#marjorie eaton

[babadork]

[cinematicjourney]

The Empire Strikes Back (1980) | dir. Irvin Kershner

[moviemosaics]

Night Tide

directed by Curtis Harrington, 1961

[movie-titlecards]

Monstrosity (1963)

My rating: 5/10

Eh... I mean, it's kind of fun in a cheesy nonsense kind of way, but it does run a bit too long, even at just over an hour.

[clemsfilmdiary]

Night Tide (1961, Curtis Harrington)

3/20/23

[mariocki]

Zombies of Mora Tau (1957)

"We all die in good time, Mrs. Harrison. There's a grave waiting for all of us."

"You old hag! You're dead already, you just don't have sense enough to lie down!"

[xxxcertifiednerdxxx]

Happy International Women’s Day to her specifically.

[image description: heading says “Marjorie Eaton”; subheading says “American painter”; picture of Marjorie Eaton with caption that says “Estate of Edmund Teske/Getty Images”; Wikipedia excerpt says “Marjorie Lee Eaton was an American painter, photographer and character actress best known for physically portraying Emperor Palpatine in the original release of The Empire Strikes Back, though her fave was masked and her voice dubbed.” She was born on February 5, 1901, in Oakland, CA. She died on April 21, 1986, in Palo Alto, CA.]

[twittercomfrnklin2001-blog]

Night Tide

Ignore the plot and most of the acting. Focus on the images and you’ll have a fascinating good time watching Curtis Harrington’s first feature, NIGHT TIDE (1961/63, Prime, Tubi, Plex, YouTube). The film is a symbolist’s response to the works of Edgar Allan Poe (it ends with a quote from “Annabelle Lee” that includes the title) and CAT PEOPLE (1942), lovingly shot for under $50,000 by Vilis Lapanieks and, reportedly, Floyd Crosby, with glorious black-and-white images of Venice, Malibu and Santa Monica. It’s like a dream, and despite its heterosexual love triangle, it’s on the eve (or is that “Eve?”) of something queer.

Sailor Dennis Hopper is intrigued by a beautiful young woman (Linda Lawson) he meets in a jazz club (where Paul Horn is the flutist). She plays a mermaid in a sideshow attraction on the Santa Monica pier — or is she a mermaid playing a woman? As he’s warned by the merry-go-round operator’s daughter (Luana Anders), she’s rumored to be involved in the deaths of her previous two boyfriends. Lawson’s boss and legal guardian (Gavin Muir) also warns him off, for apparently selfish reasons. The local chiromancer (the marvelous Marjorie Eaton) reads death in his cards. And a mysterious woman (artist and occultist Marjorie Cameron) follows Lawson about and, in a scene right out of CAT PEOPLE, tells her that her sisters are awaiting her return.

From a rational viewpoint, there’s a lot wrong with the film. The resolution makes little sense, and the acting encompasses the non-existent (the police detective), the near non-existent (Lawson), the garbled (half the time Hopper sounds as if he were talking with his mouth full), the camp (Muir) and the quite good (Anders and Eaton). Viewed as an extension of Harrington’s work with psycho-sexual imagery in his earlier experimental films, however, it’s a compelling piece. It’s all light and shadow and David Raksin’s often unconventional, jazz-tinged score. And there’s a clear gay subtext. Hopper has fixed on a woman whose psychological issues render her sexually unobtainable. The scenes in which he and Muir discuss Lawson read more like seductions than rivalry (at one point, they meet in a bathhouse, and the masseur working on Hopper offers to give Muir “a good pounding”). And in a nightmare, Hopper sees Lawson attacking him as an octopus. That’s eight phallic symbols for the price of one. On that purely psychological level, the film works. It’s little surprise it was hailed as a masterpiece in Europe, where it was adjudged the best American film at the 1961 Venice Film Festival.

[victusinveritas]

𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗬 𝗕𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗛𝗗𝗔𝗬!!!

Remembering 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗷𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲 𝗘𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗻 on what would have been her 123rd birthday. She was one of two original performers who played the Emperor in The Empire Strikes Back but was later replaced for the DVD release. Marjorie is also known for her work in Zombies of Mora Tau, Night Tide, and Mary Poppins.

[fourorfivemovements]

Films Watched in 2023: 104. Zombies of Mora Tau (1957) - Dir. Edward L. Cahn

[oldsardens]

Marjorie Lee Eaton - Taos Man Seated

[babadork]

[stagbeetleboy]

Fun fact Palpatine was originally portrayed by a woman, making his first ever appearance technically drag.

Unfortunately Marjorie Eaton’s performance was cut in favor of a full scene reshoot featuring Ian McDiarmid.

[mildlybizarrecorvid]

You have such a genuinely unique and lovely energy, you make the dash much more interesting with fun facts!

Thank you greatly! And since you mentioned them, here's a fact!

In the original release of The Empire Strikes Back, Emperor Palpatine wasn't actually played by Ian Mcdermid. Instead it was actress Marjorie Eaton under heavy makeup with chimpanzee eyes edited over her own, and a voice provided by Clive Revill.

[singeratlarge]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Casey Affleck, swamp pop singer Rod Bernard, Sid Bernstein, Joe Besser, Cantinflas, John Cazale, Kid Creole, Del The Funky Homosapien,  Cecil B. DeMille, Leslie Duncan, George Hamilton, Roy Hay, Heintje, Mark Knopfler, Greg Langston (The Next, No Alternative), Ron Mael, Tiny McCloud, Pat Metheny, Sir Mix-a-Lot, Alexei Nikolaevich, Peter Ostroushko, Buck Owens, Marjorie Reynolds, Theodore Scaife, Erwin Alexander Schrödinger, Lakeith Stanfield, Matt Thiessen (Reliant K), Stefanos Tsitsipas, Mladen Vukic, Porter Wagoner, Deborah Walley, Wednesday 13, Jane Wyatt, and recording artist, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Derrek Van Eaton. 

Classic rock-philes and deep Beatles fans will recognize him from the brother band Lon & Derrek Van Eaton. Prior to their association with Apple Records (the record label created by The Beatles), they were part of the eccentric New York-based folk rock band Jacob’s Creek. They shared a studio with Simon & Garfunkel and released one album on Columbia in 1969. Two years later, John Lennon and George Harrison “discovered” them as a brother-act duo and signed them to Apple. The Van Eaton’s music blended urban folk and dreamy rock with a blues-gospel undercurrent, which perfectly coincided with the sounds of Badfinger and latter-day Beatles. The Van Eaton’s excellent BROTHER album was co-produced by George with Klaus Voorman. The Van Eatons toured the USA to promote BROTHER. Their 1972 tour brought them to where I was living in Huntingdon PA, where they played Ellis Hall at Juniata College (I stood listening from outside, a lad with no ticket money).  

The BROTHER album launched a long association with George, Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, and other travelers in the Apple/Beatle legacy that unfolded in the 1970s. Then the Van Eatons became studio session players favored by producer Richard Perry, who hired them for recordings with Art Garfunkel, Martha Reeves, and Carly Simon. Perry also produced the Van Eaton’s 1975 WHO DO YOU OUT DO album. Following that era, the brothers created a non-profit film and music company called Imagine a Better World. 

The Van Eaton brothers since have released sporadic works (duo and solo), notably their acclaimed 1996 cover of “Apple of my Eye” on the COME & GET IT Badfinger tribute album. In 2013 they issued a career-spanning anthology with new recordings with contributions from Ringo Starr, Jim Keltner, Klaus Voormann, and Gary Wright, and the Van Eatons are still active in musical and spiritual pursuits. 

Some years ago I met Derrek some years ago at church we were both attending in Pennsylvania (where I picked his brains about that 1972 concert I heard but couldn’t see), and the last time we crossed paths was at a Monkees concert in Denver in 2011. Even in passive meet-ups I can see the creative spark in Derrek’s eyes. Here’s one of my favorite Van Eaton cuts “Sun Song” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5VSJmb2VI0...Meanwhile, HB DVE and thank you for your years of remarkable creativity and soul.

#derrekvaneaton #lonanderrekvaneaton #brother #applerecords #birthday #georgeharrison #ringostarr #klausvoorman #richardperry #peteham #badfinger

[broadcastarchive-umd]

#PBS Set in a large townhouse at 165 Eaton Place in Belgravia in central London, Upstairs, Downstairs depicted the servants below and the family above between the years 1903 and 1930, and showed the slow decline of the British aristocracy. Upstairs, Downstairs was aired as part of PBS' Masterpiece Theatre.

The cast included: (top row) Rachel Gurney and David Langton as Lady Marjorie Bellamy and Richard Bellamy; Simon Williams as James Bellamy; (middle row) Gordon Jackson as Hudson, the butler; Angela Baddeley as Mrs. Bridges, the cook; (bottom row) Pauline Collins, under-house parlor maid; and Jean Marsh as Rose, the head house parlor maid.