THE BIG KNIFE

 

  
 Last Saturday, I went to see a preview of The Big Knife. the play first produced in 1949 was written by Clifford Odets--an activist, actor, director, playwright and screenwriter. A playwright who believed in the social protests of the 1930s, he was an actor with the Group Theatre who presented many of his plays and resented his leaving for Hollywood. Playwrights and actors were looked down upon at that time when they deserted theatre for film. Odets wrote many famous plays including Waiting for Lefty--a plea for labor unions, Awake and Sing, Golden Boy, rocket to the Moon and The Country Girl. Many of his plays have been revived and most werre adapted into films. He also wrote the motion picture None but the Lonely Heart which starred Ethel Barrymore, Humoresque with John Garfield, Notorious and the Sweet Smell of Success. Some think that Odets felt guilt at leaving the theatre for film but his emotional work keeps the audience riveted to the stage and the screen.

I was engrossed by the new production produced by The Roundabout Theatre starring Bobby Cannavaleand a cast of marvelous actors. The play is in three acts which was common in the 1940s but rarely seen today. Words and phrases are used that are not heard today but the characters are people that you can identify with. Odets introduced language, realism and themes that had not been seen before to an audience that embraced his subjects--they are still relevant today.

Bests,

Elise

 

JACKIE

    
     I'd like to introduce you to my toy poodle. Gone a number of years now, she still lives on in my heart and was the focus along with her friends--three other toy poodles, a sheltie and a Pekingese--of one of the first articles I wrote that was published. She was also the inspiration for  a short story that won a prize in an AKC fiction contest.
     Jackie and her friends joined us while we were touring with the national company of a Broadway musical. Part of the tour was what is called a "Bus and Truck," and when we descended the steps of our bus for a rest break and walks for the dogs, people would think we were a dog show. Jackie could easily jump from the left side of the bus to the right--if a ballet were ever written for dogs she would have been a star.
     She didn't like dog coats or snow boots (even thought the boots I bought for her came from Bloomingdales) and once she hid the coats so well I coouldn't find them for a week. She couldn't stand bows put on her ears by the groomer and insisted they be removed but she didn't mind the attention paid to her by handsome dogs--she did have good taste in men.
     Her favorite people foods after steak and ice cream were baked beans and rice pudding. Though shy, she had a big bark--taught to her by my husband--and if the doorbell rang employed it. When I looked through the peephole, the vendor would be standing far back. He had no way of knowing that Jackie was now hiding under the bed--although she always left room for me. I miss her.

Bests,

Elise

TRAVEL BUG

    
     I'm hooked on travel. It's a bug, it's a virus, it's something I look forward too. Travel to distant lands, short excursions to a nearby spot, I've somehow missed--museums, parks, city streets, unexpected adventures and meeting with new friends. Traveling has led to articles about places, food and people and short stories when something I've seen or heard about invades my thoughts and won't leave until I find an ending that leaves me satisfied.

     On a wall in my living room are paintings from my travels--one from Pompeii, several from Sydney, Melbourne, NY's Greenwich Village, Florence, Italy, London, Paris, all places I love and can never get enough of. Stirring up images that he;p me in my writing.

What stirs your imagination?

Bests,

Elise