#Morton DaCosta

[musicalfilm]

for the civilized world accepts as unforgivable sin any talking out loud with any librarian

marian the librarian // the music man (1962)

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

[erstwhile-punk-guerito]

[rye-views]

Auntie Mame (1958) dir. Morton DaCosta. 7.5/10

I would not recommend this movie to my friends. I would not rewatch this movie.

You don't even need to be an extrovert to host a party like Auntie Mame. You just gotta make the rounds with little to no effort.

What a fine young gentleman Patrick is. I really enjoyed his Patrick Picasso piece. He's so cute. The fox is cute and so are all these dogs.

The workers paying her bills is crazy.

Brian is trash.

I feel for this movie similarly to how I feel about Lawrence of Arabia. The first half was amazing and the second half eh. For this movie, I just liked when Patrick was a kid. Despite this whole liberal vs conservative viewpoint, I still think this is overall just too white, albeit I understand this was made in the 1950's. I did think, though, that there were many intelligent aspects to this movie. i don't love the portrayal of the workers, but I do like them.

[carolinanadeau]

Shirley Jones and director Morton DaCosta with canine cast members behind the scenes of The Music Man (1962)

[unateoriadegliautori]

auntie mame (1958)

[raphlecia]

Interiors in Auntie Mame (1958) dir. Morton DaCosta

[bradydugan8]

Old Time Tradition: Folk Musicals, The Music Man (1962)

Set in the early 20th century, the musical film The Music Man (1962), directed by Morton DaCosta, follows a charismatic, yet manipulative traveling con man that goes to a very rural River City, Iowa. Professor Harold Hill, as he calls himself, creates the need for a boys band wherever he goes and sells instruments, uniforms, and books to earn hundreds of dollars (thousands of dollars today). Hill's routine is to skip town before anyone can take notice. This time, his goals conflict with love and other relationships within the town.

●  What do the musical numbers signify about identity in the course of the film’s narrative?

The identities in the film center around the entire town of River City, Iowa being one person. The townspeople collectively act in one way, aside from the main and side characters. Professor Harrold Hill, or Greg, is perceived as the other by the whole town. Whether he is seen as charismatic and helpful to the town or as a fraud and the antagonist, the town and him are the two major opposite forces and identities. The musical number “Iowa Stubborn” shows how the town identifies as hospitable and stubborn; both characteristics tie into the rest of the film. Either the town is accommodating and being very friendly to Hill or they are trying to burn him at the stake.

●  What is the purpose of the songs in the characters’ lives? 

The two most predominant purposes of the songs that the characters sing are love and manipulation. Almost every time Marian sings, she is expressing her love for someone or longing for romantic love. This changes throughout the film as she first expresses that she doesn’t want to fall in love with anyone fantastical, such as Harold. By the end of the film she is completely in love with Harold. This stark change in her relationship with Harold evolves through the songs she sings throughout the film surrounding certain events. Her eventual love for Harold can be shown in the number “Till There Was You”. Harold’s purpose for singing revolves around manipulation, and furthering his con on the entire town. Unless he is singing personally to another main character, he is addressing the town and persuading them to buy his musical instruments, uniforms, and books. This can be seen in the number “Ya Got Trouble”. Hill convinces the town that a pool table in the billiard parlor will cause laziness, drug abuse, and other taboo activities in the youth. To counteract this, he proposes that the town invests in a boys band by buying hundreds of dollars worth of his equipment.

●  In what ways are the songs and/or musical performances racialized and/or gendered?

Because of the complete lack of diversity in the film, one of the main focuses of the numbers is genderization. Typically, in numbers like "Marian the Librarian", Harold, or another male character are seen chasing after their female counterparts instead of the two working in harmony. Additionally there are standards put forth upon Marian by her mother in terms of love and settling down. Marian’s mother says “Darling, don't you ever think of your future…if you keep the flint in one drawer and the steel in the other, you'll never strike much of a fire.” Marian’s mother is basically telling her that life won’t be fulfilled somehow if she doesn’t settle down and get married instead of continuing to be independent. This view fits into the contemporary view of the time regarding the nuclear family, which is perpetuated at the end of the film when Marian and Harold fall in love.

●  What elements of the film align with White musicals’ longing to transform the ordinary into utopia? 

Harold's character throughout the film, seeks to transform the town into a musical utopia where boys in a band are playing the trumpet on every street corner. He masquerades around as a music director and promises to the townspeople, through manipulation, of a River City with music running through it. In the number “76 Trombones”, Harold idealizes the band of boys parading through the town playing their instruments. This centers around the mise en scene of the Fourth of July which emphasizes the heavy Americanized themes throughout the film, while disregarding any diversity.

●  How does the film reflect the temporal circularity of Black musicals?

The film has several repeating numbers like “76 Trombones”, that show the repetition that occurs in the small town of River City. However, in the end the town does accomplish something, which is in contrast to Black musicals. As Richard Dyer addresses in Is Car Wash a Black Musical?, “It's not a question of transforming ordinary life into a utopia, the longing behind White musicals, but of showing life as an ongoing matter of making and creating” (105). Throughout the film, Harold keeps pursuing Marian in similar ways, and he keeps manipulating the town, in the end the town appears to be better off because of Harold's actions. While the film shares the themes of repetitiveness as certain black musicals, the fundamental difference is the end result. In White musicals, change happens, whereas in Black musicals it doesn't.

Discussion Questions:

Professor Harold Hill completely manipulates the town. How or why is this forgiven by the characters? What does it say about the narratives in Hollywood at the time?

How does the films depiction of gender roles impact the plot?

While change does occur by the end of the film, what are alternatives to this?

[int3rnztstar]

life’s a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death -auntie mame (1958) dir. morton dacosta

[johannestevans]

Bunch of new pieces this week!

Good evening!

Apologies for the lack of email last week, and the lack of bonus erotica episode too - I'm traveling back and forth at the moment as I try to sort out flat stuff, and unfortunately my asthma is kicking my ass at the moment and making it really hard to sit and record audio even when I have the time. I'm hoping after some rest my chest will chill out a bit and I'll be able to record by next week, but unfortunately it's not predictable.

I had a great time at Bristol Pride and met some of you guys, so if that was you, thanks so much for saying hello!

I will be at Leeds Pride in August, too, so looking forward to that.

Before I get to media recommendations and my new works published in the past two weeks, just your reminder that I am now running a trans erotica publication on Medium!

I'm reccing a favourite in my Media Recs section below, but since starting off, there's 20 new erotic pieces there to peruse, and I'm so, so excited to see a broad swathe of authors and works as time goes on and the publication reaches more people.

Trans Erotica on Medium

Please don't feel that you have to be transmasc or MLM to submit just because I am, by the way, I'd love to see more transfem and trans woman authors, as well as lesbians and WLW, submitting too!

Here are the Submission Guidelines, and here's a basic guide to Medium to get you started if you're new to the platform. Want a prompt to get you started? Here's the July 2023 prompt set.

Media Recs

Fashioning a Fop by Damien Locke- Short fiction. An 18th century tale of a trans man discovering himself through dressing in men’s clothing for the first time. This piece is fucking spectacular, so gorgeously written and with such wonderful 1700s-style prose, very hot, very fun!

What's in the Tea? by Achilles King - Short fiction. 18+ Erotica. Cis M/M and Cis M/Trans M. This is a gorgeous little piece playing with massage and the drugging effects of a particular tea, and I love the power play in this one.

The Music Man (1962, dir. Morton DaCosta) - A musical! I've been in the mood for musicals the past few days, and I enjoyed this one a lot more than I expected - a lot of the music has really stuck with me, I love the brass band stuff and the rapid patter pace of the show, especially because I love a conman. With that said, Marian Paroo is a ridiculous name for a woman - the librarian love interest should be a man. I also watched and enjoyed Sweet Charity (1969, dir. Bob Fosse), and I never realised Big Spender was from this show! So that was fun.

I had a gay movie marathon with my boyfriend, Lewis, so first we watched A League Of Their Own (1992, dir. Penny Marshall) and Thelma and Louise (1991, dir. Ridley Scott). These are both great films, obviously - A League of Their Own is a semi-biographical story about the first female baseball league in the USA during the war, and the second is a crime drama with two besties/lovers stuck in an escalating spiral after one of them shoots an attempted rapist. Lewis was surprised that Thelma and Louise is actually gay, so just FYI, it really is actually gay! It's not a happy ending and it's not uncomplicated, but Thelma and Louise are such great characters, and I love them a lot.

We also watched a favourite of mine, which is Gods and Monsters (1998, dir. Bill Condon), starring Ian McKellen and Brendan Fraser. If you love sexy manipulative old gay men fucking with the heads of younger mostly straight men who don't know how to deal with being the object of a man's desire, who are terrified of queerness on so many levels, but are also drawn to the novel and new? Yeah, baby. This is the flick for you.

Goetia (2016) - This is a point-and-click videogame that I played on PS4, although I also have it on PC, and I just finished it today. If you're interested in demonology and you love a 20th century haunted house, this is a short game with some great character writing and a really engaging mystery - a lot of it is pretty fucking creepy, and while the ending didn't entirely land for me, I enjoyed the game enough that I do want to recommend it. This is fucking difficult as a puzzle game, though, so definitely keep a notepad and pen handy.

We also caught the Super Mario Bros. (2023, dir. Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath) movie, and it was grand - it was honestly very well-paced, funny, and they did a lot of creative stuff with the source material, plus I'm obviously disgustingly horny for Bowser at all times, so it was good food for my libido.

With that said, it was a bit too aggressive with the heterosexuality, and the racial politics of the whole thing are... Fucking bad. Like, there's a lot to unpack there that I'd need a whole essay to pick apart, and as a white dude I really don't know that it's my place - there's always been some racism in the franchise, like the British studio's addition of a lot of anti-Black coding in making Donkey Kong 64, but just the whole vibe of the Mushroom Kingdom's worship of Princess Peach is like... Weird.

And lastly, I watched and loved The Wicker Man (1973, dir. Robin Hardy), and I have an extensive review below.

New Works Published

June's Top Short Story: Agony and Ecstasy

June's most popular short story of mine was Agony and Ecstasy!

Erotic short. An abbot takes a stranded sailor on for… personal duties.

6k, M/M, rated E! Age difference, virginity kink, some naivety, some oral and anal, first time enthusiasm.

On Medium / / On Patreon

TweetFic: Notes of Lavender

A secretary bonding and connecting with the only male secretary at work. 1960s. Featuring lavender marriages and LESBIANS.

On Twitter

New Podcast: A Stranger's Visit: The Story, Episode 4

Fantasy short. A priest of Freyr receives a strange visitation.

3.6k, rated T. MB. Originally published May 29th, 2021. A little bit of Norse godliness versus Norse priestliness. Featuring Esben. Adapted from a TweetFic.

RSS Feed / / On Spotify / / On Google Podcasts / / On YouTube

New Podcast: Temple Service: The Story, Episode 5

Romance short. A servant at the temple to Hephaestus lusts after an olive-tender.

Rated M, 2.2k, cis M/M, some ancient Greeks! Originally publiushed June 3rd, 2022. A temple servant and a grove-worker, lots of teasing and banter and flirting.

RSS Feed / / On Spotify / / On Google Podcasts / / On YouTube

Romance Short: Sickbed Trade

One sailor tends to another in his sickbed.

Just a little M/M piece with some love and intimacy. 500w.

On Medium / / On Patreon

Film Review: The Wicker Man (1973, dir. Robin Hardy)’s Spit in the Face of Cops and Colonialism

Exploring The Wicker Man’s themes of authority and control on its 50th anniversary.

On Medium / / On Patreon / / On Tumblr

Erotic Short: Intensive Care

A paediatric nurse takes some time after work with the Head of Psychiatry.

3.4k, cis M/M. Some fucky power play between coworkers, both of them very aware of each other’s character flaws, featuring age difference, size difference, riding, oral, anal, lots of physical intimacy and affection, with a hint of overstim at the end.

CW for mentions of past trauma, implied rape and sexual abuse, and incest. None of these things are explicit or present-day, and they’re discussed in the context of unpacking a trigger and some invasive thoughts.

On Medium / / On Patreon

Essay: The Relief of a Queer Audience as a Fruity Stand-Up Comic

Explaining one's existence takes time.

I’m a stand-up comedian.

Last week, I did some comedy at a queer-run, queer-centred open mic — suddenly, a twelve-minute set fit into six, because I was in a room full of queer people who knew exactly what I was talking about...

On Medium / / On Patreon

Erotic Short: Public Performance

A vampire shows off his toy for a club.

1k, cis M/trans M. A vampire fucks his trans boyfriend in a crowded nightclub as people dance below them.

Featuring some chem sex with the drugging effects of a vampire belt, public sex, fingering and vaginal sex, overstimulation, and implications of a fevered gangbang in the aftermath.

On Medium / / On Patreon

[byneddiedingo]

Tori Spelling, Josh Hamilton, and Parker Posey in The House of Yes (Mark Waters, 1997

Cast: Parker Posey, Josh Hamilton, Tori Spelling, Freddie Prinze Jr., Geneviève Bujold, Rachael Leigh Cook. Screenplay: Mark Waters, based on a play by Wendy MacLeod. Cinematography: Michael Spiller. Production design: Patrick Sherman. Film editing: Pamela Martin. Music: Rolfe Kent. 

Meeting the in-laws is such a familiar rite of passage that it's no wonder it has become a common movie plot device, as in Meet the Parents (Jay Roach, 2000) and its sequels in 2004 and 2010. Wendy MacLeod's play and Mark Waters's film The House of Yes turn the device into a black comedy influenced by another genre: the wacky family comedy -- think You Can't Take It With You (Frank Capra, 1938) and Auntie Mame (Morton DaCosta, 1958), in which a prospective spouse is introduced to a household of eccentrics. In The House of Yes Marty Pascal (Josh Hamilton) brings his fiancée, Lesly (Tori Spelling), to meet his family in a D.C. suburb. Lesly, who works as a waitress in a doughnut shop, finds herself out of her element: For one thing, the Pascals are clearly more affluent and better educated than she is. Moreover, Marty's twin sister (Parker Posey), known as Jackie-O because of her fixation on Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, has recently been institutionalized, his mother (Geneviève Bujold) is hardly the most stable of parents, and his younger brother, Anthony (Freddie Prinze Jr.), only appears normal. Marty's no-nonsense manner also turns out to be a façade as Lesly becomes the vehicle for the revelation of various family secrets, including incest and possibly even the real reason for the death of Marty's father. In fact, Lesly's obvious out-of-placeness suggests that Marty's invitation to spend Thanksgiving with his family may even have been a kind of sadistic prank. There's some smart dialogue and some wincingly funny moments, but the film is stage-bound. It never touches base with reality, suggests an idea behind its conception, or reveals a satiric target. 

[llpodcast]

(Literary License Podcast)

Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade is a 1955 novel by American author Patrick Dennis chronicling the madcap adventures of a boy, Patrick, growing up as the ward of his Aunt Mame Dennis, the sister of his dead father.

 The book is often described as having been inspired by Dennis' real-life eccentric aunt, Marion Tanner, whose life and outlook mirrored those of Mame, but Dennis denied the connection. The novel was a runaway bestseller, setting records on the New York Times bestseller list, with more than 2 million copies in print during its initial publication. It became the basis of a stage play, a film, a stage musical, and a film musical.

 In 1958, Dennis wrote a sequel titled Around the World with Auntie Mame.

 Auntie Mame is a 1958 American Technirama Technicolor comedy film based on the 1955 novel of the same name by Edward Everett Tanner III (under the pseudonym Patrick Dennis) and its 1956 theatrical adaptation by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee. This film version stars Rosalind Russell and was directed by Morton DaCosta. It is not to be confused with a musical version of the same story that appeared on Broadway in 1966 and was later made into a 1974 film, Mame, starring Lucille Ball as the title character.

 Opening Credits; Introduction (2.21); Background History (15.30); Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis Plot Synopsis (17.01); Book Thoughts (21.56); Let's Rate (39.06); Introducing a Film (41.18); Auntie Mame (1958) Film Trailer (42.25); Lights, Camera, Action (45.31); How Many Stars (1:13.28); End Credits (1.18.01); Closing Credits (1:20.07)

 Opening Credits– Jingle Bells by Ella Fitzgerald.  Taken from the album Ella’s Swinging Christmas.  Copyright 1960 Verve Records.  All rights reserved.

 Incidental Music:  Auntie Mame Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.  Music by Ray Heindorf and His Orchestra.  Copyright 1958 Master Classics Records.

  Closing Credits:  We Need A Little Christmas by Angela Lansbury, Frankie Michals, Sab Saminino- Original Broadway Cast.  From the album Mame Original Broadway Recording.  Copyright 1966 Columbia Master Works Records.  

​

Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 

 All rights reserved.  Used by Kind Permission.

 All songs available through Amazon Music.

[ulkaralakbarova]

Will Montgomery, a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant who has returned home from Iraq, is assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification service. Montgomery is partnered with Captain Tony Stone, to give notice to the families of fallen soldiers. The Sergeant is drawn to Olivia Pitterson, to whom he has delivered news of her husband’s death. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Will Montgomery: Ben Foster Tony Stone: Woody Harrelson Kelly: Jena Malone Stuart Dorsett: Eamonn Walker Olivia Pitterson: Samantha Morton Dale Martin: Steve Buscemi Cashier: Dale Soules Kelly’s Father: Stevie Ray Dallimore Alan: Michael Chernus Monica Washington: Yaya DaCosta Mrs. Flanigan: Marceline Hugot Claire: Lindsay Michelle Nader Recruiter Brown: Gaius Charles Recruiter Olson: Brendan Sexton III Dr. Grosso: Peter Francis James Marla Cohen: Halley Feiffer Mr. Cohen: Peter Friedman Returning Soldier: Jeremy Strong Returning Soldier’s Wife: Fiona Dourif Mr. Flanigan: Kevin Hagan Mrs. Burrell: Portia Emily: Lisa Joyce Lara: Merritt Wever Flirty Girl (uncredited): Karen Summerton Film Crew: Thanks: Ben Affleck Original Music Composer: Nathan Larson Producer: Mark Gordon Casting: Laura Rosenthal Casting: Ali Farrell Writer: Oren Moverman Costume Design: Catherine George Writer: Alessandro Camon Producer: Benjamin Goldhirsh Producer: Lawrence Inglee Producer: Zach Miller Stunt Coordinator: Blaise Corrigan Stunts: Christopher Place Editor: Alex Hall Set Decoration: Cristina Casanas Executive Producer: David Whealy Production Design: Stephen Beatrice Executive Producer: Bryan Zuriff Director of Photography: Bobby Bukowski Stunts: William Cote Stunts: Geoffrey Dowell Thanks: Jacqueline Eckhouse Movie Reviews:

[erstwhile-punk-guerito]

[dasmuggler]

Shirley Jones learned she was pregnant with her son Patrick once filming of "The Music Man' (1962) had begun. She met with director Morton DaCosta over lunch to inform him of the situation. Her concern was that she would begin "showing" during its filming. He assured her that they could work through it with costumes and also by filming her from the waist up, if necessary. He did have one request, that she tell no one about it. Robert Preston did figure it out before filming had concluded, when Shirley's character, Marian, and his character, Professor Hill, kissed for the first time in the romantic footbridge scene. He leaned in for the kiss and jumped back, asking her, "What was that?" to which she replied, "That is Patrick Cassidy! Say 'Hello!'" Years later, her son Patrick had the opportunity to meet Preston. He walked up and introduced himself saying, "Hello. I'm Patrick Cassidy." Preston replied, "Yes, I know. We've already met."

Despite winning a Tony Award for playing Marian Paroo on Broadway, Barbara Cook lost the role in the film to Jones. This was because the studio needed a bankable star to open the movie and neitherCook nor Preston, though both Tony winners, had starred in any major movies at this time. However, Jones was a box office superstar, a proven Broadway ingenue, and an Oscar winner, so she got the role. In the end, Jones's performance was widely praised, and none of the critics complained that Cook was not cast.

However... "My White Knight" was the only song from the Broadway production not to survive the transition from stage to screen. Reportedly the song had to be cut and replaced because Jones could not sing its highest notes, which Cook sang with ease in the stage musical. (IMDb/Wikipedia)

Happy Birthday, Shirley Jones!

[dockilop]

Two towns made marion review

#Two towns made marion review how to#

And, like Preston, her performance is so good it's impossible to picture anyone else in the part. Jones personifies everything that is pure, moral and good, without being prudish, and it makes Marion a truly endearing character. The beautiful and talented Shirley Jones is terrific, as well, as `Marion the Librarian,' the young woman with a heart of gold who becomes a formidable opponent for Hill as he tries to charm his way past her suspicions of him. It certainly gave Preston a chance to demonstrate his amazing versatility, and he really made the most of it, carving out a niche for himself in cinematic history. He brings a mesmerizing presence to the screen in this role that is absolutely perfect Preston IS Harold Hill, and he makes him his own in such a way that it's impossible to visualize anyone else in the role. It's just a matter of charm, style and timing, and Preston imbues Hill with ‘em all, and more. Robert Preston gives the most memorable performance of his career as Hill, the silver-tongued salesman who can palaver past postulated proffered predicaments quicker'n an eggheaded egret's emblematized egression. And that's all the Professor needs because now they've got trouble, `With a capital ‘T' that rhymes with ‘P' and that stands for ‘Pool'!' With that, he's up and running and he's got everything timed, right down to the `Last wave of the conductor's hand on the last train out of town.' Yee-gods and great honk! River City, Iowa, is about to have their very own boy's band. One of his problems is solved when he runs into Marcellus Washburn (Buddy Hackett), a former shill of his, who mentions the new billiard table that just arrived in town. But right out of the chute, he runs into some problems: The Mayor of River City, George Shinn (Paul Ford) wants his credentials, the lovely young local piano teacher and librarian, Marion (Shirley Jones), has her doubts about him, and he lacks an `angle,' something to convince the local citizenry of the need for a `boys band' to get them out of the trouble they're in- even if there isn't any until he `creates' it. There's only one problem, and it's the fact that - as one of his fellow competitors puts it- `He don't know one note from another!' Alas, can it be the con is on? When he jumps train in River City to escape the wrath of an angry gathering of his peers, whom he has `Given a black eye' to in the territory, thanks to his dubious business practices, he sets about plying his trade on the good folks of middle America.

#Two towns made marion review how to#

`Professor Harold Hill,' as he calls himself this time around, is in the business of selling band instruments and uniforms, all with the guarantee that he will teach the youngsters of the parents who fork over the cash for his wares how to play. Iowa, that is, in this delightful adaptation of Meredith Wilson's long running Broadway musical, `The Music Man,' directed by Morton DaCosta and starring Robert Preston as the fast-talking, fleet-footed traveling salesman, Harold Hill. It's early in the Twentieth Century, and there's trouble, my friends, in River City.