Well, that was certainly an unusual April. It’s not the first time Read of England has been waylaid by a cowboy, though. Although I did start the month with some English-type reads, by and large it was Joe Pickett Month again. I did finish the series, though, and have freed myself from the hostage situation. In other news, I paid a visit to the oldest government archives in the United States — the Alabama Department of Archives and History, thank you very much — and spent a day doing research on a passion project (some would call it a morbid obsession) of mine, the history of the Hotel Albert.

The Albert was a ridiculously beautiful hotel standing in the center of my hometown, Selma, modeled after the palaces of the Doges in Venice, and was torn down in 1968 because the landowners thought they could make more money on the property selling it to the City. I’ve written a four page history of the hotel, but the ending was always soft and now I’ve gained enough to wrap things up more solidly. I’ll share that once it’s in better shape, for those who might be interested. (I did share some thoughts on the ADAR research here, but that’s an unfinished site — something I want to flesh out during the summer when I have more time.) I want to finish going through the boxes, first. One of the more interesting discoveries in ADAR’s collection was a one hundred and thirty page letter from one of the Albert’s managers about drama that happened on his watch in the late fifties and early sixties. It was quite scandalous and involved carbon monoxide poisoning, a distracted manager, a jilted wife, and a beauty salon owner whose feminine wiles, seductive charisma, and social influence appear to have made her have more say over what went on at the hotel than the manager or the controlling board! I probably could have gotten more research done, but I was fascinated by the letter-manuscript, and it offered some insight as to how the hotel operation was entirely different from the building management — and how the Albert Hotel Company board’s interests were very different from the interests of the Hotel Albert itself.

This is page 2, and no one’s even died yet!

Unreviewed

While the What I’ve Read This Year page makes it look like I have a pile of unread titles, in reality all but the Doiron books have scheduled reviews, and I have half-finished reviews for the Doiron titles.

Moviewatch

Another quiet movie-watching month, as my cinema friend was again running around in Atlanta looking at houses and making offers. Once he actually moves to Atlanta my movie-watching probably crater, but we’ll see. Posting this is slightly premature as we’ll probably watch something tonight, but I’ll just add it to May.

Cabaret, 1970.  An English writer arrives in 1931 Germany and befriends a cabaret performer named Sally.  Although it’s a bit of a Breakfast at Tiffany’s situation,  soon they become an item, but this is interrupted when Sally becomes infatuated with a posh baron. This is a musical directed and arranged by Bob Fosse (making it my fourth or fifth Fosse),  so there’s repeated cuts to the cabaret where Sally performs, and the music is connected to the plot:  Sally’s social-climbing is mocked by a song about money, and there’s a piece at the end whose final line has distinct relevance for Germany circa 1931. 

Snatch. 2000. British crime drama about ….different criminal groups trying to get ahold of a diamond? Brad Pitt is in it with a dialect even more obscure than whatever that attempt at Appalachian was in Inglourious Basterds.

La Cage aux Folles, 1978. A drag night club owner’s son decides he wants to get married: his intended is the daughter of a prominent conservative French politician. Said club owner must somehow convince the politician that he’s quite respectable, thank you, nevermind the shrieking in the background. I’ve seen The Birdcage before but had forgotten most of the plot and so was able to thoroughly enjoy the French original. Quite the comedy.

Marty, 1955. An aging butcher named Marty is shot down by the dames so much at the dances that these days he spend  his  weekends sitting in a park listening to his fellow chronic bachelors grouse about girls while they drink, listen to the ball game, or talk about Mickey Spillane’s novels. One night he encounters a school teacher who has likewise given up on finding someone, and they hit it off. But Mickey’s mom and friends are jealous of the girl and tell Marty he should dump her for being a “dog”. Fortunately, he stands up for her — and himself.

The Trouble with Angels, 1966.  Teenage cloister hijinks

Showgirls, 1995. A young woman hitchhikes to Vegas to be become a dancer and does what she needs to do, including sleeping with her boss and kicking his current girlfriend down the stairs, to make it to the top. 

Serial Mom, 1994. A…comedy/horror about a family who realizes that their June Cleaver mom might be more of a literal  cleaver…..

Hannah and her Sisters, 1986. Character drama about three sisters and the men who love them;’ Woody Allen has an existential crisis.  Lots of stars in this: Woody himself, Mia Farrow, Michael Caine,   and Carrie Fisher for starters. 

Going in Style, 2017. Michael Caine, Alan Arkin, and Morgan Freeman are in dire financial straits and about to hit eighty. The obvious solution is to rob the bank that’s robbed them. Solid comedy.  A remake, I think.

Coming up in May…

I read so many Pickett books that they’ll continue posting themselves all the way to May 6, but I’m hoping it will be a return to normalcy here — or , whatever approximates normalcy.