Pauline Kael (67 page)
Authors: Brian Kellow
I am grateful to Viking’s Francesca Belanger, Sharon Gonzalez, and Kyle Davis and to the astute copy editor, John McGhee, for the keen attention they have shown to this project.
The best for last. There are two people who have enhanced my professional life in ways I never imagined possible: my inimitable and irreplaceable agent, Edward Hibbert, and one of New York’s finest—my editor Rick Kot.
Brian Kellow
New York City
April 2011
New York City
April 2011
NOTES
INTRODUCTION:page ix
“too many erotic sequences”:
“The World Looks at Films”:
Atlas
(September 1971).
“too many erotic sequences”:
“The World Looks at Films”:
Atlas
(September 1971).
ix
“I certainly did not set out to do a film about incest.... But I began exploring”:
The New York Times
, March 19, 1989.
“I certainly did not set out to do a film about incest.... But I began exploring”:
The New York Times
, March 19, 1989.
ix
“not only the prudent, punctilious surface”:
Pauline Kael, “The Current Cinema,”
The New Yorker
(October 23, 1971).
“not only the prudent, punctilious surface”:
Pauline Kael, “The Current Cinema,”
The New Yorker
(October 23, 1971).
ix
“but the volatile and slovenly life underneath”:
Ibid.
“but the volatile and slovenly life underneath”:
Ibid.
ix
“the only shock is the joke”:
Ibid.
“the only shock is the joke”:
Ibid.
x
“the Muhammad Ali of film critics”:
Author interview with Richard Daniels, January 18, 2010.
“the Muhammad Ali of film critics”:
Author interview with Richard Daniels, January 18, 2010.
x
“How many times . . . thirty years”:
Pauline Kael, speech at Oregon State University, April 1976.
“How many times . . . thirty years”:
Pauline Kael, speech at Oregon State University, April 1976.
xi
“Definitely her engagement was libidinal”:
Author interview with Hal Hinson, July 20, 2009.
“Definitely her engagement was libidinal”:
Author interview with Hal Hinson, July 20, 2009.
xi
“I am the most grateful human being in the world”:
David Frost interview with Joan Crawford,
The David Frost Show
, 1970.
CHAPTER ONE“I am the most grateful human being in the world”:
David Frost interview with Joan Crawford,
The David Frost Show
, 1970.
1
“Judith Kael resented her lot”:
Author interview with Bret Wallach, September 16, 2009.
“Judith Kael resented her lot”:
Author interview with Bret Wallach, September 16, 2009.
1
“who runs her fingers over books as if they were magic objects”:
Pauline Kael, “The Current Cinema,”
The New Yorker
(November 28, 1983).
“who runs her fingers over books as if they were magic objects”:
Pauline Kael, “The Current Cinema,”
The New Yorker
(November 28, 1983).
3
“affection radiated at about two degrees above absolute zero”:
Author interview with Bret Wallach, September 16, 2009.
“affection radiated at about two degrees above absolute zero”:
Author interview with Bret Wallach, September 16, 2009.
4
“a community of idealists”:
Kenneth L. Kann,
Joe Rappaport: Life of a Jewish Radical
(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1981), 178.
“a community of idealists”:
Kenneth L. Kann,
Joe Rappaport: Life of a Jewish Radical
(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1981), 178.
4
“retained a Jewish identity”:
Ibid.
“retained a Jewish identity”:
Ibid.
4
“bore an unmistakable resemblance to the
shtetl
”:
Ibid.
“bore an unmistakable resemblance to the
shtetl
”:
Ibid.
5
“the one white Jew in Petaluma”:
Ibid.
“the one white Jew in Petaluma”:
Ibid.
5
“she loved to eat and cook”:
Author interview with Stephanie Zacharek, September 4, 2009.
“she loved to eat and cook”:
Author interview with Stephanie Zacharek, September 4, 2009.
5
“Such wonderful evenings”:
Kenneth L. Kann,
Comrades and Chicken Ranchers: The Story of a California Jewish Community
(Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1993), 61.
“Such wonderful evenings”:
Kenneth L. Kann,
Comrades and Chicken Ranchers: The Story of a California Jewish Community
(Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1993), 61.
5
“Yiddish books—the classical writers, history, politics”:
Ibid.
“Yiddish books—the classical writers, history, politics”:
Ibid.
5
“We were so eager for the movie to go on”:
Pauline Kael,
The Citizen Kane Book
(New York: Bantam, 1971).
“We were so eager for the movie to go on”:
Pauline Kael,
The Citizen Kane Book
(New York: Bantam, 1971).
5
the “Three Amazons”:
Author interview with Dana Salisbury, September 20, 2009.
the “Three Amazons”:
Author interview with Dana Salisbury, September 20, 2009.
6
“only in a vague sort of way,”:
Author interview with Stephanie Zacharek, September 4, 2009.
“only in a vague sort of way,”:
Author interview with Stephanie Zacharek, September 4, 2009.
6
“Chicken ranching?”:,
Kann,
Comrades and Chicken Ranchers
, 65.
“Chicken ranching?”:,
Kann,
Comrades and Chicken Ranchers
, 65.
6
“a celebration and glorification of materialism”:
Kael,
I Lost It at the Movies
, 79.
“a celebration and glorification of materialism”:
Kael,
I Lost It at the Movies
, 79.
6
“not the legendary west”:
Ibid., 82.
“not the legendary west”:
Ibid., 82.
7
“The summer nights are very long”:
Ibid., 88.
“The summer nights are very long”:
Ibid., 88.
7
“My father, who was adulterous”:
Ibid., 89.
“My father, who was adulterous”:
Ibid., 89.
7
“He put up everything he had as security”:
Ibid., 65.
CHAPTER TWO“He put up everything he had as security”:
Ibid., 65.
9
“Pauline had no patience or even any kind of feeling for her mother”:
Author interview with Dana Salisbury, September 20, 2009.
“Pauline had no patience or even any kind of feeling for her mother”:
Author interview with Dana Salisbury, September 20, 2009.
9
“these ideas had saved her life”:
Ibid.
“these ideas had saved her life”:
Ibid.
9
“All of us have probably had the feeling”:
Pauline Kael, “The Current Cinema,”
The New Yorker
(March 13, 1978).
“All of us have probably had the feeling”:
Pauline Kael, “The Current Cinema,”
The New Yorker
(March 13, 1978).
10
“The youngest in a large family has a lot of of advantages”:
Mandate
(May 1983).
“The youngest in a large family has a lot of of advantages”:
Mandate
(May 1983).
10
“I was quick to understand things”:
Ibid.
“I was quick to understand things”:
Ibid.
11
“Pauline looked down with such contempt on my aunt Rose”:
Ibid.
“Pauline looked down with such contempt on my aunt Rose”:
Ibid.
12
“one of the best of the social-protest films”:
Pauline Kael,
5001 Nights at the Movies
(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1982), 348.
“one of the best of the social-protest films”:
Pauline Kael,
5001 Nights at the Movies
(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1982), 348.
12
“How do you live?”:
Howard J. Green and Brown Holmes, screenplay of
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang,
1932.
“How do you live?”:
Howard J. Green and Brown Holmes, screenplay of
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang,
1932.
12
“The girls we in the audience loved were delivering wisecracks”:
Leo Ler-man, “Pauline Kael Talks About Violence, Sex, Eroticism and Women & Men in the Movies”:
Mademoiselle
(July 1972), 15.
“The girls we in the audience loved were delivering wisecracks”:
Leo Ler-man, “Pauline Kael Talks About Violence, Sex, Eroticism and Women & Men in the Movies”:
Mademoiselle
(July 1972), 15.
12
“suggested an element of lunacy and confusion in the world”:
Ibid., 16.
“suggested an element of lunacy and confusion in the world”:
Ibid., 16.
13
“She was crazy, ga-ga, over my dad,”:
Author interview with Janna Ritz, February 5, 2009.
“She was crazy, ga-ga, over my dad,”:
Author interview with Janna Ritz, February 5, 2009.
13
“Though she came from the theatre”:
Kael,
5001 Nights at the Movies
, 403.
“Though she came from the theatre”:
Kael,
5001 Nights at the Movies
, 403.
13
“remarkable modernism”:
Ibid.
“remarkable modernism”:
Ibid.
13
“an amazing vernacular actress”:
Ibid., 30.
“an amazing vernacular actress”:
Ibid., 30.
13
“halfway human”:
Ibid., 599.
“halfway human”:
Ibid., 599.
14
“extraordinary sensual presence”:
Ibid., 116.
“extraordinary sensual presence”:
Ibid., 116.
14
“shiny and attractive”:
Ibid., 859.
“shiny and attractive”:
Ibid., 859.
14
“I don’t know of any other scene”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(November 27, 1971).
“I don’t know of any other scene”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(November 27, 1971).
15
“the embodiment of the sensational side of ’30s movies”:
Kael,
5001 Nights at the Movies
, 466.
“the embodiment of the sensational side of ’30s movies”:
Kael,
5001 Nights at the Movies
, 466.
15
“hypes it with an intensity”:
Kael,
5001 Nights at the Movies
, 170.
“hypes it with an intensity”:
Kael,
5001 Nights at the Movies
, 170.
15
“a gooey collection of clichés”:
Ibid., 173.
“a gooey collection of clichés”:
Ibid., 173.
15
“slams her way through them in her nerviest style”:
Ibid.
“slams her way through them in her nerviest style”:
Ibid.
15
“that made the picture seem almost folk art”:
Pauline Kael,
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
(Boston: Atlantic–Little, Brown, 1968), 41.
“that made the picture seem almost folk art”:
Pauline Kael,
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
(Boston: Atlantic–Little, Brown, 1968), 41.
15
“I think I understand what my father meant”:
Ibid., 43.
“I think I understand what my father meant”:
Ibid., 43.
16
“term-paper pomposity”:
Mandate
(May 1983).
“term-paper pomposity”:
Mandate
(May 1983).
17
“the English are the inheritors of civilization and style”:
Untitled college paper by Pauline Kael, housed at the Lilly Library, Indiana University.
“the English are the inheritors of civilization and style”:
Untitled college paper by Pauline Kael, housed at the Lilly Library, Indiana University.
17
“immersed in a sensibility”:
Interview
(April 1989).
“immersed in a sensibility”:
Interview
(April 1989).
18
“the liveliest of his novels”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(August 6, 1984).
“the liveliest of his novels”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(August 6, 1984).
18
“a more earthly kind of greatness”:
Ibid.
“a more earthly kind of greatness”:
Ibid.
18
“the best novel in English about what at the time was called ‘the woman question’”:
Ibid.
“the best novel in English about what at the time was called ‘the woman question’”:
Ibid.
18
“She would come in and inspect the cream on my arms”:
Mandate
(May 1983).
“She would come in and inspect the cream on my arms”:
Mandate
(May 1983).
18
“Oh, that’s how to do it”:
Interview
(April 1989).
“Oh, that’s how to do it”:
Interview
(April 1989).
19
“Renoir isn’t a sociologist”:
Pauline Kael,
I Lost It at the Movies
(Boston: Atlantic–Little, Brown,1965), 109.
“Renoir isn’t a sociologist”:
Pauline Kael,
I Lost It at the Movies
(Boston: Atlantic–Little, Brown,1965), 109.
19
“a triumph of clarity and lucidity”:
Ibid., 110.
“a triumph of clarity and lucidity”:
Ibid., 110.
19
“perhaps the most influential of all French films”:
Ibid., 111.
“perhaps the most influential of all French films”:
Ibid., 111.
19
“There was always a circle of people around Pauline”:
People
(April 18, 1983).
“There was always a circle of people around Pauline”:
People
(April 18, 1983).
20
“Sissie Symmes”:
Ekbert Faas,
Young Robert Duncan: Portrait of the Poet as Homosexual in Society
(Santa Barbara: Black Swallow Press, 1983).
“Sissie Symmes”:
Ekbert Faas,
Young Robert Duncan: Portrait of the Poet as Homosexual in Society
(Santa Barbara: Black Swallow Press, 1983).
20
“He was attracted to strong-mother-archetype women”:
Author interview with Jack Foley, October 9, 2008.
“He was attracted to strong-mother-archetype women”:
Author interview with Jack Foley, October 9, 2008.
21
“Don’t be foolish—you don’t love me—you will never love me”:
Undated note from Pauline Kael to Robert Duncan, housed at the Lilly Library, Indiana University.
“Don’t be foolish—you don’t love me—you will never love me”:
Undated note from Pauline Kael to Robert Duncan, housed at the Lilly Library, Indiana University.
21
“For Christ’s sake be analyzed!”:
Ibid.
“For Christ’s sake be analyzed!”:
Ibid.
21
“[T]here appears to be nothing between Communist involvement and smug indifference”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(October 15, 1973).
CHAPTER THREE“[T]here appears to be nothing between Communist involvement and smug indifference”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(October 15, 1973).
24
“When I was first told, in 1921”:
R. P. Blackmur, general introduction to
The Wings of the Dove (The Laurel Henry James)
(Dell: New York, 1958).
“When I was first told, in 1921”:
R. P. Blackmur, general introduction to
The Wings of the Dove (The Laurel Henry James)
(Dell: New York, 1958).
25
“a wonderful movie . . . really the most exciting photography”:
Letter from Pauline Kael to Violet Rosenberg, February 10, 1941.
“a wonderful movie . . . really the most exciting photography”:
Letter from Pauline Kael to Violet Rosenberg, February 10, 1941.
25
“the most sustained in quality”:
Ibid.
“the most sustained in quality”:
Ibid.
25
“I’m fairly sure that in the long run it would turn out disastrously”:
Letter from Kael to Rosenberg, March 21, 1941.
“I’m fairly sure that in the long run it would turn out disastrously”:
Letter from Kael to Rosenberg, March 21, 1941.
26
“fairly dull”:
Ibid.
“fairly dull”:
Ibid.
26
“awfully vulgar-funny—really quite something”:
Ibid.
“awfully vulgar-funny—really quite something”:
Ibid.
26
“not too poor”:
Ibid.
“not too poor”:
Ibid.
26
“the most beautiful shot of Frances Dee”:
Ibid.
“the most beautiful shot of Frances Dee”:
Ibid.
26
“Communication (orally)”:
Ibid.
“Communication (orally)”:
Ibid.
26
“a rather complex essay”:
Ibid.
“a rather complex essay”:
Ibid.
26
“We’ve been working together just about every waking moment”:
Letter from Kael to Rosenberg, May 9, 1941.
“We’ve been working together just about every waking moment”:
Letter from Kael to Rosenberg, May 9, 1941.
26
“It was tremendous fun”:
Interview
(April 1989).
“It was tremendous fun”:
Interview
(April 1989).
27
“trouble with Bob is he feels guilty”:
Pauline Kael notes, undated.
“trouble with Bob is he feels guilty”:
Pauline Kael notes, undated.
28
“I haven’t invested a sou in pleasure clothes”:
Letter from Kael to Rosenberg, February 28, 1942.
“I haven’t invested a sou in pleasure clothes”:
Letter from Kael to Rosenberg, February 28, 1942.
28
“look at them all over and feel delighted”:
Ibid.
“look at them all over and feel delighted”:
Ibid.
28
“a schlock classic”:
Pauline Kael,
5001 Nights at the Movies
(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1982), 536.
“a schlock classic”:
Pauline Kael,
5001 Nights at the Movies
(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1982), 536.
28
“special, appealingly schlocky romanticism”:
Ibid., 122.
“special, appealingly schlocky romanticism”:
Ibid., 122.
29
“patriotic and shiny-faced”:
Studs Terkel,
The Good War
(New York: Pantheon, 1989), 123.
“patriotic and shiny-faced”:
Studs Terkel,
The Good War
(New York: Pantheon, 1989), 123.
29
“a heavy confusion of young men”:
Ibid.
“a heavy confusion of young men”:
Ibid.
30
“Pleasing news for a change”:
Letter from Kael to Rosenberg, April 15, 1943.
“Pleasing news for a change”:
Letter from Kael to Rosenberg, April 15, 1943.
30
“a modern but not moderne chalet”:
John Gruen,
Menotti: A Biography
(New York: Macmillan, 1978), 50.
“a modern but not moderne chalet”:
John Gruen,
Menotti: A Biography
(New York: Macmillan, 1978), 50.
30
“One would have to be an imbecile”:
Letter from Kael to Rosenberg, February 18, 1944.
“One would have to be an imbecile”:
Letter from Kael to Rosenberg, February 18, 1944.
30
“Bob is terribly sweet to me”:
Letter from Kael to Rosenberg, October 19, 1943.
“Bob is terribly sweet to me”:
Letter from Kael to Rosenberg, October 19, 1943.
31
“hurried and a little too chic.”:
Letter from Kael to Rosenberg, November 5, 1944.
“hurried and a little too chic.”:
Letter from Kael to Rosenberg, November 5, 1944.
31
“I am looking forward to a magazine which will stand for the principles”:
Letter from Kael to Dwight Macdonald, December 13, 1943.
“I am looking forward to a magazine which will stand for the principles”:
Letter from Kael to Dwight Macdonald, December 13, 1943.
31
“who have suffered in modern society persecution, excommunication”:
Politics
(August 1944).
“who have suffered in modern society persecution, excommunication”:
Politics
(August 1944).
32
“At least I don’t have a fad for
your
music”:
Letter from Kael to Rosenberg, undated.
“At least I don’t have a fad for
your
music”:
Letter from Kael to Rosenberg, undated.
32
“He has pride and vanity at a maximum”:
Ibid.
“He has pride and vanity at a maximum”:
Ibid.
32
“I almost feel as if it had become a layer”:
Letter from Kael to Rosenberg, 1945.
“I almost feel as if it had become a layer”:
Letter from Kael to Rosenberg, 1945.
32
“masterpiece art”:
Film Comment
(May–June 1977).
“masterpiece art”:
Film Comment
(May–June 1977).
32
“termite art”:
Ibid.
“termite art”:
Ibid.
32
“feels its way through walls of particularization”:
Ibid.
“feels its way through walls of particularization”:
Ibid.
32
“I can’t see any difference between writing about a porno movie”:
Ibid.
“I can’t see any difference between writing about a porno movie”:
Ibid.
33
“an excited audience is never depressed”:
David Parkinson, ed.,
The Graham Greene Film Reader: Reviews, Essays, Interviews and Film Stories
(New York: Applause, 1993), xxii.
“an excited audience is never depressed”:
David Parkinson, ed.,
The Graham Greene Film Reader: Reviews, Essays, Interviews and Film Stories
(New York: Applause, 1993), xxii.
33
“amuses but he doesn’t excite”:
Ibid., xxix.
“amuses but he doesn’t excite”:
Ibid., xxix.
33
“Movies are such common and lowly stuff”:
The New Republic
(December 28, 1938).
“Movies are such common and lowly stuff”:
The New Republic
(December 28, 1938).
33
“the only unaffected trouper in the bunch”:
The New Republic
(September 20, 1939).
“the only unaffected trouper in the bunch”:
The New Republic
(September 20, 1939).
34
“It would have a little more stature as a ‘religious’ film”:
The Nation
(May 13, 1944).
“It would have a little more stature as a ‘religious’ film”:
The Nation
(May 13, 1944).
34
“It seems to me that she is quite limited”:
The Nation
(April 14, 1945).
“It seems to me that she is quite limited”:
The Nation
(April 14, 1945).
35
“funnier, more adventurous, more intelligent”:
The Nation
(February 5, 1944).
“funnier, more adventurous, more intelligent”:
The Nation
(February 5, 1944).
35
“Yet the more I think about the film”:
Ibid.
“Yet the more I think about the film”:
Ibid.
35
“Any critic writing for a large publication”:
News Workshop
(June 1954).
“Any critic writing for a large publication”:
News Workshop
(June 1954).
36
“pictures are a great intellectual exercise”:
Ibid.
“pictures are a great intellectual exercise”:
Ibid.
36
“eastern college people”:
Letter from Kael to Rosenberg, November 26, 1945.
“eastern college people”:
Letter from Kael to Rosenberg, November 26, 1945.
36
“they’ll work for almost anything”:
Ibid.
CHAPTER FOUR“they’ll work for almost anything”:
Ibid.
37
“I don’t think properly on the typewriter”:
Letter from Pauline Kael to Violet Rosenberg, undated.
“I don’t think properly on the typewriter”:
Letter from Pauline Kael to Violet Rosenberg, undated.
38
“He offered me three gifts”:
James Broughton,
Coming Unbuttoned
(San Francisco: City Lights, 1993), 3–4.
“He offered me three gifts”:
James Broughton,
Coming Unbuttoned
(San Francisco: City Lights, 1993), 3–4.
38
“He looked like he was the concept that Marlowe was working on in
Doctor Faustus
”:
Author interview with Ariel Parkinson, November 29, 2009.
“He looked like he was the concept that Marlowe was working on in
Doctor Faustus
”:
Author interview with Ariel Parkinson, November 29, 2009.
39 “
adored babies but disliked children”
: James Broughton,
Coming Unbuttoned
(San Francisco: City Lights, 1993), 1.
adored babies but disliked children”
: James Broughton,
Coming Unbuttoned
(San Francisco: City Lights, 1993), 1.
39
“She deplored little magazines”:
Broughton, 68.
“She deplored little magazines”:
Broughton, 68.
39
“She was not sympathetic to avant-garde enterprise”:
Author interview with Ernest Callenbach, September 9, 2008.
“She was not sympathetic to avant-garde enterprise”:
Author interview with Ernest Callenbach, September 9, 2008.
39
“She liked the word ‘precious’”:
Author interview with Bruce Baillie, November 5, 2010.
“She liked the word ‘precious’”:
Author interview with Bruce Baillie, November 5, 2010.
40
“He ‘threw her out’”:
Author interview with Joel Singer May 29, 2008.
“He ‘threw her out’”:
Author interview with Joel Singer May 29, 2008.
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