Golden Globe for Best Comedy or Musical 10/73
I’ll preface by saying that the original production of Porgy and Bess as staged by the Theatre Guild made an indelible impression on our modern conception of musical theater and for that the opera is an incredibly important piece of work. I watched a crappy version on YouTube, however, and since the film is mostly wide shots, it just felt like watching pixels on a screen. I was never fully engaged and would be interested to see how my viewing experience would change if I saw the movie in better quality. Regardless, because of the lack of close up shots we never got into the interiority of any characters, and Premiger never created a compelling sense of community to warrant the incessant amount of wide shot. The cast is phenomenal on paper but many of them seemed to not want to be there. Pearl Bailey and Sammy Davis Jr were the obvious highlight. Also, yes, the music is gorgeous though I’d rather just listen to Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.
Here’s James Baldwin’s On the Horizon: On Catfish Row for those interested.
Golden Globe for Best Comedy or Musical 10/73
I’ll preface by saying that the original production of Porgy and Bess as staged by the Theatre Guild made an indelible impression on our modern conception of musical theater and for that the opera is an incredibly important piece of work. I watched a crappy version on YouTube, however, and since the film is mostly wide shots, it just felt like watching pixels on a screen. I was never fully engaged and would be interested to see how my viewing experience would change if I saw the movie in better quality. Regardless, because of the lack of close up shots we never got into the interiority of any characters, and Premiger never created a compelling sense of community to warrant the incessant amount of wide shot. The cast is phenomenal on paper but many of them seemed to not want to be there. Pearl Bailey and Sammy Davis Jr were the obvious highlight. Also, yes, the music is gorgeous though I’d rather just listen to Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.
Here’s James Baldwin’s On the Horizon: On Catfish Row for those interested.
