me a rope and try not to miss me. That water looks cold.”

According to Brown he did the thing with the perfection of a machine.

“I'll never forget the first time Perk ever worked for me,” Brown went on. “When I saw him I thought he was the coolest looking person I’d ever seen. His self-control was astounding. His eyes were like ice, yet they were always smiling.

When the Doctors Call You by Your First Name, You’re a Real Stunt Man

“I wanted him to jump out of a fourth story window. It was a night shot. We stalled around most of the afternoon waiting for it to get dark enough to shoot and about dusk I decided we could do it. I went looking for Perk and found him shooting craps with some of the boys. ‘All ready, Perk?’ I said. He looked at his watch. ‘Excuse me a minute while I telephone,’ he said. I heard him behind me talking over the phone to his wife. ‘I’m sorry, honey,’ he said, ‘I’m going to be a little late for supper. I got to jump out of a fourth story window and then I’ll be right along home.’”

Yet Perkins was killed doing something Clarence Brown begged him not to do, warned him against.

“He had a hankering to play around with aeroplanes and used to ask me questions about them,” said Brown, who was himself an aviator during the war. “The advice I gave him was to stay out of them and he'd stay healthy.”

In telling me of Gene Perkins’ last stunt, Brown brought out clearly that greatest of all dangers to the stunt man—the other fellow. You've probably heard a hundred people say about automobile driving, “I don’t worry about myself. It’s what the other fellow is going to do that bothers me.”

[I wasn’t able to positively identify which films the Nevada-Falls or the fourth-story-window appear in. However, I believe that the Nevada Falls shoot may have been a film Clarence Brown was an assistant director on. Every performer in this article required quite a bit of research as stunt performers were practically never credited unless they also had a role in a film.

So, what I was able to unearth as Jean/Gene Perkins filmography includes:

Around the World in 18 Days (1923, serial, presumed lost)

Stunt double for Bill Desmond

Perkins’ fatal accident occurred on this shoot in Riverside, CA (described below)

Citations: Camera, 20 December 1922; Motion Picture News, 6 January 1923; Exhibitors Herald, 13 January 1923; Screenland, April 1923; Photoplay, August 1925; Cinelandia, February 1928

The Vanishing Dagger (1920, serial, presumed lost)

Production title was “The Fallen Idol”

Perkins also served as assistant camera

Citations: The Moving Picture Weekly, 31 May 1919; Exhibitors Herald, 7 June 1919

Do or Die (1921, serial, presumed lost)

Filmed on location in Havana, Cuba

Citations: The Moving Picture Weekly, 21 May 1921 & 18 June 1921; Canadian Moving Picture Digest, 15 June 1921

The Storm (1922, extant at UCLA and EYE Filmmuseum)

Citations: Camera, 7 January 1922; Motion Picture News, 3 June 1922]

Noomis took the car up about a mile and brought it down hill so that he would crash the gate at a certain speed. Naturally, he couldn't see until he’d crashed through the gate, what was being done the other side of it. And the gate was just on the land side of the apron. When he did see it, it was too late to stop. The engineer of the ferry boat had made a mistake and was three automobile lengths away instead of one. The car and Leo shot into space, did a beautiful one and a half gainor, and came down in forty feet of black and dangerous water. Fortunately the centrifugal force of the thing threw the driver out of the car and they fished him out more dead than alive.

[Nomis is yet another legend of stunting. As mentioned above one of Nomis’ specialities was automobile stunts, but he was also one of the most skilled aviation stunt performers from the 1910s until his untimely death in the 1930s. It was in an accident during an aviation stunt for The Sky Bride (1932), due to unsafe working conditions created by the film’s director, Stephen Roberts. In a tragically ironic turn, at the time of filming Nomis was head of the newly-formed Associated Motion Picture Pilots (AMPP) union—the primary goal of which was to increase safety regulations.

Unfortunately, as Nomis’ career was so expansive and he was uncredited for most of his work, I was unable to identify which film is associated with the Fort-Lee-Ferry mishap described here.]

The same sort of a mistake on the part of the “other fellow” cost Perkins his life.

“I TOLD him,” said Clarence Brown, “to stay on the ground. Told him he was all right as long as he did his stuff alone. His sense of timing and distance was so perfect and his body control was so fine that he had a pretty good chance to pull through most of his stunts. But he didn’t listen. They never do. One day he did a stunt from a rope ladder hanging from a plane. The pilot was supposed to swoop down and let Perk drop to the top of a freight train. He swooped too low. The ladder banged Perk against the side of a freight car at seventy-five miles an hour—and Mrs. Gene Perkins was a stunt window, that’s all.”

It’s a funny thing how a man wants to see his family carry on the tradition of his work. Gene Perkins had a kid brother whom he tried to break in as a stunt man. But after a few months the kid lost his nerve and went back to—a clothing store! He’s still alive.

As a stunt man Tom Mix has no superiors and few equals. The man doesn't know the word fear, is as inventive as the devil when it comes to figuring out safe ways of doing dangerous things, and has a positive genius coupled with extraordinary physical strength, for getting himself out of tight places. The thin vein of philosophy, which is the foundation of Tom’s character, colors even his viewpoint on stunts.

“If you do it,” he said, sitting on the edge of his beautiful tiled swimming pool in the reddest bathing suit I have ever seen, “it's easy. If you don’t, it’s a mistake—and you'll either not worry about it or have plenty of time to figure out what went wrong while in the hospital.

“FUNNY thing—the hard one is always easy and the easy one hard. That sort of sounds tail first, but looking back over some fifteen years of these things I know it’s true. The reason being that you get prepared for the hard ones. You get arranged a whole lot before you do ‘em. But some fool little easy one comes along and throws you clean out of the saddle. A horse that advertises he’s bad ain't near as hard to ride as one of these meek lookin’ cayuses who on limbers himself in a onlooked for manner.

“Sure, I’ve had a few funny experiences with stunts, and one or two the lady novelists might call hair-raisin’. Had to fall offa bridge into a river in Florida once and didn’t find out until I was shakin’ hands with ’em that the darn river was more full of alligators than water.

“Another that comes to my mind had to do with an aeroplane. Say, ain’t you the feller who plays football for Stanford?”

“Check. But what about the aeroplane?”

“You know I used to play a lot of football in—— ”

“Great. Come up for our Big Game and I'll get you a ticket if you wear your purple suit. Better wear a red one and root for us. What about the aeroplane?”

“That? It was kinda funny. We were workin’ up at Mt. Whitney, which as you probably know is the highest spot on North America. Well, there’s to be a rope hangin’ down from the aeroplane and I’m supposed to climb down it and do some triflin’ service for the hero-ine, the nature of which plumb escapes me for the minute, and climb back up.

“WELL, we dope it out careful. The rope has a series of knots in it as big around as your two fists, which makes climbin’ up and down it what appears to be a comparative simple proposition. I’m to do this on one plane and the cameras are in another. We arrange a set of signals whereby I can let the other plane know if anything untoward happens, and he can signal the pilot in my plane.

“And I remarks to my pilot, ‘And if you get the signal that I can’t get back up, you head right for the ocean and drop me off.’ The ocean ain’t but about an hour or so away, so I figure we’re all set. An ocean is a darn sight softer place to land than a mountain.

“Well, I don’t have any trouble gettin’ down. But when I start up things take on a different aspect. There’s considerable wind blowin’ up there, what with the speed we’re makin’ and the natural velocity in those parts. I get hold of the knot up higher and start to pull myself up and, by gosh, the wind just blows the rope out behind me like a tail and I haven’t got any knot to set down on like I figured.

“I stewed around quite a spell, tryin’ it out several times, but every time the wind coppers my bet. Oh yes, I’m forgettin’ to mention that I’ve got a loop at the end of the rope which I put my leg through, so I can set there pretty comfortable while we’re travellin’. But once I’d started up and the trouble began, I discover my arms are gettin’ pretty tired. So I finally figure out that the only thing is to pull myself up with one hand quick and reach under quicker with the other and hold that consarned rope down so I can set on it. I tried it and it worked. And that was all there was to that. I got up all right.

[Tom Mix was one of the biggest western stars of the era and, as he was a star as well as a stunter, his career is much better documented than others profiled in this article. However, a significant portion of Mix’s career was spent at Fox, so due to the Fox Vault Fire of 1937, most of his nearly 300-films are now presumed lost.

While I couldn’t track down the films he described above, Mix performed similar stunts in Sky High (1922):

In the wide shots, the leg loops on the rope that Mix described are visible.]

“ANOTHER time, somebody—may be it was me—gets the bright idea of havin’ me grab a rope ladder hangin’ down from the plane when I’m on horseback.. Don’t sound very dangerous, but the first time we try it out, it just naturally scares the poor hoss to death and he mighty near gets himself and me both beheaded.

“So we decide to hang a big cable between two cliffs—one of ’em about 500 feet high and the other about 300—and put the plane on the cable with pulleys. That does away with the noise of the engines and I think I can manage the hoss all right then. We allow enough sag, according to our mathematics, to get the plane just close enough to the ground for me to grab onto the ladder.

“Well, when I see the thing comin’ I figure out that maybe it’d be a good idea to get my leg through the first rung of that there ladder, so that when I arrive on the other side I'll be in a position to start grabbin’ something to hold onto.

“So when I make the jump, I do it that away. Which, as it turns out, is mighty close to a fatal and certainly a right uncomfortable error. Either our calculation is off about forty degrees or that cable develops more sag, because we're a heap closer to the ground than we expected to be. I can’t get my leg out and the darn thing just drags me right along the ground for quite a spell, before they can stop it.

“OF course it wasn't exactly dangerous, but it sure burned me plenty. That ground was so hot when I finally got up it had burned off everything but my boots, including considerable hide.”

[When I first read through this article, I thought that the set-up for this stunt would be distinctive enough for me to identify the film—but no! While I’m not the biggest Mix fan, the stunts in his extant films are always ambitious!]

He gave me one of his friendly irresistible grins.

“Had a funny one happen once with a train. It was up at Colorado Springs. The stunt was like this. I’m on top of the train when it comes to a low tunnel. You can see for yourself that’s no nice place to be. So just as it goes roarin’ in, I’m to grab the tell tales hangin’ outside and swing myself up a little and hold on. We had it fixed so that the engineer would just go inside the tunnel and then back right out and I could drop down again.

“It comes off accordin’ to schedule up to the time I grab the tell tales and start hangin’ on and the train goes into the tunnel. I’m fairly peaceful in my mind, bein’ as I expect him right back. But the engineer had ideas of his own, I guess. He stopped on the other side of the tunnel to fill up his pipe and give his engine a nice drink of water and wind his watch, and all the time I’m hangin’ on to that damn tell tale, thirty feet above a lot of railroad ties and little sharp rocks and steel tracks. Naturally I’m not hankerin’ a whole lot to fall onto that kind of a bed.

“IF I’d known he wasn’t comin’ back, I could have swung myself up onto a rope we had stretched across, but I'm a confidin’ son-of-a-gun and by the time I realize this engineerin’ gent is operatin’ on his own, my arms are too tired to make the pull. And just about that time I hear the train start back, my arms is beginnin’ to give out and it dawns on me that I’m goin’ to hit the middle of that track just about ten seconds previous to a large amount of train.

“Well, there wasn’t nothin’ for it but to jump then, so l’d have time to get out of the way, and I did. I reckon I must have missed that train all of six inches. And my legs was black and blue to the knees for weeks and I got a lot of blood vessels down there that haven’t resumed friendly relations with the rest of my carcass since.”

[Obviously the stunt gone wrong did not appear in The Great K & A Train Robbery (1926), but the shot of Mix running off the top of a moving train and grabbing the tell tales is very impressive and is followed by a cut to him climbing down.]

For thrills, no picture in years has caused so much comment as Paramount's great aviation spectacle, “Wings.”

And a lot of that stunt stuff was done by regulation United States Army air pilots. They did things any stunt man would be proud to call his own and merely remarked in passing that it was “all in the day’s work.”

The particular officer who qualified for admission to the inner circle was one Lieutenant Rod Rodgers. This young gentleman went up in an army plane filled with the sort of explosives which produce an effect of a plane bursting into flames. In his mouth he carried a quantity of the kind of stuff actors use to make it look like they’re bleeding to death. The idea was that when he got up to 6000 feet he was to turn on a mechanical camera which operated itself and which was located just in front of the pilot in the cockpit. He would then pretend to be hit by a bullet, allow the blood to gush from his mouth, let go the stick, and kick the plane into a tail spin with his foot. While the mechanical camera ground on and on, he would come down out of control.

The shot recorded by the camera is one that is picking audiences out of their seats and according to aviators is about the toughest stunt on record—to sit limp and useless while your plane tail spins toward the earth, knowing that at the last moment you must right it or see “Finis” written across your record.

IT isn’t in the picture, by the way, but the studio has the film and a few people have seen it—the moment when Lieutenant Rogers peeped over the side and saw that he was only 500 feet above ground. He came out of his trance, grabbed the stick and pulled it back against his waist and made one remark, which subtitle registered on the screen in amazing fashion and can be compared to those seen—not written—in “What Price Glory” and “The Big Parade.”

It was on “Wings” also that Dick Grace, for several years a famous air stunt man, had his neck broken. He wore during these “crash” sequences, a wide leather belt, reaching from the place where he sat down right up under his arms. Then he was encircled by a series of very strong steel springs, so that it was hoped when he crashed he would be protected.

Photo caption: Immediately after the crash in “Wings,” Dick Grace (center) was photographed with his aeroplane. Later, it was discovered that his neck was broken!

HE wasn't. In one shot, where he had to turn a plane completely over on its back, and land, the stunt apparently came off fine. Grace climbed out of the wreckage, had his picture taken, and only then collapsed. It was discovered at the hospital that his neck was broken.

But what's a little thing like a broken neck to a stunt man? He started right on over to Honolulu, with his neck still done up in all sorts of steel braces, to try and hop across the Pacific from Honolulu to San Francisco in advance of the Dole flyers. He crashed trying to get off the island, but he is still flying, and back in Hollywood ready for more work.

They’ve got some funny expressions in this stunt game. One of them that stopped me was when Buddy Mason first pulled the expression “yucca-nutty.” He remarked that a certain stunt man was yucca-nutty and I had to holler for help.

[Like Mason, Dick Grace was a prolific legend of stunting who survived his career. Pretty impressive considering Grace was an aerial specialist. Grace was a founding member of the AMPP and served as president in the 1930s.]

“Well, it’s like this,” Buddy said kindly. ‘‘All this furniture you see busted over guy’s heads in pictures is made of yucca, which is the lightest wood in the world. You know—yucca is a plant that grows in the California hills. Of course it don’t amount to much, but if you get beaned with enough yucca chairs, in time it begins to make a few dents in what you like to call your brain and then you get yucca-nutty. That's the explanation for a lot of things that happen in Hollywood.”

Another expression which Buddy applies to his pals in the great industry of stunting is “crash-goofy busters.” Which is self-explanatory and descriptive.

[I feel like I haven’t been living my life to the fullest because I have no reason to incorporate the phrases “yucca nutty” and “crash-goofy busters” into my regular vocabulary.]

Photo caption: Greta Garbo and Jack Gilbert after a smash-up in “Love.” Jack uses no doubles for this dangerous work

I asked Buddy what was the worst stunt he’d ever done and after some meditating he unbosomed himself about as follows:

“The amateur gets hurt the most, of course. A boob thinks it’s all easy, and that there’s no technic to the game. Thinks that nerve is required and that’s all and that it’s an easy way to make money. We've got a pretty good scale of prices now—a certain stunt is worth so much, some other one is worth so much more. If an outsider comes in and works for less, he gets told where to head in at. We haven’t the slightest objection to new men coming in. But it isn’t fair to cut prices.

“WELL, the worst smash I ever had was in one of the old serials. I was supposed to drive a motorcycle through the guardrail of a bridge and land on top of a freight train passing under the bridge. They had part of the roof of one of the freight cars cut out and covered with thin laths and cardboard. In the car, beneath the opening made in the roof, were mattresses for me to land on. Everything went fine except the engineer got the speed bug and went faster than he was supposed to and I didn’t quite hit the hole. I landed half in it and about half on the good strong roof of the car and drove the handlebars of the motorcycle up through my ribs. I bounced into the car after that, but I missed the mattresses. All I got was a broken shoulder, five broken ribs, and a dislocated hip. And they say football is a rough game.”

[What an awful accident! There isn’t enough context here for me to identify the serial, but if any of you remember seeing an outrageous stunt like this please shout it out!]

Buddy told me another one about a pal of his, named Bobby Dunn, who was working on a Keystone comedy. They wanted Bobby to dive out of an eighth story window of a fashionable apartment house on Wilshire boulevard. He was to land in a mortar box. The only difference between that particular mortar box and the common one seen in front of buildings when the walls are being plastered was that this one held milky water and was four feet deep instead of one foot. It had been sunk three feet deep into the lawn so that it looked like the regular ones.

BOBBY took one look at the layout and said it couldn’t be done. The box was too close to the wall of the building. From such a height it would be practically impossible to land that close. Somebody took him around to the back of the building and talked persuasively to him. During the course of the conversation several drinks changed hands—from the persuader to Bobby. Finally, Bobby went back and took another look. This time it didn’t look nearly so dangerous. Again they repaired to the back yard and discussed the matter over a bit of liquid refreshment. When they returned this time, Bobby said it was one of the simplest things he’d ever been asked to do and he could do it any time they were ready.

He did. The tank being so shallow, Bobby had to cut his dive very flat. He did that, too, cutting it so flat that he skipped right out of the tank and landed out in the middle of the street on his face. If you have ever thrown flat stones on a lake, you know how Bobby Dunn skipped out of that mortar-box diving tank.

[At the time of writing, I haven’t identified the film featuring this stunt, but since I’m a pretty avid silent comedy fan, I’ll update the post if/when I come across it!]

Which reminds me of one Anita Loos told. She always has a pet story based on fact for every imaginable situation. I had asked her what she knew about stunt men. She laughed. How that little brunette can say gentlemen prefer blondes I don’t know.

[Content warning for this section: Loos’ story here is a racist characterization of Native American actor and stunt performer Eagle Eye. Eagle Eye, while not as fete-d as his white colleagues, had an impressive resume and his career is slightly better documented since he was also an actor. His specialty as a stunter was big falls. Eagle Eye reportedly made a 200-foot drop for the film The Fatal Black Bean (1915, presumed lost).

Photo of Eagle Eye (right) with Wallace Reid and Loretta Blake in At Dawn (1914) from Reel Life, 5 December 1914

If you want to skip the racist bit, the gifs of the falling stunts from Intolerance will be at the end of the anecdote.]

“YOU probably remember the battle scenes in ‘Intolerance’,” she said. “Well, during that sequence somebody had to take a particularly hard back dive off one of the high battlements. Of course nets were spread to catch the diver, but who knows much about nets? They have been known to give way or to be some place else when most needed. The stunt man who was to do the trick was an Indian named Eagle Eye. Eagle Eye was a good stunt man, but he had to be full of firewater before he could perform. A minister had been after him for six months to give up drinking, and after a long life and with 364 other days in the year, Eagle Eye had to choose the day before this big stunt to get religion and sign the pledge. The pledge meant no firewater and no firewater meant no stunt.

“D. W. Griffith, who was directing, ran around wild-eyed to find another stunt man. He couldn’t find anybody who would tackle it, so he finally went to the minister and prevailed on him to get a special dispensation from Mencken or somebody so that Eagle Eye could imbibe just once more for the good of his art and do the stunt. And he did.”

MOST of Doug Fairbanks’ great stunts are simply feats of athletic prowess. There is no great element of danger in them. They take infinite skill, training, practice, but they either can be done or they can’t. They are what I should call legitimate stunts and require the skill of a great athlete and not the peculiar angle of the stunt man.

I caught him between a couple of them. He had just finished leaping from his horse which was going at full speed. And he came right back to ride into a mob of milling, long-horned cattle where a slip of the horse’s foot would have meant as nasty a death as anyone could conceive. But you didn’t feel any sense of danger in them at the moment because of the perfection of Doug’s work.

I stopped him just long enough between the two to ask one question.

“What's the most difficult thing you’ve ever done before a camera?” said I.

“Make love,” said Doug, and went on with his horses and cattle.

Up until recently Fred Thomson, whose fame and popularity as a western star are growing by leaps and bounds, did all his dangerous work. Fred, as you doubtless remember, was champion all-round athlete of the world several years and he figures he has a better chance than a less trained man. Regardless of Fred’s feelings in the matter, Paramount officials have recently forced him to use a double for the more dangerous stunts in order to protect the large amount of money invested in the picture. (I can’t help wondering what they call dangerous—those train wheels looked very mean to me.)

Thomson keeps this stunt man on a regular salary, whether he works or not. The reason Fred gives is that said stunt man will do anything at all times and the kid would go out between the Thomson pictures and get all busted up.

Photo captions: Above: Ralph Forbes about to be crowned with a Yucca chair. Below: Harry Carey plays a human torch. Both in “The Trail of ‘98”

One of the most dangerous stunts ever attempted was in “The Trail of ‘98” and was pulled by Harry Carey. After they had saturated Carey’s clothes with kerosene, the hero—Ralph Forbes—smashed a lighted kerosene lamp over his head. This immediately turned him into a living torch. He had to dash across the room, onto a balcony, and leap ten feet onto the floor of the dance hall below. You can see quite plainly in the picture that Carey did this thing himself. They had every foot of the route he had to cover manned with fire extinguishers and if the fire burned through his heavy underwear he was to holler and they would instantly put the fire out—if it didn’t put Carey out first.

[I don’t know if it’s true that Carey did these stunts himself but I’m amazed they let a movie star perform all that!]

AN odd commentary on the perverse nature of all things is the death of three men on his big Alaskan story. It was reported that they were killed in a stunt. As a matter of fact they were killed repairing a safety device.

A big cable had been extended across the river and these four men went out in a boat to repair the tell tales which were to furnish protection for the actors who had to come down the river in light boats. The man up on the cable fell when it broke under him, hit the side of the boat and tipped it over. Three of the men could swim and the fourth couldn’t. He hung onto the boat and was saved while the others tried to swim ashore and were drowned.

Joe Bonomo is a well known stunt man who broke into pictures with a heart-breaking experience. Joe was a circus man for years, an acrobat and diver and horseman. He heard a lot about the big money his brothers of the celluloid were making so he decided to have a crack at it himself.

He answered an advertisement, which is one of the first things young girls are warned against in a big city. The producer he encountered was Jewish and belonged on Poverty Row though this was in New York.

“It’s all very well, Mr. Bonomo,” he said, “you should sit there and say you are a stunt man. How should I know? If you are a stunt man, for me you should do some stunts.”

SO Joe, who is a trusting soul, complied. He went out and jumped off a skyscraper, dived off liners, changed wings on an aeroplane and did various other things on which he prided himself. All the time the camera was grinding. But Joe didn't think anything of that.

The producer told him he’d done very well and he would let him know later if he wanted him. He took Joe’s telephone number. And that was the last he heard of it until he saw himself and all his stunts in a two-reeler in a Broadway house.

He is still trying to collect.

[Joe Bonomo was a strongman turned stunt performer, who also acted. His film career petered out slowly after the advent of sound. Bonomo moved on to become a fitness instructor, publishing multiple books on the topic. At the time of this article, he likely would have been working as a stunt performer on The Trail of ‘98, discussed above.

Joe holding Louise Lorraine aloft in The Great Circus Mystery (1925, serial, presumed lost)]

Janet Ford, Universal’s stunt woman, has the same philosophy as Mix. She says, “Stunts? If you do them they are easy. I’ve been lucky so far and always done mine so I think they are easy. The only time I’ve ever been hurt was once down in San Diego. I had to swim about two hundred yards and then do a drowning act right under the camera. Guess I was too realistic about it because it scared an old man who was on the pier at the time. He thought I was going down, so jumped in after me and grabbed me around the middle to save me. For sixty-five years old that baby was strong, because in addition to crabbing the scene, he broke four ribs for me.

“YES, I like the game. We are hitting the high spots of life all the time. That is, nothing we do is commonplace, it is always at top speed. And I’ve noticed that it’s generally the cocksure amateur who gets panicky and takes a smash up. That’s especially so among the women ‘stunters.’”

[Janet Ford’s filmography is tough to pin down not just for the same reasons as other stunters, but because there was a contemporary actress with the same name. Ford performed stunts for over a decade starting in 1920, with a specialty in aquatic stunts. There isn’t enough context here for me to identify the film from this anecdote, but I do know that she doubled for Virginia Valli in The Storm (1922, extant at UCLA and EYE Filmmuseum) and for Virginia Brown Faire in Shadows of the North (1923, presumed lost) citation: Picture-Play Magazine, March 1925

Photo of Lord from Picture-Play Magazine, March 1925]

Yes, some of them talked sane enough—for a time. But talk to them long enough and you find that a wheel is missing somewhere.

That they do not look upon life as do the rest of us.

They seem to be divided into three classes: 1. Those in the game for the money; 2. Those who see in this a chance to “break into the movies”; and 3. Just the plain nut who does it.

And some of the tales you hear of them are pathetic. At least they would be if they weren’t comic.

Here’s just two short ones for a final fade out.

A stunt flyer was sent for not long ago and asked to take a bad crash for one of the larger studios. He was to nose dive into the ground from 4,000 feet. He said:

“Sure, I’ll do it—for three thousand dollars. It’s a hospital job and I have to take care of my wife while I'm laid up.”

They paid him the money, he gave it to his wife, took the crash, and went to the hospital for six months. When he got out his wife had run away with another stunt man and the three thousand!

Freddie “Speed” Osbourne raced a motorcycle off a cliff for a news reel. A parachute—but let J. B. Scott the camera man who took the pictures of the stunt tell it.

He saw it.

“OSBOURNE was to race his motorcycle up to the edge of the cliff and then he and the whole works were to go over the edge. He had a parachute attached to his back and was to open it when about thirty feet from the take-off. This would give it time to open and let him down safely.

“About the time ‘Speed’ should have pulled the parachute the motorcycle developed carburetor trouble. Instead of pulling the ’chute, the nut reached down and primed the carburetor.

“By the time he straightened up he was out in the air. He crashed and busted himself all up. I was the first one to him and his shin bones were sticking straight out through his boots. All he said was, ‘Cut those damn boots off, will you, Scotty?’

“He’s still in the hospital and spends his time figuring out how he can make that jump in a Ford coupe!”

[British Pathe’s youtube has the clip of Osbourne performing the stunt. It almost seems impossible he survived this!

youtube

The incident happened on 24 November 1926 and Osbourne had just finished filming airplane stunts for a film. Unfortunately his stunt career isn’t well documented, but Osborne/Osbourne was an aviation stunt specialist as well as a motorcycle stunter.]

I was properly impressed and still inquisitive.

“Scotty, you’ve talked to this bird a lot. Can you tell me for what under the sun he does things like that?”

“Sure,” said Scott. “For twenty-five dollars.”

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