Movies & Books Into Movies

[Babi]

I found it when I substituted 'fastest' for 'oldest', JOANK. It's on
my queue. Thanks for the hint about the NZ interviews. I've never watched those and would have skipped them if you hadn't spoken up.

[Phyll]

Barbara Jordan will always take first prize, as far as I am concerned.  I loved hearing her speak in that well modulated, precise manner.  Absolutely no way to miss-hear what she was saying!

[MaryPage]

So true!  So true!

I had her pegged back in, oh, was it 1973?  To be the first female president of these United States!

Then she went and got, what?  Muscular Dytrophy?  MS?  Something that put her in a wheel chair and out of politics.  Our loss!

Well, not to mention hers.

[Phyll]

I googled and it was MS, MaryPage.  Also, learned that her Keynote speech to the Democratic Convention in 1976 ranks 5th on the list of Top 100 American Speeches of the 20th century.  That doesn't surprise me.

[mabel1015j]

Does thinking someone has impeccable diction depend on what part of the country/world you AND the other person come from? Do the British think any Americans have impeccable diction? G ..........Jean 

[JoanK]

She's not quite out of politics -- she's still in the Senate. Although I moved from Maryland four years ago, I still get campaign literature from her.

[MaryPage]

Good question.

Barbara Jordan was from Texas, was never in the Senate of the United States, though she was in the Texas Senate.   She died in 1998.

Perhaps you are thinking of Barbara Mikulski of Maryland.  Now she IS in the United States Senate.  She is no orator, but she is quite feisty and full of refreshing candor.

[JoanK]

Am I thinking of someone else???

[Phyll]

She was in the House of Representatives as a Congressman from Texas.  She died in 2008.  If she is still sending out literature, JoanK, she was even more powerful than I realized. 

[JoanK]

What is the name of the Maryland Congresswoman? Major Senior moment.

OK. I'm thinking of Barbara Mikulski, a Maryland Senator. My bad.

[MaryPage]

Barbara Mikulski is the Senior Senator from the Freestate of Maryland in the United States Senate.

Jordan died in 1998.  I Googled it.

[Phyll]

Barbara Mikulski is the Senior Senator from the Freestate of Maryland in the United States Senate.

Jordan died in 1998.  I Googled it.

I looked again.  We were both wrong.  She died in 1996.  But, what does it matter when?   America lost a great citizen and a great voice when she left us.

[MaryPage]

I absolutely agree!

And hey, I went back and looked to see how I could have been so mistaken.  It was my eyesight.  The 6 in 1996 looked like an 8 to my failing eyes!

Ain't being old a hoot!

[Phyll]

As Bette Davis said, "It ain't for sissies!"  lol

[JoanK]

"Ain't being old a hoot!" HOOT, HOOT!

[marjifay]

I just read that the film actor, Kevin McCarthy, died at age 96.  He was that good looking main character in the 1956 film, Invasion of the Body Snatchers.  I put one of his last films on my Netflix queue--WESLEY (2009).  It sounds very interesting, a film about John Wesley, the clergyman whose embrace of progressive social causes -- including the abolition of slavery -- had a profound impact on British society in the 1700s, igniting the Methodist movement.  McCarthy has a small role as a Bishop Ryder.  The movie gets a good rating at IMDB, 7.8/10.

Marj

[roshanarose]

Does thinking someone has impeccable diction depend on what part of the country/world you AND the other person come from? Do the British think any Americans have impeccable diction? G ..........Jean 

That is an excellent question, Jean, and raises a whole host of possibilities.  I guess impeccable diction is what is the easiest on one's ears.  For me, at least, it doesn't have a lot to do with class, but perhaps choice of words and thought about those words is also part of it.  We had an ex PM, Bob Hawke, who had a very Strine accent, yet he was exceptionally intelligent. 

Australia does not have the variety of accents that the UK and US have, nor does it have class distinction to the extent of the UK.  Here, for me it is easier to pick vocabulary differences, e.g. there are several different vocab differences between states for swimsuits such as cossies, togs, bathers, speedos (a particularly interesting expression and cause of much jollity between Aussies) swimmingtogs, swimmers and I have no doubt there are more.  But although Kiwis (New Zealanders) have a very similar accent to ours, there are subtle differences that maybe only Australians can pick up.  The poor Kiwis are teased unmercifully about these little differences.  They say "six" for "sex", pin for pen and so on.  I had a Kiwi friend who was always teased about her pins and sixes and she complained to me one day about how it was for her being surrounded by people "who ALL talked funny". 

The down to earth linguists say enjoy and be proud of your accent, the purists say it doesn't matter what your accent is as long as you can be understood.  You can see this leading into the argument that some foreign accents sound better to our ears than others, French for example. (see recognition below).

The UK also has a different regional accent for about every 3km travelled.  I spoke to a relative from Mercia (Midlands)one night and I thought he was "putting on" his accent just for me.  He sounded so different.  It is said that the Cockney accent had the most influence on Aussie English because of Australia being a penal settlement and that most of the convicts came from the East End of London.  Although, of course, I love "impeccable diction" I am no slave to it, and my accent is most certainly Australian.  Just for the record my favourite accent in the US is Southern; and my favourite accent in the UK is Scottish followed closely by Irish (not UK).  I think this is probably because I can recognise them.  Most US accents sound the same to me, except for Texan maybe (Thanks Mr Bush). Irish and Canadian sound very similar to my ear.  I could go on....  Can any of our US friends distinguish between regional accents and vocabulary?

[salan]

Roshannarose,
I can usually pick out the different U.S. regional accents.  I am from TX and can usually tell E.TX from W.TX.  I, too, find the southern accents most pleasant to my ear.  There are definite differences between Boston & N.Y.  It's sometimes hard to distinguish between Calif. and Florida.  Tennessee & TX sound a lot a like--probably because most Texas originated there.  Some of the English accents sound like a foreign language to me!
Sally

[Babi]

Thanks for mentioning the movie about John Wesley, MARJ. I have a good biography of him. Didn't know there was  movie at all, at all.

"Most US accents sound the same to me, except for Texan maybe.."

 Rose, I think you must not have heard a native of New Jersey speaking,
or Georgia, or Brooklyn. It is entirely possible, tho', in this age
of mass television, the more distinctive accents perhaps are being
eroded away.

[maryz]

We Tennessean/Texans probably have a hard time being understood   (grew up in Texas, lived the last 48 years in Tennessee).  I love regional accents, too.  I was born in St. Louis, and though we moved to TX when I was 7, I can recognize a SL accent usually.  I definitely agree with a definite East TX accent (my parents and grandparents from NE TX, others along the Rio Grande).  My favorite US accent, I guess, is what we have called "educated Southern).

We noticed the differences between NZ and Aussie accents when we were there.  We thought it was interesting that the Kiwis and Aussies frequently couldn't tell if we were from the US or from Canada.  

I think it's a shame that we (in the US, at least) seem to be losing regional accent.  More and more of us just have "TV accents".  (Babi, you got here just before I did, and mentioned the same thing.)

[Phyll]

I was often asked in Scotland if I was from the States or Canada.  When I asked, people said that those from the U.S. had a harsher accent that most Canadians.  I grew up in Kansas and though I have lived in many parts of the U.S. and picked up many regional speech mannerisms, I still have that mid-Western twang. 

I like your term "educated Southern", Maryz.  Here in NC it is a strong contrast between that and rural Southern.

[JoanK]

"Can any of our US friends distinguish between regional accents and vocabulary?"

I once lived in Brooklyn, briefly, and a friend from Virginia came to visit me. I introduced her to a Brooklyn neighbor, and they literally couldn't understand each other. I had to translate! But that is the most extreme difference I've encountered.

I once met a man at a party who claimed he could tell where anyone in America was born. He succeeded with everyone but me. He picked up the Ohio accent from my parents, but I've never lived in Ohio. I was born and raised in Washington, D.C. which apparently has no regional accent.

[maryz]

I just received in the mail my very own hard-cover copy of 84 Charing Cross Road - which I promptly sat down and read.  This is an edition that has an introduction by Anne Bancroft.  She relates the story of how she happened to play the part.

She was sitting on the beach at Fire Island, and a total stranger stopped and told he'd just read something that would be a perfect part for her.  She was at the same place the next day, and the same person handed her the book.  Of course, she was enchanted with it.  Later, her husband (Mel Brooks) with some of his Hollywood friends acquired the movie rights and gave it to her as a surprise Christmas present. 

Isn't that a great story!

Now I need to drag out the DVD and watch the movie again.

[Phyll]

The movie is on its way to me, Mary, and will be here tomorrow.  I'm really looking forward to it. 

[marcie]

maryz, that is a great story. I've now got 84 CHARING CROSS on my TBR list.

[marjifay]

I loved the film Charing Cross Road.  Thank I'll get it and rewatch it.

Just watched a very good noir thriller -- THE BIG CLOCK (1948). Great plot and very good acting from a great cast -- Ray Milland, Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester, Maureen O'Sullivan. Available at Netflex.
This was remade in 1987 as NO WAY OUT with Gene Hackman and Kevin Costner -- plot a bit different, but same suspenseful situation.
 
Marj

[JoanK]

Anything with that cast should be good!

[Phyll]

I loved 84 Charing Cross Road.  Well, I mean, how could I not!  But, I didn't even recognize Judi Dench when she first appeared on screen.  Different hair color, different hair style, different kind of part for her.  And, gosh, how times have changed.  I found myself worrying that Ann Bancroft was smoking so much.  I was forgetting the time period....did we really smoke that much all the time back then?  Goodness!

[Gumtree]

84 Charing Cross Road - great film - you've talked me into taking another look at it. I'll put in on my queue right now.

Last night we watched Mystic River for the first time. Compelling viewing even though I missed some dialogue here and there due mainly to the realism Eastwood was perhaps trying to convey. Hard on folk who are not truly attuned to all American accents. The film has a lot to say - some of it tragic. I think I'm still digesting parts. Apart from the indistinct speech, my only real criticism was that there seemed to be no comic relief throughout or maybe I missed that nuance.

[kiwilady]

We think the Aussies say Feesh and Cheeps for Fish and Chips. To us an Australian accent is totally different from ours. It cracks me up when narrators on Audio books speak in either an Australian accent or a South African accent when trying to portray a New Zealander in the book. They more often sound like South Africans actually.

Carolyn

[Gumtree]

Kiwilady  Yep, you're right - Aussie and NZ accents are very different. To us, the NZ is more akin to the South African and sometimes it will take me a minute or two to work out which one I'm hearing.  In any case, viva la difference

[Frybabe]

How about that. I'd didn't know the accents were very different, but then I don't think I've ever talked to an New Zealander. As far as South African and Australian, sometimes I have to listen carefully. It isn't always easy to tell.

Speaking of - there is a South African student in my class. He sounds more English than South African. We all mistook him for English. I must here report a sad state of affairs. Mind you, these are college students. When he said he was from South Africa, more than one of the students wanted to know which country in South Africa he was from.   

[PatH]

I've had both Australian and New Zealander friends in the lab, but not simultaneously, and I would hate to be tested on the accents.

[roshanarose]

I have two lovely South African ladies as friends.  One, Babs, used to help me out as a tutor in the computer class I used to teach.  The other, Caroline, was a teaching colleague.  Babs left SA because she and her husband had divorced, and she had two teenage daughters and often felt unsafe.  She told me that she realised that she had to leave SA when she checked to make sure her hand gun was in the glovebox.  Babs actually called it a "revolver".  Handgun and Babs do not go together at all.  Anyway, Babs has a beautiful lilting English accent, and could not easily be picked as anything other than English.  Caroline, on the other hand, has a slightly discernible accent.  She jokingly corrects my choice of words.  For example, I am most definitely not allowed to use the word "toilet", I must say "lavatory".  And when preparing a cup of tea it is (according to Caroline) absolutely "not on" to pour milk into the cup first.  She is such a darling, but lives a fair distance from me and we rarely meet.  When we do we tease each other unmercifully about being Australian and South African. 

[Babi]

 Ah, we all have our euphemisms.  We don't say toilet here (Texas) either, but rest room or 'ladies room' in public.  Of course if we're at home we don't say anything, just get up and
go. If there are visitors, a polite 'excuse me' is all that's needed.

[MaryPage]

Does anyone besides me remember when Jack Parr got thrown off his network late night show (he preceded Johnny Carson) for a couple of weeks as punishment for mentioning "W.C." on the show? 

W.C. stands for "water closet" in Great Britain, which is a toilet.  Just about everyone (I never yet have run into anyone who remembers it who felt differently) was amazed the network, NBC I think it was, penalized him in such a harsh way.  Me, I never understood them getting upset AT ALL! 

[mabel1015j]

Yes, I remember. Ithink it was a joke about a wc that was the problem, although still seems over top, but we are judging from 50 yrs later.......jean

[PatH]

Boy, you sure have to do a lot more than that to get thrown off the air now!

[Phyll]

Perhaps I am not recalling it correctly but I don't think Parr was thrown off.  I believe they censored his WC joke...that angered him and he walked off.  I'm trying to google and find out what is the correct story.

EDIT:  According to several Google sources that was it....he walked off because NBC censored his wc joke.  I remember thinking it was all kind of silly.  Parr was inclined to get overly emotional from time to time...even occasionally cry about something or other.  He wasn't really one of my favorites.

[marjifay]

I loved to listen to Jack Parr.  He had the most interesting guests of any of the talk show hosts, i.e. President Nixon playing the piano.  You never knew what was going to happen on his show.  Another talk show host I loved was Dick Cavett who was also a great conversationalist and had the most interesting people as guests, many of them authors.  Nowadays, all most of the talk show hosts have as guests are so-called celebrities, usually big chested blondes you never heard of who can't talk about anything but their own boring selves.

Marj