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THE MT VOID
10/17/25 -- Vol. 44, No. 16, Whole Number 2402
Editor: Evelyn Leeper,
evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com
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Topics:
Mini Reviews, Part 24 (WAXWORKS, MUNCHHAUSEN)
(film comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
The TCM Wine Club (comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
This Week's Reading (SPQR)
(book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
===================================================================
TOPIC: Mini Reviews, Part 24 (film comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
WAXWORKS (1924): Many people think DEAD OF NIGHT (1945) as the
first anthology film, or at least the first horror anthology film.
But the format goes back to silent German films, with 1919's
"Unheimliche Geschichten" and Fritz Lang's 1921 "Der mude Tod".
But perhaps the best known of these early examples is 1924's
WAXWORKS, directed by Paul Leni, and starring Conrad Veidt, Lil
Dagover, and Emil Jannings.
The special effects were quite advanced for the time, with double
and even more multiple exposures. Indeed, some of the scenes had a
very Cubist look. In others, one had to conclude that the city
planner in ancient Baghdad could see into the future and was
heavily influenced by German Expressionism.
There are three stories. The first, about the Grand Vizier,
supposedly inspired Douglas Fairbanks to make THE THIEF OF BAGDAD.
This story takes up half the running time of the film.
The second is about Ivan the Terrible, with Conrad Veidt as Ivan.
Veidt is very striking, especially his eyes. This talent also
appears in THE MAN WHO LAUGHS (11926).
The Springheel Jack story is very short, and may have been
included to pad out the running time.
I had a choice of two versions to watch. One was the Sinister
Cinema VHS copy we had: an N-th generation transfer, with the text
often unreadable, but in black and white with musical
accompaniment. The other was apparently restored, but colorized,
and silent, and had ads. I chose the second.
Released theatrically 13 November 1924 (Germany), 18 March 1926
(United States).
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0014586/reference>
What others are saying:
<
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/waxworks_1926>
MUNCHHAUSEN (1943):
The 1943 German film MUNCHHAUSEN (two 'H's) is also known in
English-speaking countries as THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN
(one 'H').
I have just a few random comments. Munchhausen seems to think
Copernicus had something to do with saying the earth was round.
Not surprisingly, given the politics in Germany at the time,
Russian peasants shown as somewhat barbaric. It includes
characters such as Cagliostro and Catherine the Great. And it is
very much in the style of the lavish MGM musicals of the time,
though with various authentic exotic settings such as Venice.
Released theatrically 03 March 1943 (Germany).
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036191/reference>
What others are saying:
<
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/baron_muenchhausen>
[-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: The TCM Wine Club (comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
I watch films on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and I keep seeing ads
for the TCM wine club. I have never understood their claim about
pairing particular wines with particular films, and still don't,
but I have figured out what the scenes of their hosts drinking and
talking reminds me of--the midnight drunk panels at science
fiction conventions.
It is not a complimentary comparison. [-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
SPQR: A HISTORY OF ANCIENT ROME by Mary Beard (Liveright, ISBN 978-1-63149-222-8) is not so much a history of Rome as a history
of the history of Rome. Much of what Beard writes is analysis of
the commonly accepted history of Rome. Some of it is fairly
standard--how likely is the story of Romulus and Remus, and what
might the underlying truth behind the story be. Other speculation
is more along the lines of recognizing that much of the history
was written by people who had axes to grind. For example, Beard
suggests that Caligula did not send his troops to gather seashells
and rather had them dismantling a camp, the same word in Latin
("musculi") meaning either "seashells" or "military huts".
And some things Beard relates have renewed relevance. A lot of
what she says, Actually, but one observation struck me: "Julius
Caesar ... was the first living person whose head was featured on
a coin minted in Rome. Up to that point, Roman change had paraded
only images of long-dead heroes, and the innovation was a blatant
sign of Caesar's personal power." Sound familiar?
Beard covers Rome from its founding to 212 C.E. Why 212? It wasn't
the year of a transition between dynasties, there was no civil war
or invasion, and no one declared Christianity the offical religion
or banned entirely. It was the year when the emperor Caracalla
made all free men in the Roman Empire citizens. (Again, Beard is
skeptical of the usual reason assumed by historians: that
Caracalla wanted to gather more taxes.) This emancipation,
according to Beard, removed the final special position of Rome
(and its close environs) in the Roman Empire. A man in a tent next
to Hadrian's Wall in Britain was as much a citizen as one born in
the shadow of Hadrian's Pantheon in Rome. To her, this was the end
of the exceptionalism of Rome.
All this sets SQPR apart from the various other histories of Rome
I have been reading, and so I can recommend this even if you have
read other histories. [-ecl]
===================================================================
Evelyn C. Leeper
evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com
A burro is an ass. A burrow is a hole in the ground.
As a reporter, you are expected to know the difference.
--UPI Stylebook
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