From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

THE MT VOID
09/05/25 -- Vol. 44, No. 10, Whole Number 2396

Editor: Evelyn Leeper, evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com
All material is the opinion of the author and is copyrighted by
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Topics:
Mini Reviews, Part 20 (GODS AND GENERALS, GETTYSBURG)
(film comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
WEDNESDAY (series review by Paul S. R. Chisholm)
SIMULACRON-3 (letter of comment by Andre Kuzniarek)
Brother Guy Consolmagno, UNKNOWN, and "The Strange Case of
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" (letter of comment
by Taras Wolansky)
BEN-HUR, Silent Film Accompaniment, King Kong, and
Historical Writing (letter of comment
by Gary McGath)
This Week's Reading (Solar Pons, Jules de Grandin)
(book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)

==================================================================

TOPIC: Mini Reviews, Part 20 (film comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)

In honor of the anniversary of the birthday of Joshua Lawrence
Chamberlain on September 8:

GODS AND GENERALS (2002): This is a very engaging movie in the
service of a lot of misinformation. For example, Stonewall Jackson
tells Jim Lewis that slavery will end, and it should have already.
Yet in real life when Jackson died, he was still held six people
in slavery--including Jim Lewis. All the slaves who are portrayed
like those who are holding them in slavery, cheer the Confederate
troops, and even express a desire to fight for the Confederacy.
Seriously?!

While observing that I thought the movie well-made in many
technical aspects, I am reminded of Ulysses S. Grant's quote about
the Civil War: "I felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the
downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly, and had
suffered so much for a cause, though that cause was, I believe,
one of the worst for which a people ever fought, and one for which
there was the least excuse."

I don't know if the scenes of the Fredericksburg house used as a
hospital were in Jeff Shaara's 1998 novel. But I do know that
similar scenes were in the film A BRIDGE TOO FAR (1977), and if
those scenes were in the novel, I would not be surprised to learn
that Shaara was inspired by that film, and that the inspiration
flowed through to this film as well.

Released theatrically 21 February 2003.

Film Credits:
<https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0279111/reference>

What others are saying:
<https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gos_and_generals>


GETTYSBURG (1993): In the opening credits, all the leading actors
are shown morphing from actual photographs of their characters to
their own photographs (also done in sepia) in their roles. This
includes Kevin Conway. But Conway plays a fictional character,
Buster Kilrain. In fact, as many people have pointed out, "Buster"
did not exist as a name before Buster Keaton acquired it as a
nickname at eighteen months; his original name was Joseph Frank
Keaton, and he apparently never officially changed it. But name
changes were a lot more informal back then: my maternal
grandmother, my mother, and my father all went on official
documents by (first) names other than those on their birth
certificates, but none ever officially changed them.

So the question is, whose photograph did they use to represent
Kilrain?

I recommend the extended director's cut, which adds almost a full
hour (resulting in a run time of four-and-two-thirds hours). The
specific changes are described on <https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=401805>. (Don't
let the name fool you; it wasn't censorship that caused the
additional scenes to be omitted from the theatrical release.) The
major additions are the Battle of Antietam, a subplot with John
Wilkes Booth, and more about Col. Joshua Chamberlain and the 20th
Maine, as well as many other additions (including an additional
five minutes of end credits). A few scenes were removed or
shortened.

GETTYSBURG was made before GODS AND GENERALS but takes place
later, so there are inconsistencies. For example, in GETTYSBURG,
Chamberlain is constantly reminding his brother Thomas (a captain)
to call him "Colonel", not "Lawrence". But in GODS AND GENERALS we
see the two of them serving together in those positions almost a
year earlier and if Thomas hasn't learned his lesson by the time
of GETTYSBURG, he was never going to change.

I highly recommend the extended director's cut here as well, which
adds seventeen minutes (resulting in a run time of four-and-a-half
hours). The specific changes are described on <https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=590158>. The added
scenes enlarge upon the interactions with civilians in Gettysburg,
General Longstreet's backstory (which has a connection to a
subplot in GODS AND GENERALS), Ewell's and Early's attempts to
explain their actions in not taking the hill, more about Pickett's
desire to see more fighting than he has up until now, more about
Harrison's espionage efforts, and several other aspects.

Released theatrically 8 October 1993.

Film Credits:
<https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107007/reference>

What others are saying:
<https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1046038-gettysburg>


[-ecl]

===================================================================

TOPIC: WEDNESDAY (series review by Paul S. R. Chisholm)

The Addams family, but turned full-on fantasy. (Not "hard
fantasy"; still rooted in the Charles Addams cartoons and the
1960s show.)

In the Netflix series bearing her name, Wednesday Addams has been
sent to Nevermore Academy, where her parents Gomez and Morticia
met.

The academy is full of "outcasts," various kinds of supernatural
beings. For example: Furs are werewolves; self explanatory. Fangs
are vampires; they wear dark glasses and SPF 1000 sunscreen.
Scales are mermaids slash sirens, and can hypnotize with a look.
Stoners are gorgons; unless they hide their snakes, they
(temporarily!) turn people into statues. None of the outcasts are
popular with the "normies" in the nearby town.

Wednesday herself is more than just mysterious and spooky. She's a
psychic. When touching someone or something she gets dark,
mysterious visions of the past or future. Her default appearance
reflects this: dismal, forlorn, and sarcastic.

That hides her burning obsession for justice. And when people
start getting murdered....

Jenna Ortega masters this role. She plays Wednesday as someone
desperately trying not to show she cares, when deep inside she's
passionate enough to risk her life (and sometimes the lives of
those around her) to find the murderers.

Honorable mention to Emma Meyers. She plays Enid Sinclair,
Wednesday's cheerful, bubbly, almost-vampire roommate. She can
only turn her fingernails into claws, but she's painted them into
a rainbow of bright pastels. The contrast of moods is terrific.

WEDNESDAY is by turns hilarious, mysterious, and tense. The show
leans hard into horror tropes without being gory or terrifying.
(My wife and I appreciate that.)

Sadly, some of the insurmountable-seeming problems are too easily
surmounted.

Warning: The series demands to be binged. Once we started
watching, we couldn't stop.

Recommended, and I can't wait for season 3. [-psrc]

===================================================================

TOPIC: SIMULACRON-3 (letter of comment by Andre Kuzniarek)

In response to Evelyn's comments on THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR in the
08/28/25 issue of the MT VOID, Andre Kuzniarek writes:

[Evelyn refers to SIMULACRON-13.]

Just a minor title correction: [it's SIMULACRON-3 actually]. I
know because itrCOs one of my top five favorite SF stories. I've had
a couple copies of the Bantam first edition since having first
read it a decade after publication. I was lucky that it was on the
bookshelf in our junior high English class for the week we were
expected to select something to read and report on! The ideas
were/are mind-blowing, though the writing is fairly pulpy (no
pretending itrCOs sophisticated literature). [-ak]

===================================================================

TOPIC: Brother Guy Consolmagno, UNKNOWN, and "The Strange Case of
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" (letter of comment by Taras Wolansky)

In response to Evelyn's comments on the NEW YORKER in the 08/28/25
issue of the MT VOID, Taras Wolansky writes:

The NEW YORKER article about Vatican astronomer Brother Guy
Consolmagno, S. J., can be read online. (Your cookies may vary.)
[-tw]

Evelyn responds:

My cookies or whatever do not let me read it. [-ecl]

In response to Joe Karpierz's review of SPACE SHIPS! RAY GUNS!
MARTIAN OCTOPODS! INTERVIEWS WITH SCIENCE FICTION LEGENDS in the
same issue, Taras writes:

The fantasy magazine edited by John W. Campbell in the early
Forties was, of course, UNKNOWN, a.k.a. UNKNOWN WORLDS, not
FANTASY. Though there were several magazines of that name, over
the years.

In response to Evelyn's comments on "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll
and Mr Hyde" in the same issue, Taras writes:

Finally, until I read your review of "The Strange Case of Dr
Jekyll and Mr Hyde", it never occurred to me that Stevenson's
novella may have influenced the motion picture, FORBIDDEN PLANET,
with its noble Krell brought low by "monsters from the id". [-tw]

===================================================================

TOPIC: BEN-HUR, Silent Film Accompaniment, King Kong, and
Historical Writing (letter of comment by Gary McGath)

In response to Evelyn's comments on the 1925 BEN-HUR in the
08/28/25 issue of the MT VOID, Gary McGath writes:

The 1925 Ben-Hur was very rough on the extras, of whom there were
something like 10,000. Some may have drowned in the sea battle
scene. [-gmg]

In response to Evelyn's comments on the 1925 PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
in the same issue, Gary writes:

There will be a screening of the 1925 PHANTOM OF THE OPERA in
Boston's Symphony Hall on Halloween, with live organ
accompaniment. I've bought a ticket. [-gmg]

Evelyn adds:

In the distant past, Boskone had live organ accompaniment to
silent films, and the organist was John Kiley, the same person who
played the organ at Fenway Park. My Boskone XXI con report
indicates that that year (1984) it was THE MARK OF ZORRO, and my
comments indicate that this had been done with other films for
several years.

In response to Evelyn's comments on Mark's "Ballad of King Kong"
in the same issue, Gary writes:

[Evelyn's wrote,] "[An alternate version has "But a biplane put
him in his grave". Which you prefer depends on whether you think
"the airplanes got him" or "'twas Beauty killed the Beast." [-ecl]

Definitely the airplanes, or else suicide. It was the ape's fault
he got himself into that situation. [gmg]

In response to Evelyn's comments on the first person singular in
historical writing in the same issue, Gary writes:

I used the first person in some parts of my history of filk,
TOMORROW'S SONGS TODAY. They fell into the "personal experience"
category. [-gmg]

===================================================================

TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)

Once again, I have been slacking off on the new books on my shelf
(although THE ESSAYS OF GEORGE ORWELL, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, and
RALPH WALDO EMERSON'S ESSAYS could hardly be called new books),
and binge-reading old favorites, in this case the "Solar Pons"
books. As I have said before, these are perhaps the best of the
Holmes pastiches, at least the ones by August Derleth. Brought
forward in time (the 1920s and 1930s), and with Parker a more
perceptive associate than Watson, these are definitely worth
reading, and they are available in reasonably priced editions.
(Even the original paperbacks are not outrageously priced,
probably because there have been reprints.) I suppose after this I
should revisit Seabury Quinn's Jules de Grandin stories, being
Holmes pastiches with supernatural elements. [-ecl]

===================================================================

Evelyn C. Leeper
evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com



Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel
a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.
--Abraham Lincoln

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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

Evelyn C. Leeper <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> wrote:

In the distant past, Boskone had live organ accompaniment to
silent films, and the organist was John Kiley, the same person who
played the organ at Fenway Park. My Boskone XXI con report
indicates that that year (1984) it was THE MARK OF ZORRO, and my
comments indicate that this had been done with other films for
several years.

Boskone still does this. This year Boskone ran only a short NACA film
and the 16mm film from Worldcon with our own Gary McGath accompanying
on synthesizer, though, and not a full silent feature. We hope to have a feature in February.

For years, John Kiley joked with us that when he died we would have
to start running transitional films (films that were still acted and
composed like silent films, but with some dialogue added). When he
did die in the early 2000s we ran White Zombie with Bela Lugosi.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

On 9/7/2025 8:20 AM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:

Evelyn adds:

In the distant past, Boskone had live organ accompaniment to
silent films, and the organist was John Kiley, the same person who
played the organ at Fenway Park. My Boskone XXI con report
indicates that that year (1984) it was THE MARK OF ZORRO, and my
comments indicate that this had been done with other films for
several years.

John Kiley was also the organist at the Garden, thus making him the only person to play for the Red Sox, the Celtics and the Bruins.

Tim

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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

On 9/7/2025 8:20 AM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:

THE MT VOID
09/05/25 -- Vol. 44, No. 10, Whole Number 2396

TOPIC: Brother Guy Consolmagno, UNKNOWN, and "The Strange Case of
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" (letter of comment by Taras Wolansky)

In response to Evelyn's comments on the NEW YORKER in the 08/28/25
issue of the MT VOID, Taras Wolansky writes:

The NEW YORKER article about Vatican astronomer Brother Guy
Consolmagno, S. J., can be read online. (Your cookies may vary.)
[-tw]

Evelyn responds:

My cookies or whatever do not let me read it. [-ecl]

I have a subscription to the magazine. Here's the full URL.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/08/04/the-vatican-observatory-looks-to-the-heavens

If you want, I'll email you the text.

pt

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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

On 9/7/25 3:20 PM, Cryptoengineer wrote:

On 9/7/2025 8:20 AM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:

THE MT VOID
09/05/25 -- Vol. 44, No. 10, Whole Number 2396

TOPIC: Brother Guy Consolmagno, UNKNOWN, and "The Strange Case of
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" (letter of comment by Taras Wolansky)

In response to Evelyn's comments on the NEW YORKER in the 08/28/25
issue of the MT VOID, Taras Wolansky writes:

The NEW YORKER article about Vatican astronomer Brother Guy
Consolmagno, S. J., can be read online. (Your cookies may vary.)
[-tw]

Evelyn responds:

My cookies or whatever do not let me read it. [-ecl]

I have a subscription to the magazine. Here's the full URL.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/08/04/the-vatican-observatory- looks-to-the-heavens

If you want, I'll email you the text.

pt

I had the full URL; it tells me to subscribe to unlock the story.
--
Evelyn C. Leeper, http://leepers.us/evelyn
Don't ever save anything for a special occasion.
Every day you're alive is a special occasion. -Ann Wells
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

On 9/7/25 8:20 AM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:

In the distant past, Boskone had live organ accompaniment to
silent films, and the organist was John Kiley, the same person who
played the organ at Fenway Park. My Boskone XXI con report
indicates that that year (1984) it was THE MARK OF ZORRO, and my
comments indicate that this had been done with other films for
several years.

I've accompanied a few silent films myself at Arisia and Boskone, later
than when Kiley was doing it.
--
Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

On 9/7/25 8:41 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:

Evelyn C. Leeper <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> wrote:

In the distant past, Boskone had live organ accompaniment to
silent films, and the organist was John Kiley, the same person who
played the organ at Fenway Park. My Boskone XXI con report
indicates that that year (1984) it was THE MARK OF ZORRO, and my
comments indicate that this had been done with other films for
several years.

Boskone still does this. This year Boskone ran only a short NACA film
and the 16mm film from Worldcon with our own Gary McGath accompanying
on synthesizer, though, and not a full silent feature. We hope to have a feature in February.

I'm glad to talk about this whenever you're ready. The only reason I
stopped accompanying silent films at Boskone was that a lot of silents
were still under copyright then, and Kino in particular charged
expensive licensing fees.>

For years, John Kiley joked with us that when he died we would have
to start running transitional films (films that were still acted and
composed like silent films, but with some dialogue added). When he
did die in the early 2000s we ran White Zombie with Bela Lugosi.

Some early sound films didn't have musical scores, and adding live accompaniment is a possibility. I've heard of the 1931 Frankenstein
being done this way. However, it's still in copyright.
--
Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

On 9/8/25 5:48 PM, Gary McGath wrote:

On 9/7/25 8:41 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:

Evelyn C. Leeper <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> wrote:

In the distant past, Boskone had live organ accompaniment to
silent films, and the organist was John Kiley, the same person who
played the organ at Fenway Park. My Boskone XXI con report
indicates that that year (1984) it was THE MARK OF ZORRO, and my
comments indicate that this had been done with other films for
several years.

Boskone still does this.-a This year Boskone ran only a short NACA film
and the 16mm film from Worldcon with our own Gary McGath accompanying
on synthesizer, though, and not a full silent feature.-a We hope to have a >> feature in February.

I'm glad to talk about this whenever you're ready. The only reason I
stopped accompanying silent films at Boskone was that a lot of silents
were still under copyright then, and Kino in particular charged
expensive licensing fees.>

For years, John Kiley joked with us that when he died we would have
to start running transitional films (films that were still acted and
composed like silent films, but with some dialogue added).-a When he
did die in the early 2000s we ran White Zombie with Bela Lugosi.

Some early sound films didn't have musical scores, and adding live accompaniment is a possibility. I've heard of the 1931 Frankenstein
being done this way. However, it's still in copyright.

There's always the 1925 SHE, which certainly is in the public domain now (along with everything else from 1925).
--
Evelyn C. Leeper, http://leepers.us/evelyn
Don't ever save anything for a special occasion.
Every day you're alive is a special occasion. -Ann Wells
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

In article <109niv7$ii64$1@dont-email.me>,
Gary McGath <garym@mcgath.com> wrote:

Some early sound films didn't have musical scores, and adding live >accompaniment is a possibility. I've heard of the 1931 Frankenstein
being done this way. However, it's still in copyright.

[Hal Heydt]
That copyright should run out the end of next year. (To the best
of my knowledge, corporate held copyrights run for 95 years. I
will admit to being fairly surprised that The Mouse Kingdom
didn't get that extended a few years ago.)
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

In article <109niv7$ii64$1@dont-email.me>, garym@mcgath.com (Gary McGath) wrote:

Some early sound films didn't have musical scores, and adding live accompaniment is a possibility. I've heard of the 1931 Frankenstein
being done this way. However, it's still in copyright.

I've seen Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky shown with a live orchestra
performing Prokoviev's score.
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

In article <memo.20250909170037.20100A@pauldormer.cix.co.uk>,
Paul Dormer <prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk> wrote:

In article <109niv7$ii64$1@dont-email.me>, garym@mcgath.com (Gary McGath) >wrote:

Some early sound films didn't have musical scores, and adding live
accompaniment is a possibility. I've heard of the 1931 Frankenstein
being done this way. However, it's still in copyright.

I've seen Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky shown with a live orchestra >performing Prokoviev's score.

[Hal Heydt]
A couple of bits of trivia about that film...

The helm that Nevsky wears is a direct copy of the historical
original. They borrowed the actual helm from the Hermitage
museum to make the copy used in the film.

Prokoviev wrote the music for the battle on the ice before it was
filmed. The battle was correographed to match the music.
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

Evelyn C. Leeper <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> wrote:

On 9/8/25 5:48 PM, Gary McGath wrote:

I'm glad to talk about this whenever you're ready. The only reason I
stopped accompanying silent films at Boskone was that a lot of silents
were still under copyright then, and Kino in particular charged
expensive licensing fees.>

There's always the 1925 SHE, which certainly is in the public domain now >(along with everything else from 1925).

The problems are first of all that some of the older silent films are
still in original copyright, but also that the restored and reconstructed versions are individually copyrighted.

So... Boskone (or maybe Arisia, it's hard to tell) owns a 16mm print of Metropolis which they bought from Blackhawk Films in the seventies. The Blackhawk prints come with rights conveyed, so they can show that to
anyone without paying any royalties.

BUT... the new re-edited version of Metropolis sold by Kino Lorber is
still in copyright because of the restoration work... and it is much
easier to follow the plot in the restored version. (It still has a
lot of important stuff missing though.)

So, we can show a poor and fragmentary version but we can't show a more complete and better-looking (but still far from original) version without paying rights.

There ARE some old 16mm prints and public domain video transfers of
many great silent films, though. Some of them are available through
the Library of Congress although their impending budget cuts may sink
that.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

In article <t2ByuJ.1tox@kithrup.com>, djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
Heydt) wrote:

Prokoviev wrote the music for the battle on the ice before it was
filmed. The battle was correographed to match the music.

And they hired strong swimmers as extras - filmed in summer.

At about the same time. Arthur Bliss was hired to write the music for
Thing to Come. H.G. Wells was insistent that the music be written first,
but he reckoned without the final editing. The result was some jarring
key changes in the industrial montage, so they got someone to dub tam-tam crashes to cover them.
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

On 9/9/25 6:20 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:

The problems are first of all that some of the older silent films are
still in original copyright, but also that the restored and reconstructed versions are individually copyrighted.

So... Boskone (or maybe Arisia, it's hard to tell) owns a 16mm print of Metropolis which they bought from Blackhawk Films in the seventies. The Blackhawk prints come with rights conveyed, so they can show that to
anyone without paying any royalties.

BUT... the new re-edited version of Metropolis sold by Kino Lorber is
still in copyright because of the restoration work... and it is much
easier to follow the plot in the restored version. (It still has a
lot of important stuff missing though.)

So, we can show a poor and fragmentary version but we can't show a more complete and better-looking (but still far from original) version without paying rights.

There ARE some old 16mm prints and public domain video transfers of
many great silent films, though. Some of them are available through
the Library of Congress although their impending budget cuts may sink
that.

Yes, "More than 95 years old, out of copyright" is a simple rule that
turns out not always to be true. The copyright boundaries for
restorations are often unsettled law. I've been stopped 3 times on
YouTube for alleged copyright violations on silent films with my accompaniment. Twice the other side gave in; the other time I didn't
find it worthwhile to fight it.

In Europe there's the additional complication that movie copyrights tend
to be tied to individuals rather than corporations, and the clock starts ticking only when the last copyright owner dies.
--
Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com
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