I knew the movie (and play) well enough to follow along. I've probably seen Cat on the Hot Tin Roof 4 times, and I even saw it on the big screen a couple of years ago. The beautiful and historic Paramount Theater in Oakland ran old movies up until recently.
It was a splendid way to spend a Friday night. The evening began on a delightful note even before you stepped foot into the seating area to witness the Mighty Wurlitzer--one of the world's best according to its player, in this article--rise up from the stage, in front of the orchestra section, and hear Jim Riggs work his magic.
The walk from the entrance of the Paramount to the theater seating took you through the sumptuous and Grand art deco lobby (and I do mean Grand. So that you understand the scale of the previous link's image, I want to explain something: a dozen entrance doors are center and towards the bottom of the picture. The place is as huge as it is elegant. I highly recommend browsing through the other images on the site).
When the Mighty Wurlitzer was lowered, the journey back in time continued: Old cartoons and news reels from as early as the '40s, up through the '60s, came back to life on the big silver screen.
In addition to CoaHTR, I've seen Rear Window, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, Pillow Talk, North by Northwest, and several other movie classics at the magnificent Paramount Theater.
I'm happy to read that the Paramont Theater still gives tours on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month for a mere $5 per person. I did that tour with R back in 1997 or 8. If you are a fan of design, architecture, and history, I bet that you'll enjoy the tour as much as I did. Have you ever wondered why Egyptian motifs were popular and integrated into Art Deco design? If my tour guide was correct, it's because the discovery of King Tut's tomb in 1922 brought ancient Egyptian design back into vogue.
The king is honored, I'm sure.
...
As for me, I squandered precious sleep time which triggered a serious homesickness spell.
Thursday was a national holiday here in Italy, Tutti i Santi or All Saints Day. (I was trying to come up with some sort of separation of church and state--or lack of--comment when it occurred to me Christmas is a national holiday back home.)
After watching Hot Tin Roof in Italian last night, I stayed up late to watch The Wedding Planner, and stayed up ridiculously later to watch Just Like Heaven (both in English). Both movies were set and, at least partially, filmed in San Francisco. Images of the Bay, the bridges, Golden Gate Park, and the Legion of Honor... all gorgeous. I miss home.
Yesterday, I got attacked by a crazy Italian leaf:
Don't worry, I wasn't harmed. I wish I could say the same about the leaf.
It's an epidemic. Crazy Italian leaves leap to their certain death in a pitiful attempt to harm passerbys. It's a sad scene. When will the leaves ever learn?
Overcome with grief for all the lost leaves, I treated myself to blurry gelato:
Sleep. I must get some sleep.
Ciao for now.
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* Big Daddy, of course, and just further evidence to back my second to the last sentence above: I need sleep.
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