WORLD TOUR Day 63 - San Francisco, California
BEFORE: Turns out the title is misleading, and this film is NOT set in China - it starts in New York, then heads to the Caribbean, but after a quick jaunt through the Panama Canal goes up the Mexican coast and ends in San Francisco, which is perfect for the purposes of my last leg. Plus it's another noir film AND it also stars Orson Welles. But you knew I had something like this up my sleeve, right? So tonight a long journey that's taken me all over the map comes to an end. Perhaps there are a few other people in this country tonight who know what that feels like.
That's right, the election. I voted yesterday for the first time in - well, I want to say 8 years, but seeing as in November of 2004 I was in the middle of moving, it's probably been 12. I think I re-registered right after I moved, but in 2008 I think I was just busy and couldn't find the time. I got kind of soured on politics after the 2000 election, because the whole thing just seemed so divisive - you're either red or blue, liberal or conservative, for this or against that. Where is the middle ground? When will people be allowed to think differently on any issue? Why do people have to be ALL one thing or another?
Seems to me I recall there's something that a house divided against itself can't do. Don't tell me, it'll come to me. But I suppose that's what you get when you limit the race to just two parties - how can it be anything but divisive? But what do I know, I live in New York City, which now counts as a small dictatorship. When a person in power rejects the term limits (that he himself put in place, ooh, irony!) and refuses to relinquish power, that's a dictatorship. We've got a Mayor-For-Life, apparently.
You see, without voting, I sacrificed my right to complain. But I love complaining, and now that I'm part of the democratic process again, look out. Perhaps I should have planned movies to coincide with the election, like "Speechless" or "The Ides of March", or even "Red State", but it is what it is.
THE PLOT: Fascinated by gorgeous Mrs. Bannister, seaman Michael O'Hara joins a bizarre yachting cruise, and ends up mired in a complex murder plot.
AFTER: This is a quite serviceable noir plot - but it got a little too twisted up in itself. It's hard to separate the INTENDED murder plot from the one that ends up happening. You kind of have to fill in the gaps and think about who might have really been sleeping with who (facts not made readily available to viewers) in order to assign proper motive and ultimately get to the bottom of things.
Back in the day, thanks to the censorship codes, you had to look for really subtle signs that two characters might be connected. They couldn't show them in bed together, or have one leaving the other's cabin with their clothes all rumpled. But if you pay attention, you may notice two characters sharing a cigarette, without being skeeved out by that - which implies a certain level of intimacy, and you kind of go from there.
The irony here is that Orson Welles and co-star Rita Hayworth had been married for three years when this was filmed, though they were separated at the time and working through some stuff, and divorced 6 months after the film's release. Not enough room in the marriage for Welles' ego, apparently.
This is also the third film in a row that represents a dispute between director and studio over running length - Welles' original cut ran 155 minutes, and the release time was down to 87. That's nearly half the film on the cutting room floor! They did leave in the famous "Funhouse mirror" final scene, though - set in an abandoned amusement park on the San Francisco waterfront. Hmm, last night's film was famous for its fantastic opening scene, and this one for its closing scene.
I've got one last slot before I close up shop for the year, so it's time for a victory lap. This next film is rather long, so it might take me a couple days to watch it. Back in "two and two".
Also starring Rita Hayworth, Everett Sloane (last seen in "The Patsy"), Glenn Anders.
DISTANCE TRAVELED TODAY: 523 miles / 842 km (Mexicali, Mexico to San Francisco, CA)
DISTANCE TRAVELED SO FAR: 48,101 miles / 77,411 km (with a final adjustment - curse you, kilometers!)
RATING: 5 out of 10 subpoenas
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