Let's Go to the Movies

   Well, SONY took a little hit after Kim Jung Un decided to hack their computers.  After threatening to disrupt the screenings, Sony decided to pull the release of "The Interview"- a farce that spoke of assassinating the 'supreme leader' of North Korea.
     So, instead, watch oldies.   I did:  Bogie and Bacall, 2 of their classics- The Big Sleep ,and  Hemingway's "To Have and Have Not".
       Both were made in the '40's; both have worn fairly well.  Just recently, the mayor read Raymond Chandler's " The Big Sleep", a Philip Marlow detective story.  Like his other stories, it is set in Los Angeles,Ca. in the '30's.  The Big Sleep is especially interesting in film.  It was after Bacall's premier in To Have and Have Not.   She is now 21, but her sultry style comes shining through.  Los Angeles in the '30's was already a developing metropolis.  No, it wasn't based on Hollywood, or surfing, or agriculture(oranges, lemons, and limes), but it was growing because of "oil". The first well was drilled in LA in 1892!  Yes, 1892.  By 1930, oil derricks littered the landscape of Southern California, spreading west from downtown to the Santa Monica beaches.  Without adequate planning, the pipelines wound their way all over; and refineries belched their putrid fumes all over the local cities.  Most of the refineries were west of downtown; thus, the gases and fumes wafted over the city and contributed to it's visible and malodorous 'smog'.  Wells in LA today produce over 280,000 barrels A DAY still.  That's amazing.
        The Big Sleep involves classic mystery themes: blackmail, murder, mental illness, sex, money, and conspiracy.  That's a lot for any film, but it's done well.   Because of the censors, the sex was left out almost completely; murders, there were several.  There was even a porno bookstore included!  And a little homosexuality.  Bogie made a good Philip Marlow and Bacall a great heiress living well on her father's dime.  The gambling casino added a nice touch, dealing with Bacall's desire to play roulette and put it all on 'red'.
      To Have and have Not did not travel well through the years.  Shot not on location, but in the back lot.  The literary scenario takes place on the French island of Martinique in the Caribbean in the early years of WW II, when Free French were competing with Vichy France, the collaborators with the Nazi occupiers in Europe.  It includes some simple intrigues, but it was the first Bacall/Bogart film and they improved as the relationship grew(They eventually married, despite a 25 year age difference).
    Both very enjoyable; a time capsule of sorts.  Notably, Nobel prize winning author, William Faulkner wrote the screenplay(or co-authored) both.   He spent a few years in Hollywood but gave up after awhile: too pedestrian.
     So, don't fret about "The Interview" or the fact the F.B.I. identified North Korea's pattern of hacking involved.  Go see some oldies; Netflix.