Quantum Leap: M.I.A.

It is time for the 9th Annual TV Show Episode Blogathon. And my pick is one of the truly great ones! Quantum Leap is one of my ‘holy trinity of tv shows’, the other two being Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Bionic Woman. My blog post is thus long overdue.

***Spoilers***

The thing about Quantum Leap is… that it is simply brilliant. And my favourite episode is definitely M.I.A., set in San Diego April 9th 1969. This episode concludes the second season and oh boy, what a conclusion it is.

Sam Beckett leaps into a police detective Jake Rawlins. Sam’s holographic guide, Al Calavicci, tells Sam that during this leap, he needs to stop a woman called Beth from meeting and dating a man called Dirk and convince her to wait for her husband who is missing in action in Vietnam. Beth believes that her husband is dead. However, Al informs Sam that the husband is in fact a prisoner of war and will eventually return home.

From the first contact with Sam and Al, it is evident that Al is hiding something. He seems fixated in preventing Beth from falling in love with a man, a lawyer called Dirk, who keeps popping up in Beth’s way. At this point, the audience of Quantum Leap has come to know Al as a lighthearted ladies’ man who has been married several times and whose escapades with the ladies are numerous. Finally, it turns out that Beth is in fact Al’s first wife. While Al was suffering in a prisoner-of-war camp for several years, Beth mourned for him until she gave up, met another man, had Al declared dead and married again. This was very unfortunate since Al was Beth’s and Beth was Al’s one great love. And this is the reason why Al has not had very much luck with his subsequent marriages and affairs with women. Preventing Beth from falling in love was not the reason why Sam leaped into Jake Rawlins and when he realizes this, he and Al do the right thing and do not stand in the way of Beth’s happiness. But Sam does not leap until Al gets to say goodbye to Beth. This final scene is heartbreaking, it is the one scene one cannot watch without tears streaming, every time. But it isn’t just about the water works. This episode gives us a chance to know Al better. To understand what makes him the man he is. And once again, it celebrates the deep friendship between Sam and Al. So every time I hear the song Georgia on My Mind, I think about Al and Beth and Sam ❤

A-Z of Women – D

Blogging challenge from way waaayyy back continues!

Rules are straightforward:  You go through the alphabet and answer the following questions by naming women whose first or last name begins with the letter in question. There is no time limit.

1. Who is your favourite female author?
2. There is other culture besides literature. Who is your favourite woman in culture other than literature?
3. Two questions, you can answer both or just one. A) The woman you would like to get to know better? B) Who is your absolute favourite and would like to bring to attention?

First question: At this time, only one name comes to mind. Joan Didion who passed away in December. I read her memoir The Year of Magical Thinking some years ago and it was a really powerful experience. She had a distinctive style of writing and I am grateful that I still have many of her works waiting on my reading list.

Second question: *drum roll* Doris Day. Surprise. Her work never gets old. Love love love.

Third question: Angela Davis. I have her memoir on my reading list. Hopefully, I have time to read it this year…

RIP Dean Stockwell

Last Tuesday I read the sad news from Russ Tamblyn’s tweet that Dean Stockwell had passed away. To me, Dean Stockwell has always been dear. First of all, my beloved Quantum Leap would not be the same without Dean as Al Calavicci. Furthermore, his work for example in Son’s and Lovers and Long Day’s Journey Into Night is superb. Rest in peace Dean, you will not be forgotten. Your work will live on ❤

Long Time No See

No time for blogging. Except maybe just for one huge fan girl moment. Russ Tamblyn is finally writing his memoirs! According to his Twitter page on August 3rd: “Working on my memoir with my buddy Pat here. He gets to hear all the raw stories and personal photographs. Don’t be jealous. It will all belong to you, soon enough.”

The first time I heard about this project was 20 years ago! As an avid fan girl I wrote to Mr. Tamblyn in 1998 asking for a signed photo which he sent ❤ (and that is one of my prized possessions). There was also a letter attached that said thanks for the support and that Mr. Tamblyn is writing his memoir called “Tamblin’ Through Hollywood”. Ever since I’ve been eagerly waiting for that book. Is my wait finally coming to an end?!

Gill Paul: Hollywoodin rakkaustarinoita (Hollywood Love Stories)

This is my fourth post for the Summer Reading Classic Film Book Challenge 2016.

Gill Paul’s Hollywood Love Stories is an easy read. If you like Hollywood gossip and enjoy the bittersweet drama that is behind every(?) glamorous show business love story then this is your book. Short accounts of beloved couples’ lives and loves with lots of pictures. Some film history tidbits as well. This book definitely inspires to read more about these stars and their lives. However, I have one question to the author: Why, oh why, didn’t you include one of the most legendary Hollywood love affairs in the book ? Naturally, I’m referring to Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman. Their marriage lasted for 50 years and was by all accounts a happy one. Their love story is only mentioned in a footnote…

A-Z of Women – B

This is my second post for the blogging challenge in Tarukirja blog. Rules are straightforward:  You go through the alphabet and answer the following questions by naming women whose first or last name begins with the letter in question.There is no time limit.

1. Who is your favourite female author?
2. There is other culture besides literature. Who is your favourite woman in culture other than literature?
3. Two questions, you can answer both or just one. A) The woman you would like to get to know better? B) Who is your absolute favourite and would like to bring to attention?

1. Anne Brontë. My favourite of the Brontë sisters. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was an impressive novel.

2. Pauline Boty. She is definitely my favourite artist ever. One of the few famous female pop artists, she was almost completely forgotten after she died in 1966. I remember reading that her paintings were storaged in her brother’s barn and were salvaged when an exhibition was organized in 1998. See some pics here.

3A. Bodil Ipsen. She was a Danish film director. So far I’ve seen Mordets melodi (1944) and would like to see more. The funny thing about this film was that I noticed that the Danish language spoken in the 1940s seems to be easier to understand than contemporary Danish. Or maybe the actors just paid more attention to articulation…

Mary McCarthy: The Group

This is my third post for the Summer Reading Classic Film Book Challenge 2016.

I really wanted to like The Group (Finnish translation Ryhmä). It’s a story of eight young women who graduate from Vassar in 1933. It is the time of the Great Depression but these women are not really the ones to suffer because of it. They have time to worry about other things such as extramarital sex, birth control, miscarriages, cheating husbands, violent dates, sexism in the work place, mental health issues and lesbianism. Controversial subjects in the 1930s and also in 1963 when the book was published. These days not so much. I am sad to say but I found both the book and the film (directed by Sidney Lumet in 1966) tedious and dated. I didn’t care for any of the characters and I didn’t understand why they were friends in the first place. Also, eight main characters is just too much. Trying to get to know all of them is difficult. The movie is 150 minutes long and in desperate need of editing. The cast is pretty great with Candice Bergen, Shirley Knight and Richard Mulligan to name a few. And kudos to the costume department, the look and style are impeccable. Apparently The Group was an inspiration to Candace Bushnell when she wrote Sex and the City. However, SATC hasn’t yet lost its attraction unlike The Group.

 

Cover of Ryhmä 

DVD Cover

 

Åke Lindman: Åke ja hänen maailmansa

This is my second post for the Summer Reading Classic Film Book Challenge 2016.

Åke Lindman (1928-2009) was a Swedo-Finnish actor, director and football player. He started his film career in Teuvo Tulio’s The Rapid’s of Hell (1949) as the evil Artturi Yli-Koskela. After that he was often cast as a villain in Finnish movies. His days as the regular movie villain were done when one evening in 1955 he was walking down the street he passed two teenage girls who were completely frightened and disgusted to see him and cried out “Ew, it’s Åke Lindman!” After that he didn’t take any villain roles 😀

In real life Lindman was a respected and well-liked man and pretty much a national treasure because of his contribution to Finnish film industry. Lindman’s memoir Åke ja hänen maailmansa (published in 1992) is an easy and fast read. Lindman recounts many meaningful and funny chapters in his life with humor and candor. You can almost hear his voice while reading. There are about thirty black and whites photos included in the book which I appreciate. A memoir without any pictures would be incomplete.

Lindman worked in many Hollywood productions as a liaison. He looked for filming locations in Finland and arranged accommodation and permits and anything that was needed. He worked with Warren Beatty (Reds, 1981), Ken Russell, Michael Caine (Billion Dollar Brain, 1969) and John Huston (The Kremlin Letter, 1970). Lindman has nothing but nice things to say about these stars even though beforehand he was warned that Hollywood stars would be difficult  to work with. I never realized that Lindman was also cast in Jerry Lewis’ infamous film The Day the Clown Cried (which no one has seen to this day). Lindman found Lewis to be a very pleasant man but a fickle director.

Åke Lindman made films his whole life. His last film was released in 2007. He died two years after that. Since his memoir was published already in 1992 I might have to read a more recent biography Åke ja minä (2015).

 

See photos of Lindman here.

Trailer of The Rapid’s of Hell (Swedish version)

 

Christa Wolf: Divided Heaven

This is my first post for the Classic Summer Reading Classic Film Book Challenge 2016.

Christa Wolf, one of East Germany’s most recognized authors, made her breakthrough with Divided Heaven (Der geteilte Himmel; Jaettu taivas) in 1963. It was filmed the next year by Konrad Wolf. It’s a love story with social criticism. Rita is a young and innocent girl living in the countryside, Manfred is a highly educated chemist. They fall in love at a dance and everything seems to be just perfect when Manfred takes Rita to the city and they set up house (sort of) at Manfred’s parents’ house. For a while it seems that the couple could live happily ever after in the privacy of their loft room. Before Rita starts her studies to be a teacher, she takes a summer job at a rail car factory. There she befriends some co-workers and gets a glimpse of the system. The system here meaning of course the socialist society and machinery.

Manfred also confronts the system and is disappointed when he’s efforts in chemistry are not recognized. So he decides to defect to West Berlin. Rita follows Manfred and is surprised how easy it is to cross the border. (The story takes place just before the Berlin Wall is built). But Rita will not stay, she describes it like “being worse than a foreign land because everybody speaks a language you understand”. For Manfred, West Berlin is a dream come true: “Don’t you agree the West is at our feet right now?”

So it is not the Berlin Wall that separates these two. It’s their ideals. Manfred finds East Germany stifling and still very much haunted by the trauma of war. In West Berlin he has a chance to work and pursue a career.For Rita, East Germany is all she knows. She sees the problems with socialist society but also sees the good things in her life and home. She has friends who are incorruptible (like her co-worker Mr. Meternagel), who really believe in doing the right thing and serving his country.

Divided Heaven was probably the first East German novel I’ve ever read. Even though, I’ve had Christa Wolf on my TBR list for ages. I don’t know if I’m that impressed. Wolf’s style is a bit plain. I do still think that it was worth reading just to get some insight into the life of East Germany in the sixties. The film was more to my liking, more stylized and still relevant.

A-Z of Women Authors etc. – A

I found this charming blogging challenge in Tarukirja blog. It’s pretty simple. You go through the alphabet and answer the following questions by naming women whose first or last name begins with the letter in question. (There is no time limit with this challenge which is very good indeed.)

1. Who is your favourite female author?
2. There is other culture besides literature. Who is your favourite woman in culture other than literature?
3. Two questions, you can answer both or just one. A) The woman you would like to get to know better? B) Who is your absolute favourite and would like to bring to attention?

I’ll begin with the letter A.

1. Margaret Atwood. She is such a versatile writer. She could write pretty much anything and I would read it.

2. Alice Pike Barney. She was an American painter. Her work is so impressive and I would say even magical.

Alice Pike Barney: Young Woman in Black Hat (1927)  From: Wikipedia Commons

3. A) Astrud Gilberto. She is a Brazilian singer. So far I’ve listened to repeatedly her version of The Shadow of Your Smile. But there is probably a lot more amazing music by Astrud and I have to listen to it asap.