DARRYL DE CINE

  (EN CASTELLANO DEBAJO) TO PEANUT CASES OF "FILM NOIR" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poodle_Springs_(film) Above you will see the link of “POODLE SPRINGS”, a movie based on the last and unfinished novel by Raymond Chandler -creator of private eye Philip Marlowe-. This novel was completed by Robert B. Parker, an author I quite enjoyed & to whom we owed him private eye Spenser –a kind of a "clone" of Marlowe, but funnier, without the sad and bitter touch of the latter-. This film was directed by Bob Rafelson –of “The Postman Always Rings Twice” fame-, a director sort of specialized in "film noir", produced by Sydney Pollack –a famous director of such big budgeted movies as  “Out of Africa”- and the script was by a certain Tom Stoppard, an English playwright who has also written film scripts. All in all, it was a very well looked after production that did not have the expected success. The script was based in the novel "completed" by Parker. I ...

                                  (EN CASTELLANO DEBAJO) There are novels that grab you till the end, even though the plot may seem to you a whole nonsense. This is what happened to me with  “NOTICIAS DEL MUNDO REAL”, a novel by Juan Miñana, born in 1959 as in my case. The starting  point of this novel is the filming in Barcelona in 1963 of the movie “Circus World” (“El Fabuloso Mundo del circo”, 1964, by Henry Hathaway), a rather forgettable production by Samuel Bronston ( of “El Cid” and “The Fall of the Roman Empire” fame). The novel evolves in a double level as a documentary and a work of fiction. As a documentary, it explains  the details of the making of this film starring  John Wayne, Rita Hayworth and Claudia Cardinale, quoting places well known for those who have visited Barcelona, like the Ritz (today called “El Palace” hotel), the Seven Doors and the Liceo. As a work of fi...

Novela policíaca que gira en torno a las vicisitudes de su protagonista, una inspectora de policía en Madrid, Manuela Mauri. Escrita por una pareja en la vida real, Noemí Trujillo  empezó a escribir poesía y la novela que nos ocupa, “SI ESTO ES UNA MUJER” es su segunda incursión en el género policíaco o de misterio, después de “NADA SUCIO”, escrita también con Lorenzo Silva, en torno a una mujer detective, Sonia Ruiz, que desconozco.  Lorenzo Silva es un nombre conocido para los forofos de la novela negra por su serie Bevilacqua /Chamorro, sobre una pareja de la guardia civil, el sargento Bevilacqua y la agente Chamorro, aunque en las últimas entregas de la serie han ascendido a el subteniente Bevilacqua y la sargento Chamorro. Esta serie, creo, que a partir de “Los cuerpos extraños“ y las demás entregas posteriores marcan un hito para entender el crimen en España, pues son novelas plenamente actuales, cuyos argumentos hasta hace pocos años nos habrían resultado totalmente des...

(EN CASTELLANO DEBAJO) Have seen again  Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” on the big screen after more than 30 years. It was a brand new copy, so the quality of the colour and sound was good. Besides, it was shown in English with Spanish subtitles, not dubbed into Spanish as I had seen it years ago as this was the “rule” then. A few years ago I read a priceless book on Hitch by French film director, Truffaut, called “El cine según Hitchcock” in Spanish. In this book Truffaut interviewed Hitch and, when they talked about “Vertigo”, I got the impression I had missed it altogether. Well, I will quote that interview between Truffaut and Hitch in this article. Hitchcock declared, when asked about the novel on which “Vertigo” is based, that “I was intrigued by the hero’s attempts to re-create the image of a dead woman through another one who’s alive.” (1) We also learnt from that book that Hitch did not think greatly of Kim Novak (2) as originally he had conceived her role for Vera Miles ...