Joseph L. Mankiewicz – Search & Destroy

Dragonwicz

a lot of the films the "old masters" made with the new freedoms of the late 60s and beyond have an element of the grotesque or simply the gauche. e.g. wyler's liberation of l.b. jones.

or, y'know, SKIDOO

they only showed There Was a Crooked Man once, couldn't get to it

Harrison character's one regret in Honey Pot is he never became a ballet dancer, there's a scene of a double whirling around his boudoir to "Dance of the Hours."

Rex is basically a heterosexualized Addison DeWitt, and he's in a bedroom clinch with Edie Adams (as a dumb Hollywood star) when he growls, "You're so... basic."

So, another gay catchphrase coined by Mank. Good job, straight dude!

Is it possible, even conceivable

new book on the brothers Mank:

https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/6783-january-books

Dragonwyck is quite an auspicious debut, and only 4 years before All About Eve. Gene Tierney at her best, Vincent Price and Walter Huston as well (tho the latter comes and goes).

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that both Tierney and Teresa Wright performed truncated radio performances of the piece around the same time--I can't help thinking of Wright whenever I see Tierney. They look so similar... Wright was a better actress, but Tierney had the glow of a star. Such a shame their work is so limited (Tierney had her issues and Wright did her best work in the theater).