It’s been a noisy week in the neighborhood. Our across the street neighbor’s truck alarm keeps going off leading to insomnia in our house. It’s a very very fine house with two cats in the window, not the yard. We live on a busy street, so our cats are strictly indoor models. Perry Mason thinks he wants to go outside. He’s not the brightest bulb in the lamp as you saw yesterday.
It’s the start of hurricane season. None of my social media people has freaked out yet, but it’s bound to happen sometime soon. Anticipatory dread is not my jam.
This week’s theme song was written by David Hidalgo and Louie Perez of Los Lobos in 1990. It’s the title track of their third major label album; one of their best.
We have two versions of The Neighborhood for your listening pleasure: the studio original and a 2004 live version.
There’s another song with the same title written in 1995 by Charlie Sexton and also recorded by another Charlie: Musselwhite.
Let’s leave the neighborhood and commence our second act.
Kinda Fonda Jane Fonda: I remember when Jane Fonda was hated and derided as Hanoi Jane. She has plenty of regrets over her trip to North Vietnam but none for her opposition to the war. For a time, that obscured her excellence as an actress. Her time as an exercise guru put that in the rear-view mirror except in the dimmer precincts of the far right.
Fonda held a presser at the Cannes Film Festival and Vulture’s Rachel Handler was there to share it with us.
She told a great story about Katharine Hepburn. This is how it ended:
The reason Hepburn was “so interesting,” said Fonda, was that “she wanted me to keep talking about her after she was dead, and I talk about her all the time.” At the end of the affectionate anecdote, Fonda added a surprising aside: “She didn’t like me,” she said. “All three of us were nominated for Oscars, and I didn’t win, and they did. And I called Hepburn up to congratulate her and she said, ‘You’ll never catch me now!’”
Kate gets a shout-out in this Spike Jones number:
Aaron Sorkin & Richard Thomas Hit The Road: Dr. A and I saw To Kill A Mockingbird with Richard Thomas as Atticus Finch this week. It was ab fab. I’ll be reviewing it tomorrow. While you await my write-up, here’s a link to an interview with Sorkin and Thomas in Variety.
FYI, Thomas was the first and only choice to play Atticus in the roadshow production. Wise choice.
The last word of this terse segment goes to Louis Armstrong:
I hope you listen to Louis. Red beans and ricely yours, Adrastos.
The Sybil Myth: Multiple Personality Disorder was hot in the Seventies. I wrote about Billy Milligan 2 years ago.
Let’s turn our attention to Sybil. That story was debunked long ago, but the myth persists. Perhaps because of Sally Field’s splendid performance in the teevee movie.
There’s a swell story by Alexandra Jacobs in the NYT about the persistence of the Sybil myth. It’s the 50th anniversary of the book’s publication. It’s still read and discussed even though Shirley Ardell Mason AKA Sybil admitted to feeding her shrink a line of bull. So it goes.
The last word of our second act goes to The Who:
We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.
Separated At Birth Casting Edition: I give you Sally Field as Sybil alongside the real unreal woman, Shirley Ardell Mason.
The Movie List: It’s time for another second act follow-up featuring Henry’s daughter, Peter’s sister, and Bridget’s auntie.
The Jane Fonda Dozen
- Julia
- 9 to 5
- Coming Home
- Klute
- They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
- Fun With Dick and Jane
- Cat Ballou
- China Syndrome
- Period Of Adjustment
- Barefoot In The Park
- Electric Horseman
- Barbarella
I think some music is in order:
Your Weekly Oscar: We’re not finished with OP. Here’s a Duke Ellington medley live in Helsinki in 1987.
Have I told you lately how much I love Oscar Peterson?
Saturday GIF Horse: This week, Jane Fonda in the camp sci-fi classic Barbarella.
Tweet Of The Week: Ready for some mockingbird mockery?
Looking forward to seeing To Kill A Mockingbird at the Saenger Theatre tonight. Unfortunately, this promo picture shows Jeff Daniels, not Richard Thomas. Oops. pic.twitter.com/NOpOsAXQzM
— Shecky (@Adrastosno) June 1, 2023
Let’s close down this virtual honky tonk with some more music.
Saturday Closer: I mentioned Gordon Lightfoot the other day in my defective defector post This is another one of his hits.
That’s all for this week. The last word goes to Peter, Henry, and Jane Fonda:
