Copyright 2010 Ben S. Pollock<\/small><\/p>\n
Seeing the backstage drama Crazy Heart<\/em><\/a> down at the Malco<\/a> on its opening weekend here in Northwest Arkansas gave me lots to think about, being a good movie.<\/p>\n It\u2019d be fine to wait for a home viewing, but leisurely, panoramic views of New Mexico increase the worth of a cineplex screen (Houston\u2019s skyline? Big deal).<\/p>\n The featured country & Western music was more Western than country. The plot though overrides that. It\u2019s the old “star performer on the way down may be redeemed by the love of a good woman.” Last year\u2019s middle-aged male star vehicle The Wrestler<\/em><\/a> was another verse of the song. Both beg the question of what the female lead, who\u2019s always much younger and beautiful, ever sees in these guys \u2014 in both flicks we should be grateful technology is not pursuing Smell-O-Vision<\/a>.<\/p>\n There’s a certain reality to this hoary fictional device: artists who hit success early tend to coast later on. Perhaps it’s laziness, or burnout, or that their audience demands more of the same. It may not be alcoholism or other addictions.<\/p>\n Insight: If you’re coasting, you’re by definition coasting downhill.<\/p>\n The protagonists of both these movies recognize and love good women, whatever role groupies play. This brought to mind a recent column<\/a> of Little Rock colleague Gene Lyons, writing in Salon.com about Tiger Woods, a golfer at the peak of his games. Gene writes, \u201cAt the expense of repeating myself, I first formulated Eugene\u2019s First Law of Sexual Dynamics covering a pro bass fishing tournament in Tennessee:<\/p>\n ‘If there\u2019s something one man can do better than another, there\u2019s a woman who\u2019ll sleep with him for it.’\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Part of Gene’s argument is where there\u2019s consent there\u2019s often complicity. But not always. That makes not just for attractive fiction (for artists) but career-costing facts (for other public figures).<\/p>\n There’s more to solid movies than relationships. Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart<\/em> uses the greatest subtlety to show how his character Bad Blake inflated into his on-stage confident self. As does Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler<\/em>. That made me think of Myrna Loy.<\/p>\n Got you?<\/p>\n The actress, whose best roles were in mid-20th century movies, would not have occurred to me but for a column just out<\/a> by Terry Teachout of The Wall Street Journal<\/em>. The drama and culture critic was discussing a 1952 recording of a staged reading of George Bernard Shaw\u2019s “Don Juan in Hell,” a 90-minute section of his play Man and Superman<\/em><\/a>. It now is available as a download. Teachout explains this was a project of the character actor Charles Laughton, who traveled the country in this show, also starring Charles Boyer, Cedric Hardwicke and Agnes Moorehead.<\/p>\n Though this was before either Teachout or I were born, this production had legs. I saw Myrna Loy<\/a> doing what must have been Moorehead\u2019s part when I was a teen-ager in Arkansas in about 1973. “Don Juan in Hell” was a touring production that made a stop at the Fort Smith Municipal Auditorium<\/a>.<\/p>\n Her main co-star was Ricardo Montalban<\/a> (before TV’s Fantasy Island<\/em>), whose autograph I still have somewhere, \u201cTo Ben, mi amigo \u2026\u201d and the others were Edward Mulhare<\/a> (TV\u2019s Ghost and Mrs. Muir<\/em>) and Kurt Kasznar<\/a> (TV\u2019s Land of the Giants<\/em>).<\/p>\n My life’s one stint as a “limo” driver was that night.<\/p>\n My dad for years volunteered as the booking agent for the Fort Smith Broadway Theater League. He also worked, as a part-time job, as stage manager for all shows that came through. Although he never used his position for any personal or family advantage, just this once he decided that with my very fresh driver\u2019s license I should drive the stars in the family\u2019s Pontiac from the Holiday Inn six blocks to the theater.<\/p>\n The men went first, as an apparent courtesy so on the next trip Miss Loy would have the car to herself. I recall wondering why Mr. Montalban didn\u2019t also warrant a separate ride. But the other guys did insist he take the front seat. I was nervous; Mr. Montalban with kind words put me at ease. (Dad already was at the auditorium. Mom, not wanting to miss a thing, rode in the back seat.)<\/p>\n Then I saw the basis of the chivalry. Miss Loy walked with two canes, very slowly. By the Internet Movie Database I now see that she was not particularly old, about 68. But she no longer was the sexy, quick-witted babe Nora Charles<\/a>.<\/p>\n She was dignified and quiet. Still, to a 16-year-old, an old lady. Until she took the stage.<\/p>\n Dramatic readings have no props, sets or costumes. Stools, maybe music stands to hold scripts. The cast took the stage one at a time in formal wear, which must have been waiting in their dressing rooms, because they sure weren\u2019t wearing tuxes and such in the blue LeMans<\/a>.<\/p>\n Last came Myrna Loy. She strode in, wearing a brilliant gown, to cheers. No canes, no halting gait. Head high and smiling like the movie star she was.<\/p>\n