You Can’t Go Home Again: The Ballard of Nicholas Ray (part 3)

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Rebel Without A Cause (1955), the most well known and well played of Rays films, is up first in this week’s Cinematheque double feature which also marks the end of the Nicholas Ray retrospective. I must admit that I do feel a little foolish writing about such a seminal piece of cinematic history but I shall press on nonetheless. This inter-generational classic stars James Dean as Jim Stark who cannot relate to his peers and does not take well to the authority around him. At his new school he meets Judy (Natalie Wood) and Plato (Sal Mineo) as well as the school gang which is headed by Buzz.
Ray manages to highlight the growing post-war economic prosperity, alongside the alienation that teenagers are experiences in a forever widening generational-gap. The epitome of sex, drugs, & rock ‘n’ roll is portrayed fabulously by the young cast.

To end the evening is Party Girl (1958) yet another film lauded by those of the nouvelle vague and known for Ray’s use of a strikingly rich colour-pallet. Set in Chicago in the 1920s the film stars Robert Taylor as mob lawyer Thomas Farrell. After meeting dancing girl Vicki Gaye (Cid Charisse) Farrell decides to leave the mob business yet mob boss Rico Angelo threatens to hurt Gaye, forcing Farrell to make some quick decisions and learning that drama can happen not just in the court room, but in real life as well.

And so ends Melbourne Cinematheque for July. After taking a brief hiatus to make room for the Melbourne International Film Festival (21 July- 7 August, which you should all be going to) it shall return August 17th with a three-week look at Masahiro Shinoda.

Heaven’s Gate: Minute by Minute: Part 38 of 229

38 of 229

James’ Irish friend shoves a flaming match into his pipe, burning the poor man who lives inside alive. I shouldn’t say, “poor man” as the creep had it coming. But I did say, “poor man” and nothing will undo that, except the delete button, which I’m not going to push.

Thus ends the inaudible exposition sequence, though a final exclamation of, “Every citizen’s business is his own affair. Not mine, damn it!” from the Irishman is easily heard and would have been a powerful statement if I knew what on Earth he was talking about.

Now, this is a curious development. The scene cuts to some sort of manor and a spooky butler carrying a tray shuffles down the hallway past a bust. I wonder if the bust can talk? I’m going to assume that it can, but the shuffling drowned it out. I believe it is saying, “Fetch me some brine!” I wonder if the inclusion of the spooky butler indicates a genre shift and the film is soon to be a murder mystery? Perhaps all the immigrant troubles was just a red herring, that had eyes like a dead fish.

Where do you advertise for spooky butlers? The trading post? Do you need to supply them with a cobwebbed uniform? First world problems, hey…