It Happened in Athens

I saw Brian Hackney and Juliette Goodrich on the morning news. I watched A’s highlights and went out to the office to work on some writing. With my classes starting in three weeks, I should have been working on my syllabus. I craved a cookie while I was working, but I didn’t have one. I got home and watched the DVDs I borrowed from the library. The first was “It Happened in Athens.” The attraction was Jayne Mansfield, but she was hardly in it. It was about running, which isn’t such a great subject for a film. I did think Dustin Hoffman was good in “Marathon Man.” This movie was set in the 1896 Olympics. It seemed to imply that Americans liven up other parts of the world with their presence. There were a few, and a very few, bright moments that dealt with sportsmanship and true love. It did give the feeling that the Olympics were good fun at one time. The scenes with Jayne Mansfield had a few hilarious shots. As usual, her persona was reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe. It was too bad that this movie wasn’t more of a straight comedy. It was too bad that we didn’t get the Jayne Mansfield of “The Girl Can’t Help It” and “Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?” It was a shame that she didn’t get better roles during all those years. The movie was one to skip. You get a glimpse of what Jayne Mansfield looked like in 1960, and that was about it. The movie was in CinemaScope, but the disc was a pan-and-scan edition, which really made it not worth watching. I went on to the second DVD, something called “The Queens.” It was a collection of four short films, each featuring a female star. Monica Vitti was a hitchhiker in a story that seemed like it came out of “Kentucky Fried Movie.” Claudia Cardinale was kind of amusing in the second film, as she dealt with a doctor who reminded me of Jerry Lewis. I really watched this movie for Raquel Welch, who apparently was in this movie before she was in “Bedazzled.” The dubbing of dialogue in this movie affected it for the worse, I would say. It was particularly true when the language of the dubbing was different from what the actors were saying. The language was Italian, but it was all dubbed in English. Raquel was speaking in English. Ii wonder if it was a confusing set when they were filming. They should have stayed away from the shots of women’s bare legs. Those supposedly sexy shots were contrived. These films should have been celebrating these women, and how funny and interesting they were. Raquel’s episode was the shortest. I tried to remember the movies of hers that I liked, and I could think of only “Fantastic Voyage” and “The Three Musketeers.” The last film had Capucine in a story that reminded me of the rich man in “City Lights.” There was no blind girl, but Capucine’s character had a wild personality when she was drunk, and then she forgot everything when she woke up in the morning. The directors were four people that not many of us would remember today: Mauro Bolognini, Mario Monicelli, Antonio Pietrangeli, and Luciano Salce. “The Queens” made me think of “Woman Times Seven” with Shirley MacLaine. Vittorio De Sica was a great film director, and many of his lesser efforts were better than anything in “The Queens.” People with talent operate at a different level. I tried to think of all the Italian film directors who ever did anything worthwhile. Can many film buffs give even five names? I wished I’d spent the night with a stronger selection of movies last night. I feel like these summer nights are precious, and time is slipping away. I watched the first four episodes of the fourth season of The Partridge Family. I really couldn’t stand Ricky. Whose idea was it to have him on the show? I noticed that the interior of the house was redone with new wallpaper and new kitchen furniture. It looked like they had earned some money. Reuben had a mustache, although he looked better without it. In the baseball episode, I saw Laurie tilt her popcorn box to give Keith some, but it looked like only one piece fell out. The only thing I recall Laurie eating in any of the shows was garlic bread. The family seems to watch strange movies on television, like “Tiger Woman Conquers the World.” In the episode where Keith attempts to compose a classical piece, it was funny to hear “I Think I Love You” in a classical style. I feel a lot of the life of the series getting sucked out with the presence of the irritating Ricky, along with less amusing dialogue and situations. I thought Danny was more convincing with some of his dialogue, though. The streets of San Pueblo looked like a fake town. I thought it looked like Gotham City of the Adam West television series. They didn’t have a series finale episode for the Partridge Family. It seemed that Keith would split the band and go solo, and Laurie would go off to college. Danny would still be in high school at the time, but he would become a drug addict and not the millionaire he thought he would be. Perhaps Shirley remarried. Bert Convy would die in 1991. I didn’t want the series to end in 1974. I wanted to see them continue perhaps for one hour every year so that it could make for a movie like “Boyhood.” Susan Dey was in something called “First Love,” which I do not remember, but I could watch “Looker” or “Echo Park” again. I wondered how much of a real rock and roller David Cassidy was. He sang “Walking in the Rain,” and Shaun Cassidy would have a big hit with “Da Doo Ron Ron.” Some of the people who died on July 29 include Robert Schumann (1856), Vincent van Gogh (1890), Mama Cass (1974), Luis Buñuel (1983), David Niven (1983), Jerome Robbins (1998), Pat McCormick (2005), and Tom Snyder (2007). Today is a birthday for Wil Wheaton (42), Ken Burns (61), and Ken Burns (61). According to the Brandon Brooks Rewind radio segment for July 29, Bill Haley and His Comets had the Number One single “Rock Around the Clock” in 1955. In 1984, Bruce Springsteen began his Born in the U.S.A. concert tour in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1985, Mick Jagger and David Bowie recorded the Motown song “Dancing in the Street.” In 1994, Barbra Streisand set a record for the largest-grossing concert stand with $16 million for a series of shows at Madison Square Garden.