YUL BRYNNER: THE INSCRUTABLE KING

YUL BRYNNER: THE INSCRUTABLE KING. Jhan Robbins. Dodd, Mead; 1987.

Yul Brynner was a man who liked to make up stories about his past life, resented reporters digging into his private affairs, and loved creating an air of mystery about himself. So it's no wonder that this biography fails to get that deep inside  the man, although it is also a problem that there seem to be no major interviews with the people who knew him best. In this book Brynner comes off as a talented if childish man who has many admirable qualities -- a distaste for prejudice and a love of children, for instance -- but was also insecure (giving him a superiority complex), boastful, and a bit selfish. He was married four times, apparently discarding each wife as he found a new lover, but the book never really goes behind the scenes in any of these marriages. Brynner's most famous role was as the king in Rodger's and Hammerstein's The King and I, which he played in Broadway, London and touring productions as well as in the motion picture adaptation. He himself felt that Hollywood did not make the best of his abilities, although he gave excellent performances in such films as Anastasia in which he was "dynamic and sexy." The book is entertaining and provides an overview of Brynner's career, but it is rather superficial all told.

Verdict: Hopefully not the last word on Brynner. **1/2. 

PARADE On Broadway

All the Wasted Time

PARADE. Book by Alfred Uhry. Music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown.

Parade, which first debuted on Broadway in 1999, is based on the true story of Leo Frank, a Jewish man married to a Southern Jewish woman and living in Georgia. He is accused of murdering a young girl who worked in the factory where he was superindendent. Due to anti-Semitism and politics, Frank winds up being railroaded for a crime he didn't commit. (Books which examine the case pretty much make it clear that Frank was not guilty.) Parade was revived by City Center's Encore series, where it was so well-received that it moved to Broadway, where I saw it last week.

Diamond and Platt

I consider Parade to be a modern masterpiece of musical theater, with a great and eclectic score that consists of jazz, ballads, love duets (such as the beautiful All the Wasted Time) and the rousing martial The Old Red Hills of Home. There is a large and very talented cast, led by Ben Platt as Leo and Micaela Diamond as his wife, Lucille. Both of them, especially Diamond, give excellent and sensitive performances. (It may have been a fluke during the performance I saw, but Platt seemed a little perfunctory at the climax, but otherwise was fine.) The show was very well-staged and directed, with the orchestra bringing Brown's score to life with vibrant effectiveness. 

The story has been filmed several times: They Won't Forget (1937) starring Claude Rains (although his character is not revealed to be Jewish); The People vs. Leo Frank (2009), and The Murder of Mary Phagan (1988 telefilm), with Peter Gallagher as Frank and Jack Lemmon as the governor, as well as several documentaries on the case. 

Verdict: An exciting, tuneful and moving evening on Broadway. ****. 

NOT SINCE CARRIE: FORTY YEARS OF BROADWAY MUSICAL FLOPS

NOT SINCE CARRIE: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops. Ken Mandelbaum. St. Martin's Press; 1991.

This very entertaining survey of flop Broadway musicals is not just a list of mega-bombs that were hated by critics and public alike, but a serious look at what went wrong with certain projects that should have and could have been great. Mandelbaum makes it clear that if is often simply more fun to watch, dissect and laugh about major Broadway disasters than it is projects of genuine quality, and that there are people who are sorrier they never got to see "Carrie" on Broadway than the latest hot ticket offering. But Mandelbaum also discusses why some musicals seemed doomed to failure from the outset due to bad ideas or unlikely source material and why others had great ideas, librettos or scores but still made little dent at the box office. Along the way you're given information about shows you may never have heard of and closed early that were still worthwhile or had excellent scores, many of which were recorded. However, in the final chapter Mandelbaum discusses shows that didn't deserve the ignominy of failure, but for me he almost overturns the whole book with his singling out Jerome Moross' The Golden Apple, a through-sung borderline opera that updates the story of the Odyssey to a post-Civil War period. With a terrible book and only one really memorable song (and a couple of other decent ones) amidst a lot of dribble, it's hard to believe Mandelbaum actually thinks this is a masterwork. Candide, yes; Apple  no. Oh well, to each his own.

The book was published nearly thirty years ago -- how time flies! -- so the reader has to supply his  own postscripts. For instance, Peter Allen bombed on Broadway in Legs Diamond -- he not only starred but did the songs -- yet years later the show about Allen (The Boy from Oz) was a success. There have been numerous revivals of Carrie at various theater companies. The bomb At the Grand was retooled into the successful Grand Hotel, even using some of the same songs. And so on.

Verdict:  Engaging, informative, thoughtful look at what makes some shows succeed while others fail. ***. 

BROADWAY: GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS

Al Pacino as Shelly Levene on Broadway

GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS. David Mamet. Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. Broadway. New York City. Directed by Daniel Sullivan.

When Al Pacino appeared in the film version of David Mamet's play in 1992, he played the role of hot shot Ricky Roma. Twenty years later he's now playing the role of Shelly Levene [played by Jack Lemmon in the movie] in this new Broadway production of the play. Although it won a Pulitzer Prize, the somewhat old-fashioned Glengarry [taking its cue from previous plays and films about competitive salesmen and the like] is basically a play that sinks or swims on its acting. The film succeeded mostly because of a stellar cast giving their all. Shelly, afraid he may be washed up in the real estate business, is desperate for "leads" [the names of prospective buyers] even as younger Ricky Roma (Bobby Cannavale) is sewing up a deal that will put him on top in the office. The next day it develops that all of the leads have been stolen, and there's more than one suspect in the robbery.

Much of the audience I saw this with reacted to every utterance of "mother fucker" and the like with roaring laughter as if they were clever punchlines in a sitcom. People close to the stage may have felt like they were in a private party with the actors and felt they had to laugh at every obscenity. The language isn't the problem, but that much of the play's characterizations and observations are over-familiar and superficial. It probably goes without saying that anyone expecting a theatrical masterpiece like Death of a Salesman or Long Day's Journey Into Night had better look elsewhere. [I admit that I am not a big Mamet admirer.] The movie was relatively cinematic and therefore faster- paced, but the play -- especially the two scenes comprising the first act -- here seems very slow.

Pacino and the other actors [including David Harbour,  John C. McGinley,  Richard Schiff, Jeremy Shamos, and Murphy Guyer] all give good, even very good, performances. Pacino has a problem in that despite the added years he's playing a role that was much better suited to Jack Lemmon [comparisons may be odious, but Lemmon was better], but he has gotten more than respectable reviews, and his basic talent and that certain mesmerizing quality he has, almost always carries him through, as it has done here.

So, is this worth the exorbitant ticket prices this is getting on the strength of Pacino's name? It's not even worth what you'll pay for the mezzanine.

Verdict: Fine actors; mediocre vehicle. Rent the movie instead. **1/2.

THE SAXON CHARM

THE SAXON CHARM (1948). Writer/director: Claude Binyon.

"Yes, my flatulent Florence Nightingale, and close the door on your way out!" -- Charming Matt Saxon to nurse.

Janet (Susan Hayward), the wife of a successful novelist-turned-playwright, Eric Busch (John Payne), is warned by the unfortunately-named  entertainer Alma Wragg (Audrey Totter) that she may well regret it if her husband allows producer Matt Saxon (Robert Montgomery), Alma's boyfriend, to produce his play. For Saxon doesn't seem to know or especially care that other people have personal lives and may not want to be at his constant beck and call like a bunch of babies. Saxon even tries to order for everyone in a restaurant and throws a fit when things are not to his liking. However, Saxon not only has charm, but he isn't stupid: "Nothing that's good and has a purpose is old-fashioned," he says. Still he's almost responsible for wrecking the Busch marriage and his need for control goes a little too far when it comes to Alma and her career. While The Saxon Charm hasn't quite got the bite and strong plot of the later backstage drama All About Eve, and the marital difficulties of the Busch's seem a bit contrived, it is nevertheless well-acted by all of the principles and quite entertaining as well. A nice score by Walter Scharf  is a bonus. Harry Morgan, Harry Von Zell, Heather Angel, Chill Wills and Kathleen Freeman all score in smaller roles. Binyon also directed Dreamboat with Clifton Webb and many other movies.

Verdict: It's worth spending some time with this "charm boy," who is all too typical of many theatrical types and others. ***.

REPEAT PERFORMANCE

Triangle: Joan Leslie, Louis Hayward, Virginia Field

REPEAT PERFORMANCE (1947). Director: Alfred Werker.

"They're not real people, actresses. Audiences don't like them."

Broadway leading actress Sheila Page (Joan Leslie) has a problem or two: She is still in love with her stinker of a husband, the drunk, philandering Barney (Louis Hayward), and grateful to him for writing the role that made her a star years ago. But Barney hasn't written another play since, and he enters into an affair with Paula Costello (Virginia Field), the author of Sheila's new hit. What is basically a triangle melodrama has a unique twist -- Sheila shoots Barney at the very beginning of the film on New Year's Eve, and so fervently wishes she could live the past year all over again and avoid the grim result that she literally winds up a year in the past. Sheila does her best to change things so they won't lead to the same outcome, and the fun of the movie is in seeing whether or not things will work out the way she hopes. But even when some things change will the ending be inevitable? Leslie gives a more than competent if unexciting performance -- one can imagine say, Stanwyck in this part -- but Hayward and Field are quite flavorful [even if the former chews the scenery at times]. Richard Basehart and Natalie Schafer are fine as a young poet and the wealthy man-hungry woman who becomes his patron. Tom Conway is Sheila's producer. Wrongly considered a remake of Turn Back the Clock of 1933 [which had a time travel slant but an entirely different storyline], this was remade under that title as a made-for-TV movie with Connie Selleca in the lead [Leslie appeared as a party guest] in 1989.

Verdict: Worth living through at least once. ***.

BROADWAY REVIEW: END OF THE RAINBOW

Tracie Bennett as Judy Garland

NOTE: From time to time Great Old Movies will offer theater reviews, especially as they pertain to films or film performers.

END OF THE RAINBOW. Peter Quilter. At the Belasco Theatre; Manhattan.

The new Broadway [transplanted from London] show End of the Rainbow looks at Judy Garland -- or a theatrical-ized, over-dramatized Judy Garland --  as she's giving -- or trying to give -- a series of performances in London and fighting off -- or rather not fighting off -- a whole series of addictions while fighting with her fiance, Mickey (Tom Pelphrey), and working with her loyal and loving accompanist, Anthony (Michael Cumpsty, who gives the most memorable performance in the piece). The first problem with the show is that it's really more of a revue that should probably be presented in a nightclub than a fully-realized play suitable for the Broadway stage. Oh, there is a "play" there -- aging, overbearing, difficult, alcoholic celebrity makes life miserable for herself and her loved ones -- but it's so superficial and generic it could be about virtually anyone. Playwright Quitler throws in names like (Sid) Luft and (Vincente) Minelli -- two of Garland's ex-husbands -- now and then to remind us who we're supposed to be watching, as well as tiresome references to Garland's alleged gay cult, but if you're expecting any depth, forget it. Like most modern-day playwrights, Quilter throws in sitcom gags -- he has Garland accidentally popping dog pills and then writhing around the floor like a poodle about to pee -- and then tries to work up some pathos, but you just can't have it both ways. As for star Bennett, she gives a fair-to middling impersonation of Garland [with her British accent always shining through and sort of shattering the illusion], and she's very energetic, but let's face it -- this is a stunt performance, the kind that garners praise and awards but is far below the level of really fine performances of insight and subtlety. When she sings, she sometimes sounds like Garland, and at other times more like the aged Katharine Hepburn. None of Garland's children are even mentioned -- it was as if she had none -- probably because they would find this hard to sit through, as did I, as it gets rather tedious; it's like spending two hours with a pathetic, boring drunk you just can't get away from. I may not be the biggest Garland fan in the world, but the lady deserves much, much better than this.

Verdict: If you really want a fine Garland performance and not a burlesque of her -- and a truly heart-breaking experience as well -- watch A Child is Waiting instead of this travesty. **.

LEARNING TO LIVE OUT LOUD Piper Laurie

LEARNING TO LIVE OUT LOUD. Piper Laurie. Crown; 2011.

Autobiographies of second and third tier celebrities are often worthless because the author is too interested in settling scores or vomiting bitterness over being overlooked, ignored, or hidden behind a bushel, but luckily this is not the case with Laurie, who has several Oscar nominations to her credit and once again became a sought after actress after her initial Hollywood period [although she refers to herself as a "star," which may technically be correct, she never exactly had the career of say, a Joan Crawford]. Laurie had a difficult childhood, but became closer to her parents in later years. She writes of her sexual experiences with Ronald Reagan and Mel Gibson [one would think some women would now be embarrassed to admit they'd had sex with those two!], her affairs with director John Frankenheimer and others, and her marriage to a movie critic, Joe Morgenstern. She writes with admirable candor of her personal life, and doesn't neglect her film or television career, either. Laurie struggled against an indifferent studio system which apparently saw her as little other than superficial cheesecake and had to fight to gain respect as an actress. She had a comeback of sorts in Brian De Palma's film version of Carrie, which led not just to other macabre assignments but more "serious" work as well. Occasionally, Laurie seems to pull back from total truth; surely there was more behind the break up of her marriage to Morgenstern than what she writes. She appeared in The Thornbirds but either never met star Barbara Stanwyck or chooses not to write about her. Some fans may be disappointed that she makes absolutely no mention of working with Italian director Dario Argento on his grotesque but rather excellent Trauma [if anything, Laurie's character is even more horrible than the mother in Carrie.] Still this is a very well-written and surprisingly absorbing read from a Hollywood, theater, and TV insider who was around for the studio system and the Golden Age of Television and writes intelligently about all of it.

Verdict: A worthwhile read. ***1/2.