Doreen Lang designated ‘the Hysterical Mother in the diner’ on IMDb. From Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963) A cautionary tale based on friend Daphne Du Maurier’s book about nature gone wild. With the screenplay penned by Evan Hunter.
Watch the hysterical woman in the diner accuse Tippi Hedren’s character Melanie Daniels of practically being the Whore of Babylon, having brought upon this flying wrath from the sky, as all the winged mayhem began the moment she stepped onto the dock of the pristine and pious sleeping fishing village of Bodega Bay.
Bette Davis plays Alicia Hull a librarian who is labeled a Communist by local politicians when she refuses to remove a controversial book from the library’s shelves. Directed by Daniel Taradash who wrote the screenplay for From Here To Eternity 1953, Picnic 1955, Don’t Bother To Knock 1952Â and Bell, Book and Candle 1958. Also starring Brian Keith and Kim Hunter.
The great graphic designer and iconic film TITLE master SAUL BASS
Saul Bassborn in my beloved New York City in 1920 is regarded as not only one of the finest graphic designers, was also an illustrator, film producer and director, publicist,and film editor but monumentally known for changing the look of opening sequences in the film industry and as THE man who created the ultimate film titles. Once you’ve seen a Saul Bass opening sequence, title and credits, you feel immediately drawn into the storytelling infrastructure, with just a few symbolic prompts.
He has created film credits and title sequences of over 60 films, and has often worked with directors such as Otto Preminger, Stanley Kramer just to mention a few. Especially notable for his work with Alfred Hitchcock on Hitch’s most memorable film Psycho, of which Bass designed the titles.
His trademark was to contribute Avant-garde title sequences and symbolic posters to a timeless art form, resonant, vibrantly reverberant and memorable, even still. Symbols have been a powerful, motivating and inspiring tool as far back as the creation of Runes. One single image can evoke an entire ethos into the collective consciousness.
His evocative opening sequences not only draw the audience in but Bass himself theorized that captivating the viewer, bringing the audience in right from the top , would make it so that you could tell what was going to happen in the story within the first few moments of the film.
The wonderful opening sequence in Walk On The Wild Side is particularly evocative for me, as it uses the fetish of female sexuality=feline energy. The black cat slinks across the screen as the titles roll-provocative as hell
He was also integral in helping out with visual concepts, storyboards but most significantly he created the titles for some of the biggest cinematic hit movies of the 20th century. Saul died in 1996.
Some of his other unmistakable title credits are for BONJOUR TRISTESSE, ONE,TWO THREE, THE CARDINAL, NINE HOURS TO RAMA, EDGE OF THE CITY (1957) SOMETHING WILD (1961) and he was uncredited for his work on ALIEN (1979) and the poster design for NO WAY OUT (1950)
Later on in his career he worked with Martin Scorsese on his remake of Cape Fear 1991, and his crime drama Goodfellas 1990.
So how did he get involved with TITLES? He began as a graphic designer, as part of his work he created many film symbols as part of the Advertising campaigns.
During that period he happened to be working on a symbol for Carmen Jones (1954) and Man With The Golden Arm for Otto Preminger. At one point in their working relationship Preminger and Saul Bass just looked at each other and said
“Why not make it move!… And it was really as simple as that"¦.”–Saul Bass
Saul thought to himself that initially the audience involvement with any film should and would really start with the very first frame"¦“You have to remember that until then titles had been a list of dull credits, mostly ignored or used for POPCORN TIME… So there seemed to be a real opportunity to use TITLES in a new way, to actually create a climate for the story that was about to unfold.”-Saul Bass
Just to show how effective using merely a powerful symbol to define a film’s motivation or theme, you could use the example of Man With The Golden Arm which opened in New York City in 1952. The only advertising gimmick used on the Marquee was the disjointed image of the illustrated arm, to suggest the subject of drug addiction.
When asked how the symbol functioned when translating it to the film’s narrative, Bass answered by saying this “Well you remember that the film was about drug addiction. And the symbol"¦that is"¦THE ARM"¦in it’s jagged form expressed the jarring disjointed existence of a drug addict. Now to the extent that it was an accurate and telling synthesis of the film in the Ad campaign, these same qualities came to it in the theater and of course with the addition of the motion of sound really came alive and set off the mood and the texture of the film.”
At some point in Bass’s career he made the transition of using a purely static graphic device, to creating movement and a choreography of postulations, evolving with IN HARMS WAY 1965 and SECONDS 1966.
“I started in graphics. Then as you’ve seen I began to move that graphic image in film. Somewhere down the line I felt the need to come to grips with the realistic or live action image which seemed to me at the time to be central to the notion of film"¦ Of course then, a whole new world was open to me.”
“Keep in mind however, despite my fascination with this, I still felt CONTENT was the key issue. I continued to look for simple, direct ideas. For example IN HARMS WAY 1965, the story about the sea war in the pacific, I used the violent and the eternal qualities of the sea, as a metaphor for the people in the events of the story.”
“In SECONDS 1966, a sixty year old man goes into a hospital, and through advanced surgical techniques is reconstituted in his entirety. And he comes out twenty five years old, and looking like Rock Hudson. Now tampering with humanity that way is pretty scary. So in the title, I broke apart,distorted and reconstituted the human face to set the stage symbolically for what was to come.”
the opening sequence from John Frankenheimer’s Seconds with Rock Hudson
Titles for William Wyler’s western starring Gregory Peck and Jean Simmons, THE BIG COUNTRY 1958, Carl Foreman’s intelligent war drama THE VICTORS 1963 and John Frankenheimer’sGRAND PRIX 1966 starring one of my favorite guys in the world, James Garner, seem to stretch the action even further toward total integration of the title and credits as they merge into the beginning of these films. With GRAND PRIXBass uses multiple identical images in one frame, much in the way the split screen is used. He also introduces the notion of the spectator, joining us as spectator.
Saul Bass, went through an evolutionary process as he embraced the art of ceremoniously attracting us into the story. in his own words, “Absolutely, previously I used title to symbolize, summarize, establish mood or establish attitude. At one point it occurred to me that a title could make a more significant contribution to the storytelling process. It could act as a prologue. It could deal with the time before. For instance in BIG COUNTRY, I tried to establish the notion of an Island of people in a sea of land. The vastness of which is penetrated by a stage coach. After an endless journey it reaches this isolated group of people and only then does the story begin. So THE BIG COUNTRY was the free months before, and THE VICTORS it was twenty five years before. WWI and the middle of WWII, and in GRAND PRIX it was a moment before the preparation for the Monte Carlo race.”
The end credits utilizing graffiti for the textual content of Jerome Robbins and Robert Wises masterpiece West Side Story. Saul Bass’ brilliant idea to end the film with the long credits in order to ease the audience out of the violent deaths of the main characters in the film.
TRIVIA: Bass not only designed the title sequence in Psycho (1960) he has been attributed to helping conceptualize the scene where Arbogast (Martin Balsam) ascends those fateful stairs to his unwitting doom. He also was responsible for drawing the storyboards for the shower scene under the specific directions of Hitchcock himself. Although as referenced in the book Truffaut on Hitchcock it is stated that he didn’t wind up using those sketches as they “weren’t right.”
Here are some examples of the moody, the powerful, the evocative, the iconic work of Mr Saul Bass-
It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)-directed by Stanley Kramer music by Ernest Gold
Psycho 196o – directed by Alfred Hitchcock music by Bernard Herrmann using only string instruments.
Anatomy of A Murder (1959) – director by Otto Preminger with original music by Duke EllingtonÂ
Bunny Lake is Missing (1965)-directed by Otto Preminger with original music by Paul Glass
Oceans 11 (1960)-directed by Lewis Milestone with music by Nelson Riddle
The Victors (1963)-directed by Carl Foreman music by Sol Kaplan
Seconds (1966) – directed by John Frankenheimer music by Jerry Goldsmith
The Man With The Golden Arm (1955) – directed by Otto Preminger with music by Elmer Bernstein
Walk on The Wild Side (1962)– directed by Edward Dmytryk music by Elmer Bernstein
Vertigo (1958) – directed by Alfred Hitchcock with music by Bernard Herrmann
North by Northwest (1959) – directed by Alfred Hitchock music by Bernard Herrmann
Not With My Wife, You Don’t (1966)-directed by Norman Panama and music by John Williams with lyrics Johnny Mercer
Saint Joan (1957) – directed by Otto Preminger with music by Mischa Spoilansky
Storm Center (1956) – directed by Daniel Taradash music by George Duning
Such Good Friends (1971)-directed by Otto Preminger music by Thomas Z. Shepard
The Big Knife (1955)-directed by Robert Aldrich with music by Frank De Vol
The Seven Year Itch (1955)– directed by Billy Wilder with music by Alfred Newman
Spartacus (1960)-directed by Stanley Kubrick with music by Alex North
PHASE IV (1974)– Saul Bass directing with music by Brian Gasgoigne
West Side Story (1961)– directed by Jerome Robbins & Robert Wise with music by Leonard Bernstein and Irwin Kostal
“I know it’s a hideous story but it’s a true story of our time and the world we live in”- Catherine Holly
SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER (1959)
Suddenly, Last Summer was a one-act play by Tennessee Williams. It opened off-Broadway on January 7, 1958. It was part of a double bill with another one-act play of Williams’ called Something Unspoken. Suddenly, Last Summer is considered one of Williams’ starkest and most poetic works, and I tend to agree.
American Playwright Tennessee Williams
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz (All About Eve, 1950, A Letter to Three Wives, 1949), based on Tennessee Williams’ play, with additional work on the screenplay by Gore Vidal.
While writing this post, I discovered the same story surfacing about the working atmosphere on the set of the film, concerning the tensions between film stars Katharine Hepburn as well as Liz Taylor toward Mankiewicz’s abominable treatment of actor Monty Clift who had been struggling on the set with alcohol and drug use due to a car accident that disfigured his face. The actors had grown increasingly disgusted with the director’s blatant homophobic abuse of Clift.
Clift was not openly gay during his lifetime, as Hollywood’s climate in the 1940s and 1950s made it nearly impossible for stars to be publicly out without risking their careers. While Clift was an intensely private person and maintained close friendships (notably with Elizabeth Taylor), his same-sex relationships and sexuality were well known within certain Hollywood circles and among some friends and family. After his death, it became public knowledge—supported by statements from those close to him and thorough biographical research—that Clift was gay or bisexual. He took great care to keep this aspect of his identity private during his career, although he was less guarded about it in trusted company.
Film director-Joseph L. Mankiewicz.Montgomery Clift in I Confess (1964).Dr. Cukrowicz talks with Catherine at the convent.Liz and Monty on the set of Place In The Sun, 1950.
Apparently, this tension culminated in a moment of rebellion by Ms. Hepburn, who waited til the final scene was shot, and then proceeded to spit in Mankiewicz’s face. I have to say that while Hepburn is not on my list of actors that I idolize, nor whose film career I follow closely, I commend her intrepid defense, and would have expected more of a face slap with a long white linen glove. The revelation saddens me, though it doesn’t surprise me, if it is accurate, that Mankiewicz was a homophobe. I just finished watching his film, Letter to Three Wives, 1949, with 3 of my best-loved actresses, Ann Southern, Jeanne Crain, and Linda Darnell. Not to mention his contribution to All About Eve 1950. It’s often hard to separate the person from the work, and while I will always admire his work as a director, it does taint the waters to think that Mankiewicz could be a Neanderthal in his thinking.
Letter to Three Wives (1949) starring Ann Southern, Linda Darnell, and Jeanne Crain.All About Eve 1950.Joseph L. Mankiewicz on the set of Suddenly Last Summer with Elizabeth Taylor.
Producer Sam Spiegel submitted Gore Vidal’s screenplay to the MPAA’s review board before production began, the board having expressed objections to the story’s subject matter. Spiegel wanted to let Joseph Mankiewicz shoot the film as it was intended. Although the board first refused to approve the film, they gave the go-ahead after a few minor changes were made. Thus, the word homosexual never materialized at any time in the film.
The movie supposedly differs from the stage version, using added scenes, and characters. Also adding a few subplots. Due to the strict Hollywood Production Codes that were enforced, they had to cut out any explicit references to homosexuality.
Elizabeth Taylor conjures the psychically injured Catherine Holly with a volatile poignancy, Katharine Hepburn icy and filled with misconstructions about the relationship with her son Sebastian, emerges from her gilded elevator like a throne, as Mrs.Violet Venable. Both stars were up for Academy Awards for Best Actress in A Leading Role that year, but both lost to Simone Signoret for her role in Room at The Top (1959).
Billy Wilder’s Ace in The Hole (1951) Starring Kirk Douglas and Jan SterlingJules Dassin’s prison noir masterpiece-Brute Force 1947 starring Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, and Charles BickfordOrson Welles- Citizen Kane (1941) also starring Joseph CottenWilliam Dieterle’s The Devil and Daniel Webster 1941Directed by John Brahm-Hangover Square 1945 starring Laird Cregar , Linda Darnell and George SandersFritz Lang’s House By The River 1950 starring Louis Hayward, Lee Bowman and Jane Wyatt.I Cover the Waterfront 1933- Claudette Colbert, Ben Lyon and Ernest TorrenceRobert Aldrich’s Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte 1964 starring Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotton, Mary Astor, Agnes Moorehead and Cecil KellawayJohn Huston’s Key Largo 1948 Starring Edward G Robinson, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren BacallStanley Kubrick’s Killers Kiss 1955 Starring Frank Silvera and Irene Kane.Orson Welles penned the screenplay and stars in iconic film noir The Lady from Shanghai 1947 featuring the sensual Rita Hayworth, also starring Everett SloaneLady in a Cage 1964 directed by Walter Grauman and starring Olivia de Havilland, James Caan, and Jennifer Billingsley.The Long Dark Hall 1951 Starring Rex Harrison and Lilli PalmerFritz Lang’s chilling M (1931) Starring Peter LorreMark Robson directs, Val Lewton’s occult shadow piece The Seventh Victim 1943 Starring Kim Hunter, Tim Conway and Jean BrooksKirk Douglas in Ace In The Hole 1951 written and directed by Billy WilderAkira Kurosawa’s film noir crime thriller Drunken Angel (1948) starring Takashi Shimura and Toshiro MifuneElia Kazan’s socio-noir Panic in The Streets 1950 starring Jack Palance, Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes and Zero MostelIngmar Bergman’s Persona 1966 starring Liv Ullmann and Bibi AnderssonThe Queen of Spades 1949 directed by Thorold Dickinson and starring Anton Walbrook, Edith Evans and Yvonne MitchellDirector Jerzy Kawalerowicz’s beautifully filmed Mother Joan of The Angels 1961 starring Lucyna Winnicka.Josef von Sternberg’s Shanghai Express 1932 Starring Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook and Anna May WongThe Devil and Daniel Webster 1941Robert Wise’s The Haunting 1963. Screenplay by Nelson Gidding based on the novel by Shirley Jackson. Starring Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, and Russ TamblynMichael Curtiz’s The Unsuspected 1947 starring Claude Rains, Joan Caulfield and Audrey TotterLuis Bunuel’s Viridiana 1961 Starring Silvia Pinal, Fernando Rey and Fransisco RabalRobert Aldrich’s cult grande dame classic starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford-What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? 1962
The beautiful Tippi Hedren, who is a woman after my own heart. Surviving the experience of working with Alfred Hitchcock and the onslaught of his birds, now surrounds herself with pet lions, and large cats at her sanctuary.Actress and animal activist Tippi Hedren, in a swimming pool, playing with her lion Neil, in Sherman Oaks, California, May 1971. (Photo by Michael Rougier/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
Olive Deering in Caged (1950) starring Eleanor Parker and Hope Emerson
Olive Deering (Caged 1950, Shock Treatment 1964) plays Thelma Tompkins a kind hearted waitress who toils in a hotel restaurant. She’s attentive and thoughtful doting on old Mrs.Sara Mannerheim (Celia Lovsky) who eats in the restaurant every evening.
Mrs. Mannerheim tells Olive that she is her only friend and has decided to leave her in her will, also bestowing on Thelma a brooch. But like all dark fairy tales, as the months creep forward, Mrs. Mannerheim becomes increasingly demanding,and Thelma becomes unhinged. You see…
Thelma’s musician boyfriend Arthur gets the idea to precipitate the old woman’s demise, instead of waiting for death to take her by inches, so, Thelma poisons old lady Mannerheim’s tea. Unfortunately for Thelma, the old woman has a constitution of stone and it doesn’t work.
Driven by an obsession to keep her boyfriend happy, and sick and tired of care taking, Thelma cracks and let’s loose her fury on the old lady.
Directer Henry Hathaway’s (The Dark Corner 1946) taut film noir, about a desperately unhappy man who threatens to commit suicide by standing on the ledge of a high-rise building for 14 hours.
With an all star cast- Paul Douglas, Richard Basehart, Barbara Bel Geddes, Debra Paget, Agnes Moorehead, Jeffrey Hunter, Howard Da Silva, Grace Kelly, Martin Gabel and Jeff Corey.
“From the edge of the ledge he defied them all!”
Don’t jump off now…MonsterGirl, helping you down off the ledge
Diane McBainplays Shayne the ruthless head of a motorcycle gang who is obsessed with punishing and getting her ex-lover Jeff (Ross Hagen) to come back to her no matter what it takes. Shayne ignites a sadistic onslaught against her ex-lover and his new bride Connie.(Sherry Jackson)
Patty McCormack as little Rhoda Penmark in Mervyn LeRoy’s 1956 psychological thriller THE BAD SEED
As of late, I am finding myself drawn to David Janssen, his quiet charisma and sexy self-restrained smile that just kind of makes me swoon. I’ve been devouring as much of his work as I can, guilty pleasures like Once is Not Enough 1975, and tv movies like The Golden Gate Murders 1979, Warning Shot 1967, and his other tv persona as cheeky private eye, Harry O.Each night I coil up with an episode of that quintessential noir television thriller, The Fugitive to waltz me into slumberland.
And so, in honor of this wonderful actor who left us way too early …I’m kicking off this new Last Drive-In offering, Hysterical Woman of the Week, with one of the most powerful episodes from the series about the man who runs away a lot… the valiant and zen Dr Richard Kimble.
So with just a little further MG ramblings here’s a little ‘hysteria’ god how I resent, no!…abhor this archetype which is why I harp on it perhaps way too much, The Hysterical Woman…!
Here’s the pretty and unsung Louise Sorel portraying Edith Waverly getting a little upset with mother Edith (Ruth White)
*years later she would do hysterical brilliantly yet again as Velia Redford in one of my favorite episodes of Rod Serling’sNight Gallery’sThe Dead Man.
