. . . was on IFC the other night. I have never had the sitution where I've paid much attention to this film, ever since the first time viewing it amid deafening hysterical shreiking made for a lost cause inside a cavernous and timeworn 1920's movie palace downtown.
So the other night, this film held me for a while, and though I had a sort of Evelyn Wood recollection about it, the quick dialogue was a surprise and brought me back to a more golden age of movies, emphasis courtesy of black & white film. There were so many things to miss under first release conditions.
One thing in particular struck me. Early on, the action takes place aboard a train. In one scene, the boys are all seated in their room and the managers are giving them a lecture of sorts. There's a cut over to John Lennon that lasts only about one second, where he has a finger against one nostril and an unopened bottle of Coke under the the other. My jaw dropped a chill came over me and I was LOL all at the same time.
Here we thought the whole drug agenda didn't surface (yes, of course in '64 it was going strong under the surface) until a couple of years later, yet the foreshadowing was there the first year these guys hit the big time and were still recording innocent hits about holding hands. A huge percentage of their target audience, however, missed that image entirely, or certainly wouldn't have known how to interpret it. As 50-something adult who had his partying prime time during the 80's, Lennon appealed to ME here some 45 years after the fact. But to millions of "Pleasantville" teeny boppers in 1964? Yet that was some entirely intentional editing work. Hmmmmmm . . .
Am I late to the party on this or am I imagining a significance that really isn't there?
Ralph
So the other night, this film held me for a while, and though I had a sort of Evelyn Wood recollection about it, the quick dialogue was a surprise and brought me back to a more golden age of movies, emphasis courtesy of black & white film. There were so many things to miss under first release conditions.
One thing in particular struck me. Early on, the action takes place aboard a train. In one scene, the boys are all seated in their room and the managers are giving them a lecture of sorts. There's a cut over to John Lennon that lasts only about one second, where he has a finger against one nostril and an unopened bottle of Coke under the the other. My jaw dropped a chill came over me and I was LOL all at the same time.
Here we thought the whole drug agenda didn't surface (yes, of course in '64 it was going strong under the surface) until a couple of years later, yet the foreshadowing was there the first year these guys hit the big time and were still recording innocent hits about holding hands. A huge percentage of their target audience, however, missed that image entirely, or certainly wouldn't have known how to interpret it. As 50-something adult who had his partying prime time during the 80's, Lennon appealed to ME here some 45 years after the fact. But to millions of "Pleasantville" teeny boppers in 1964? Yet that was some entirely intentional editing work. Hmmmmmm . . .
Am I late to the party on this or am I imagining a significance that really isn't there?
Ralph
