Saturday, December 21, 2019

Holiday Spectacular XIV

Those of you who spend all year wondering what I will write about in the next Holiday Spectacular can know two things for sure. It will be my last post of the year and . . . it will be sPeCtAcUlaR


And there are several customs associated with this annual venerable event. First, I use a lot of green and red, for obvious reasons, although lots of people find it distracting. Probably is. Oh, well.

Second, I don't know what I'm writing about until I start and I just write it as fast as I can, although not in one sitting.

Third, you will enjoy the same highly unprofessional editing and formatting as in the rest of the year.

That's about it for customs, actually. Now for the meat.

TOP TEN PEOPLE NAMED KLAUS OR CLAUS

This is an official Xmas list, meaning, until I change my mind, it is to be treated like gospel under a theocracy. Also, it's a for better or worse list - everyone on it isn't a good guy. Most are German or Germanic (d'uh).

10. Klaus Marie Brandenauer, an Austrian actor, who brilliantly played a Bond villain in Never Say Never Again. I don't know if he's really been great in anything else, but he was great there.

9. Claus Ogerman. A composer and producer, he worked with an astonishing number of stars including Sinatra,  Billie Holiday, George Benson, Sammy Davis, Jr., Leslie Gore,  Freddie Hubbard, Oscar Peterson, Mel Tormé Connie Francis, Better Carter, Al Hirt, Stan Getz, Barbra Streisand, Diana Krall,and many others.

8. Frank Klaus, an American despite his name, was a World Champion Middleweight boxer who took the the vacant title (the very young, but even greater champion known as Stanley Ketchel, had been murdered) in 1913. Though pretty much forgotten now, he is considered by some boxing aficionados as one of the greatest middleweights ever.   

7. Klaus Voormann was walking in Hamburg's Reeperbahn in the 1960s when he heard music coming from a club. He stopped in to listen and, intrigued, went in. The second band up was The Beatles. He was floored, actually never having heard rock 'n roll before. He became a bit of a groupie, following them. During a break one day, he foisted some record sleeve artwork upon John Lennon, who fobbed him off on Stu Sutcliffe. Sutcliffe recognized Voorman's talent, but Voormann had already left. Sutcliffe was fascinated by Voorman and his friends' style and tracked them down. Sometime later, Voormann moved in with Harrison and Starr after McCartney and Lennon moved out. He designed the cover for the Revolver album, winning a Grammy award. He designed covers for the Beatles, the Bee Gees, Harry Nilsson and others. He also became a producer (most famously for "Da Da Da"), and a musician, being the bassist for Manfred Mann for about 3 years and then a session musician, including for former Beatles and Carly Simon.   

6. Claus von Bülow was essentially just a rich guy, from a successful family and years as a private secretary to J. Paul Getty, who also, possibly, killed his wife, Sunny, in 1980, after failing to get it done in 1979. His first conviction was overturned (represented on appeal by famous Harvard lawyer, Alan Dershowitz), and he was acquitted at the second trial.   

5. Klaus Kinski was a German actor most famous for working with director Werner Herzog, and the film, Nosferatu, the Vampyre. He was famously temperamental on set, and fathered three children, all who became actor/actresses, one also famous - Natassja Kinski. The two daughters later wrote that he had sexually abused them. 

4. Klaus Fuchs was another bad guy. Working on the atom and hydrogen bombs at Los Alamos during WWII and for the Brits later, he was actually a communist spy. Though accused, he got away with it, but then voluntarily 'fessed up. He served 9 or so years of 14 (time off for good behavior) after conviction and emigrated to Germany

3.  Mrs. Klaus. Santa's wife, albeit without a first name, gets third place. She is actually much younger than her husband being first created by a Christian missionary in 1849 in a short story, A Christmas Legend. Actually, the character in the story wasn't really Mrs. Klaus, but the idea caught on and she's been quite a hit since then. Some people say she really doesn't exist. Wouldn't that make Santa a liar?

2. Claus Philipp Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was a German army officer during WWII and hereditary nobleman, who tried to assassinate Hitler in 1944 in Operation Valkyrie. He was played well by Tom Cruise in 2008's Valkyrie, and was the subject of other movies and books.    

1. Obviously, Santa Claus, known by many other names. I don't think I need to tell you anything about him here.  

What's my favorite Xmas movie? 

Many people who know me, know this. I love Miracle on 34th Street, but only the wonderful 1947 original.  The other two versions are abominable. I often find something to say about it here. For one thing, I cry three times every time I watch it at the same scenes, when Santa speaks Dutch to the orphan, when the leading lady sends him a note that she believes in him and when there is doubt cast at the end that he might have been Santa, after all. Well, maybe. The cast was fantastic. It starred:


Edmund Gwenn, who won an Oscar for his Kris Kringle. There were also two Oscars for writing.

Maureen O'Hara, too famous to need to go on about.

John Payne, once a well-known actor. Now, this is pretty much all you will see him in. 

Natalie Wood, then a child, later considered at least one of the, if not the, most beautiful actress in the world, and who drowned in the water (her phobia) under somewhat mysterious circumstances. Every few years some DA or the other says he is reopening the case, and then nothing happens. Why? Probably because her husband, Robert Wagner, didn't murder her. Anyway, sad, but I think of her mostly as this child actress and not in her later roles.

Supporting roles played to perfection by:

Thelma Ritter, a wonderful character actress who later garnered two Oscar nominations. But, this was actually her first roll, and probably the only one she is really remember for.

Porter Hall, another great character actor and reputedly a wonderful man who usually played not so lovable characters. Here, he is a nervous and angry store psychologist who causes a lot of trouble.

Jerome Cowan, why another great character actor, who here plays the hapless DA, forced to put Santa Claus on trial.

William Frawley, who was Fred in I love Lucy and here the political advisor for the judge.

Gene Lockhart, who played the judge was yet another great character actor and also the father of June Lockhart. Some of his expressions and lines are unforgettable.


Phillip Tonge, still another great character actor, was Susan's a co-worker. A small roll, but he made it charming.


Alvin Greenman, who played the lovable Alfred, a young friend of Kris Kringle. Alvin didn't have much of an acting career. This was his first and most memorable role. He continued in the industry in other ways. But, he was great in this.


There was even an uncredited bit part for Jack Albertson, who did many things in film and television, but probably most famously starred in Chico and the Man (Emmy, best actor) in the 1970s.  Many of the other actors/actresses were well known at the time.

All I can say, if you haven't ever seen it, watch it. If you don't love it, you are a joyless buzzard who doesn't deserve to ever have a happy moment in your life again. And I might not think much of you, even if I wouldn't say it during the holidays.

What's my second favorite Xmas movie?

That's tougher, but, and few people know this, maybe no one, but it's another miracle movie, this one Miracle at Morgan Creek, which came out in 1944, a few years before Miracle at 34th Street. But, like MO34thSt., it is preserved by the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress and is on the American Film Institutes' top 100 list, which given how many movies there have been, is quite an accomplishment.


But while Miracle on 34th Street has become a Xmas tradition, you rarely if ever see, or even hear of Miracle of Morgan Creek ("MMC"). The film was written and produced by film renegade Preston Sturges, a film-maker who made movies he wrote, and he did MMC at night just ahead of each day's filming. It dealt with a very touchy subject, the impregnation of a teenage girl by a soldier on his way overseas. He was fought by the powerful censors, who did not like the idea of her getting pregnant, any possible comparison of her child with Jesus (there was none) and teenage drunkedness, among other things. Somehow, he managed to get around the big problem, by having the heroine be technically married to the unknown soldier who knocked her up in a sort of off-screen wild party wedding. Because, I guess, it was okay for her to get knocked up in a one-time fling so long as they got married. My favorite Sturges fact is that his mother, who was definitely a character, had a relationship for a while with satanist Aleister Crowley. That had to be weird for the kid.


Despite the subject matter, this is a comedy, and it's really funny. Likely, if you are a film buff, you've heard of Sturgess, but you probably wouldn't know most of the stars because they really aren't famous anymore. 


Here's the basic story. Betty Hutton plays the heroine, Trudy, a cool chick who is going to a party of boys going overseas the next day. Her suitor, Eddie Bracken, sort of Jerry Lewis before there was a Jerry Lewis (and Lewis sort of remade tof MMC as Rock-A-Bye Baby), who it seems she loves like a wacky retarded brother, is also treated like a bit of a lacky by her, as she uses him as a beard while she goes to a party. She gets plastered, married and has sex with some fellow whose name she cannot remember, but is something like Ratzkywaksky, or was it Zitskywitsky? So, what to do? 


Betty Hutton, who plays the female lead, Trudy, is virtually unknown today though she was famous enough in her day. She was a comedienne, but she also sang, and did so briefly (thankfully, its really archaic faux-operatic sounding). The hero, Norval, an abnormally nice but idiotic patsy who is hopelessly in love with Trudy, is played by Eddie Bracken, who was also well-known but later largely eclipsed by other wacky comics, like Jerry Lewis. Hutton actually didn't want to work with Bracken, because his slapstick comedy overshadowed her singing (for good reason). She also starred in Annie Get Your Gun, if you've ever seen that (I acted in it, in my one school play). Hutton actually had quite a sad life, filled with depression.  


Trudy's sister, Emmy, is played by Diana Lynn, who was a concert pianist at age 12, and a pretty good actress, though never super-successful. She played opposite Ronald Reagan in Bedtime for Bonzo, was in a couple of Martin and Lewis movies, and lots of other stuff. She died young though, age 45, of a stroke. In any event, whatever her career, she was terrific as the perky and out-spoken little sister. 


Porter Hall also has a small role in MMC, again playing not the nicest guy. But, the film is perhaps stolen by William Demarest, who acted in many Sturgess films and most people wouldn't know today. But, people my age and older would recognize him as Uncle Charlie, from the television show My Three Sons. He plays Trudy's and Emmy's father, a cop, and he's terribly funny in a comically brutal way.


In any event, it's in black and white (not colorized like Miracle on 34th Street, and an older style film some might not be able to handle. What make it a Xmas movie? I'm not sure, but it just is. I highly recommend it.


Here's a clip with the stars. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4Rkj3u2UVk


Would someone teach Jewish kids that their people made Christmas (I mean, to some extent)?


Every once in a while I have a conversation with a Jewish person who dislikes the holiday season because he or she (more she's) feels left out at Xmas. My argument is Christians don't have a monopoly on pretty lights and magical songs and movies. Of course, it seems that way, but, do you have any idea how Jews have dominated Christmas entertainment? Leave aside Adam Sandler's Chanukah Song, which is really about famous Jews, Jews actually wrote some of the most famous Christmas songs and made some great Christmas movies.


Songs


Irving Berlin - White Christmas.


Johnny Marks - Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer (his brother-in-law had written the story for the store, Montgomery Ward), Silver and Gold, A Holly Jolly Christmas and Run Rudolph Run.


Mel Tormé (Torma) and Robert Wells (Levinson) - The Christmas Song (you know - "Chestnuts roasting . . . ." )


Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne - Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

                       
Edward Pola and George Wyle (Bernard Weissman)- It's the most wonderful time of the year.

Joan Javits (Sen. Javits' niece) and Philip Springer (I don't know if he was Jewish, but she was) - Santa Baby.


Jay Livingston and Ray Evans - Silver Bells.


Felix Bernard - Winter Wonderland (music).


Walter Kent and Buck Ram (co-lyricist, Kim Gannon, not Jewish)- I'll be home for Christmas (music).


Mitch Parish and Leroy Anderson (not Jewish) - Sleigh Ride.


Bob Allen (not Jewish) and Al Stillman - There's no place like home for the holidays (arguably, a holiday, not a Christmas Song - but I don't think anyone plays it to celebrate Chanukah).


Lee Mendelson (producer of A Charlie Brown Christmas) and songwriter Vince Guarardi (obviously, not Jewish). Christmas time is here. See The List below.


MOVIES


Holiday Inn - Idea and Music, Irving Berlin, Co-starred Fred Astaire, apparently, half Jewish on his father's side, though they were converted to Catholicism. Director, Mark Sandrich (Goldstein), writer Glen Rice (Reizenstein)



White Christmas - Music, Irving Berlin, director Michael Curtiz (Kaminer, a great director - e.g., Casablanca), screenwriters Norman PanamaNorman Krasna and Melvin Frank, all Jewish. And Danny Kaye (Kaminsky) co-starred.

Elf - Director is Jon Favreau, Jewish mom, screenwriter David Berenbaum, actors Ed AsnerJames Caan (Dutch for Cohen).


A Charlie Brown Christmas - Produced by Lee Mendelson


30 Hallmark Christmas movies I'm not listing - written by Tippi and Neal Dobrofsky.


40 Christmas movies I'm not listing - directed by Jeff Schenk.


THE LIST


The list - that is, best Xmas song list, has changed some, more on the bottom half.



1. Baby, it's cold outsideLittle of the crazy stuff going on in this country makes me as mad as the assault on Baby, it's cold outside, a charming, fun and absolutely harmless song, written by the great songwriter, Frank Loesser, for his wife (you morons). They sang it at their annual Xmas party and then, she was furious when he sold it to the movies. “What’s in this drink?” doesn’t mean he drugged her drink (you idiots).  Even the scene in the movie, Neptune's Daughter, which featured the song, went back and forth and between two couples - in one, the male was the aggressor; in the other, the women was? Last year though, normal people fought back with appreciation and it was, for the first time, in the top 10 in digital sales. This year, a singer I liked, John Legend, added to the madness by recording a "safe" version of the song. I curse you, John Legend for your offense to the universe. G*F*God. Once again, I celebrate it as my number one song.
2. Game of Bells. I so rarely hear this on the radio, but it is a great cover. Formidable. Viva la L.E.J.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtk3kyHlmfo.
3. 
Cool Yule.  Louis Armstrong should have a song on every top ten list. It was written by a famous tv host and comedian,  Steve Allen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxTSxQcCWLI. The Louis Armstrong version is still the only one I listen to.
4. HallelujahCohen died last year. His best song lives on at Xmas (it's not really a Xmas song, but, that's when it's played).   
5. 
All I want for Xmas is you. I love this Vince Vaughn and the Vandals one-hit wonder. It was recorded before the Mariah Carey hit of the same name.
6. 
Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Dean Martin was greater than Frank Sinatra. There, I said it. This is one of the songs which should have no future covers. None of them can compete with his.
7. 
Joy to the World. Most people I know, and maybe that's mostly my generation, think that no singer in our memory could compare with Whitney Houston. Not even Mariah. 
8.  Snoopy and the Red Baron.  The Royal Guardsman. Still no. 8. I can’t help feeling good when I hear this song.
9.  
Linus and Lucy (from a Charlie Brown Christmas – I think of it as a Christmas song). This jazzy tune bumps up one spot. I heard it a few times and marvel at its creativity. It was written by Vince Guaraldi for the Christmas tv special and is one of two of his songs on this year's list. 
10. As with last year, I call a tie for three Trans-Siberian Orchestra songs -  Christmas EveSiberian Sleigh Ride and Carol of the Bells.
11. Frosty the Snow Man (Jimmy Durante version ONLY. Please, behave).
12. Home for the Holidays (Perry Como, although there are other good versions).
13. Christmas by Maria Carey. I'm a little sick of her big song, and prefer this one. Her Christmas album is the best and this is the best song on it. 
14. Christmas Time is Here. Leaping up from number 20 is the other Vince Guarardi song from the Charlie Brown special. I also love the Daniela Andrade version. 
15. Ave Maria by Andrea Bocelli. Some opera stars and aficionados think he's not that good. Regular folks think different. 

16.   New York City Christmas by Rob Thomas. Appearing on the list for the first time. I have a feeling it will be higher next year. 
17. Do you hear what I hear? This 1962 song, actually written during the Cuban Missile Crisis as a plea for world peace made my list this year. Winter Wonderland. I love the Eurythmics' version.
18. Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Bruce Springsteen's version is infectious. 
20.  Silent Night. For some reason I've been into quieter Xmas songs this year. This classic was written by an Austrian pastor, Joseph Mohr, in 1816 and the music by a local schoolmaster/organist at Mohr's request in 1818 (although the internet also attributes the music to many famous composers, it's not true). Just in 1995 a manuscript was found in Mohr's handwriting, telling the story, although no one knows what prompted him to write it. There are a zillion versions. Right now, I like Martina McBride's, but take your pick.

Did you notice three songs stemming from the Peanuts comic strip? I really don't know how that happened. A friend of mine asked me if Little Drummer Boy was on the list. It's not. Nothing wrong with the song. Just too sad for my tastes. Another friend asks me every year if Christmas (Baby please come home) is on the list. He likes the Darlene Love version. No, it's not, but it's a great song. But, it's a top 20 list, not a list of all great Christmas songs. Maybe next year. 

That's it. We are done. Jolly Christmas. Chappy Chanukah. Merry New Year!

About Me

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I started this blog in September, 2006. Mostly, it is where I can talk about things that interest me, which I otherwise don't get to do all that much, about some remarkable people who should not be forgotten, philosophy and theories (like Don Foster's on who wrote A Visit From St. Nicholas and my own on whether Santa is mostly derived from a Norse god) and analysis of issues that concern me. Often it is about books. I try to quote accurately and to say when I am paraphrasing (more and more). Sometimes I blow the first name of even very famous people, often entertainers. I'm much better at history, but once in a while I see I have written something I later learned was not true. Sometimes I fix them, sometimes not. My worst mistake was writing that Beethoven went blind, when he actually went deaf. Feel free to point out an error. I either leave in the mistake, or, if I clean it up, the comment pointing it out. From time to time I do clean up grammar in old posts as, over time I have become more conventional in my grammar, and I very often write these when I am falling asleep and just make dumb mistakes. It be nice to have an editor, but . . . .