"this thing of ours"

After watching "The Sopranos" I was thinking, Why would anyone be in the Mafia?  Who would want to live in that manner?  It's horrible and terrifying and immoral.

They could just -- Not be in it, and -- live.

It occurred to me that being in the Mafia is kind of like boxing, in that people choose it because they think they don't have other options.  

-30-

Dr. Melfi's patient and his associates

Jerry Adler, the actor who played Paul House in Manhattan Murder Mystery, appeared in The Sopranos, too.

Watching The Sopranos on Prime Video -- it's a quality program, character driven.

The writing and acting are sterling.
The story telling is masterful, the cinematography artful.
The violence is appalling.


     When a new episode begins with that music -- "Woke up this morning, world turned upside down" -- a small rectangle comes on, in lower-right corner that says, "skip intro".  Why would I skip it? -- I love that song!  It's the best part, both the music and the visual sequence--the Sunoco sign...

-30-

User info to add

Oh, I noted and wanted to mention -- you'll know you have found the right video, if you see that the uploader is 
- Linda Oncloudnine.

OK, that's it.

Treasure on YouTube

On YouTube, there is a video just under 5 minutes in length, where it shows first the hall of mirrors ("that's what Grisby thought...poor howling idiot") scene from The Lady From Shanghai, and then the scene from Woody Allen's Manhattan Murder Mystery in which the Lady From Shanghai scene is incorporated.

The transition from the first film to the second one is nearly seamless. You have to watch -- suddenly we see Woody Allen in the gloomy lighting, on the stairs...

-30-

we can walk to the curb from here

EXT.  N.Y. street - Day

Ted (Alan Alda) and Marcia Fox (Anjelica Huston) walking, talking.

TED
What do you -- what do you... I want, I want to celebrate, or something.  What do you wanna do?  You wanna -- want to go see what, uh, what Larry and Carol are up to?

MARCIA
I think they want to be alone.

TED
Oh, yeah.  Okay.  All right.  Uh, well -- you have any plans?

MARCIA
You're taking me to dinner, right?

TED
Yeah, right.  Absolutely.  Only we can't sleep together.

MARCIA
Why not?

TED
Not... not tonight.

MARCIA
Why not?

TED
Well, I already slept with Helen Moss once today, and I'm not young and active like I used to be.

MARCIA
You'll do anything to catch a murderer, won't you?

EXT.  Another New York street - Day

The pavement is wet from a recent rain.  Carol and Larry come around a corner, and walk toward CAMERA.

LARRY
What an experience.

CAROL
Oh, really.

LARRY
I'm... I'm still vibrating.

CAROL
I know.

LARRY
Incredible.

CAROL 
(turning to look at him, seriously)
You know, Larry, you were surprisingly brave.

LARRY
What do you  mean surprisingly?

CAROL
Yeah.

LARRY
You seem shocked.

CAROL
Well...

LARRY
You know, I'm a pretty good guy, you know.

CAROL
Well, you know... Yeah, I know, uh...

LARRY
Where do you want to go for dinner tonight?

CAROL
(laughing)
I don't know.

LARRY
I... What are you laughing at?

CAROL
You know, Larry, I love you.  I love you.

LARRY
How could you have ever been jealous of Marcia?  Isn't that ridiculous?  Don't you know that I could only love you?

CAROL
You were jealous of Ted.

LARRY
Ted?

CAROL
Yeah. 

LARRY
You've got to be kidding.  Take away his - his elevator shoes, and his fake suntan and his capped teeth... and what do you have?

CAROL
You!

                  Larry laughs, and Carol laughs with him.  In a state of high merriment, they enter the door of their apartment building, reflections of them showing in the glass.

LARRY
(as Carol enters ahead of him)
Right!  I love that.

                 He looks back over his shoulder, facing the CAMERA / audience and grimaces -- like he is sort of laughing along with her, but also going, "Grrrrgh!  She got me again!"...

THE END

CREDITS ROLL

_________________________________

{Manhattan Murder Mystery.  1993.  Director:  Woody Allen.  Screenplay written by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman.  Starring Alan Alda, Woody Allen, Anjelica Huston, Diane Keaton.  
Produced by Robert Greenhut.  Cinematography:  Carlo Di Palma.}

-30-

Blog from a different device?

Can blog post be done from an android Tablet?

There is no mouse, no right-click.
Therefore, no pictures.

And finger-picking touchscreen typing, Slow & Awkward.

As Winnie-the-Pooh would say, "Oh, bother!"

-30-

life imitating art

"Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life."

     ~ Oscar Wilde, Irish poet and playwright.  1854 - 1900.  Noted in 1951 by Jacqueline Bouvier as one of the "People I Wish I Had Known" in an essay contest



------------------------------------------------

INT.  Small room backstage - Day

MEDIUM CLOSE SHOT of Larry entering the room.  He rushes to Carol, and takes her gag off.

LARRY
God!  Are you okay?  Are you okay?

                              He hugs and kisses her.

CAROL
Oh God, Larry!  Oh, Larry, I'm so happy to see you!

LARRY
Jesus, I was, I was never so glad to see somebody in my life.  Are you all right?

                         He starts untying her hands.

CAROL
Yes, I'm all right.

LARRY
You don't know what's going on out there.  I'll never say that life doesn't imitate art again.  I'm -- I'm...Oh, gee...

CAROL
We -- we gotta call the police, Larry.

LARRY
Yes, and-- and... and--a glazier.

CAROL
I know.  Oh, God.

                             He continues removing the ropes from Carol and the chair, unwinding, clumsily getting tangled and pulling at her head and neck.

CAROL
Larry.  Oh, God, Larry.  Oh -- honey.  Ow!  Ow!  Jesus!

                            Larry hugs and kisses her again.

EXT.  Street, police station - Day

Three uniformed policemen are standing on the sidewalk near the door.  Marcia and Ted come out, and walk.

TED
God, it's -- it's so complicated.  I can't... Can't keep track of it all.

MARCIA
Oh, listen.  I'll give it to you one more time.  

(She takes out a cigarette, and Ted lights it with his lighter.)
     Mrs. House had a sister who moved to England many years ago.  She changed her name when she married.  Her husband died.  She moved back to New York recently, a very, very rich widow... but a recluse.  

Mr. and Mrs. House knew they weren't in her will.  They have her over to dinner, she accidentally keels over.  I guessed right, there.

She has a reasonable resemblance to her sister, so they fake it... Pretend Lillian House died.  

They cremate the sister.  

Lillian checks into a fleabag joint... and for several weeks she pretends to be her sister... closing her accounts, liquidating her assets, accumulating big money.


What she didn't realize was that her husband was two-timing her with Helen Moss, this pretty model.  So, he decides not to cut her in, and to go off to -- I don't know ... With his mistress and, uh, keep all the dough.  

So -- he kills Lillian.  He cremates her, or pours molten steel all over her or somethin' -- and -- that's when we came along and tripped him up.

TED
He had some great alibis.

MARCIA
Yeah, that woman that worked for him?

TED
Yeah.

MARCIA
Mrs. Dalton?  She covered for him.  She loved him.  Not that she dreamed he was a murderer.


________________________________

{Manhattan Murder Mystery}

-30-

yeah, that's what Grisby thought

INT.  Movie house-backstage - Day

MEDIUM SHOT on staircase.

Larry runs down the stairs, while we hear the sound from The Lady From Shanghai, the black and white film playing up on the screen.

MICHAEL
(Orson Welles - Voice Over from the film)
That's what Grisby thought.  But of course she meant to kill Grisby, too.  After he'd served his purpose.  Poor howling idiot.

                 Larry has reached the backstage area.  He is behind the screen -- a small part of the screen shows at the side of the SHOT.

MICHAEL
He never even did that.  He went and shot Broome.  And that was not part of the plan.  Broome might have got to the police before he died. 

                            Larry walks around, searching.  We see The Lady From Shanghai up on the screen, and also in reflections in the multiple mirrors that are all around the backstage area, leaning against walls, and against each other, in layers.

MICHAEL
And if the cops traced it to Grisby... and the cops made Grisby talk, he'd spill everything.

MEDIUM SHOT on staircase.  Paul is walking very slowly downstairs.

MICHAEL
(from the movie screen)
And she'd be finished, so she had to shut up Grisby, but quick.  

                      Larry, walking and looking -- trying to find his wife, and avoid Paul House.  Dim light, and mirror reflections, and movie very large above him.

MICHAEL
And I was the fall guy.

FULL SHOT on the screen, where a man is falling down a long slide which curves and swirls.  MUSIC from the film.

MEDIUM CLOSE SHOT on two mirrors, one behind the other.  On the mirrors, we see the reflection of the screen.  Paul is slowly walking from behind the first mirror, his gun in hand.

FULL SHOT on the mirrors, with Larry walking cautiously among them.

INT.  Small room

Carol tied to chair, pushing and struggling and wriggling, trying to free herself from the ropes Paul used to tie her.

INT.  Backstage with mirrors.

ELSA
(Rita Hayworth - Voice Over from the film)
He was mad.  He had to be shot.

MICHAEL
And what about me?

                          Paul, walking cautiously, aggressively, his gun ready.

ELSA
We could have gone off together.

CLOSE SHOT of Larry half-hidden behind a large mirror.

MICHAEL
One who follows his nature, keeps his original nature in the end.

                         Larry inadvertently knocks over a large mirror.  It crashes to the floor.

LARRY
(calling out, tentatively)
Help!  Help!

The CAMERA PANS to Paul, who is walking slowly with his gun pointed toward Larry.

PAUL
They can't see us behind this screen, and they can't hear us with the sound on.  Not even a gunshot.

                   Behind Paul, we see the film on the screen.  We have now reached the famous last scene, which was shot in a hall of mirrors.  Rita Hayworth's face is reflected on the many mirrors in the movie, just like in the actual scene backstage, Paul and Larry are reflected on the many mirrors around the area.

ARTHUR
(Everett Sloane - Voice Over from the movie)
I knew I'd find you two together.

                   Arthur, walking with a cane, is reflected in many mirrors in the movie.  Similarly, Gladys Dalton, who has just entered the backstage, walking with her cane, is also reflected in the mirrors around her.  Cane in one hand, gun in the other.

GLADYS
Hello, Paul.  Didn't you expect me?

MEDIUM SHOT on the mirrors, showing several reflections of Paul.

PAUL
Mrs. Dalton.

CLOSE SHOT on Gladys's face.  While she is talking, the CAMERA PANS away from her, showing her reflection in a mirror.

GLADYS
You made a lot of promises to me, over the years.  And then, you decided to dump me for that young model.

 CAMERA continues PANNING; reflections in mirrors.

PAUL
I never led you on.

GLADYS
It's late for excuses.

PAUL
None of you can prove anything.

FULL SHOT of the screen, showing Arthur and his numerous reflections in mirrors.

ARTHUR
So you'd be foolish to fire that gun.

LOW ANGLE SHOT on the staircase, showing Larry going down the stairs.

ARTHUR
With these mirrors, it's difficult to tell.  You are aiming at me, aren't you?

LARRY
Carol?  Carol?  Carol?

MEDIUM SHOT of Gladys and one of her reflections.

GLADYS
I'm aiming at you, lover.

ARTHUR
Of course, killing you is killing myself.

GLADYS
Of course, killing you is killing myself.

ARTHUR
It's the same thing.

GLADYS
But you know, I'm pretty tired of both of us.

                      She fires her gun twice.

MEDIUM SHOT on many mirror reflections of Paul.  He fires his gun twice.  We hear noises of mirrors being broken by the gunshots, both in the film up on the screen, and on the backstage itself.

MEDIUM SHOT of Gladys and one of her reflections.  She turns around -- not being sure, because of the mirrors, of Paul's exact location.

MEDIUM SHOT of Paul walking.  SOUNDS of mirrors being broken, but we don't know if the sounds are from the real life or the movie being shown.

MEDIUM SHOT of Gladys, and several mirror reflections.

MEDIUM SHOT of the floor of the backstage area.  We see the bottom of the screen and the film projected on it, in which mirrors are being broken.  Paul enters from behind a mirror frame, and falls on the floor.  Gladys's reflection appears in several mirrors.  She stops and looks at Paul's body lying on the floor.

__________________________
{Manhattan Murder Mystery}

-30-

don't bluff a bluffer

EXT.  New York Street - Day

Larry, by the public phone, his face stricken, eyes wide with fright.

LARRY
(speaking into the phone)
        Yes, yes.  Yeah, no, no, no no -- I -- I -- I understand.  I -- uh, yes, no.  I'll be there.  I'll be there.  Yes.

I'll be -- I -- I'll bring your wife's body, she...  In--
In...in the trunk of my car.  Yes, I'll... I -- I promise.  I'll be there.

                            He hangs up and holds the side of the phone box.

LARRY
I don't have his wife's body!
(thinks)
Bluff... bluff....

EXT.  Street - Day

LONG SHOT of a street with iron works stretching above it.

Larry's car is coming toward us, and then turns into the dead-end street where the back entrance of Paul's movie house is located.

["Sing Sing Sing (With A Swing)" plays here, and continues under the scene.  Jazzy and bold, and a little threatening, it accents the action.  To listen on You Tube, you can Google it -- there's a Louis Prima version and a Benny Goodman version.]

Larry's car stops near the entrance.  Paul is waiting for him.

MEDIUM CLOSE SHOT on Larry's car.  He opens the door and gets out.

LARRY
Where's Carol?

                      Paul walks toward the car.  He's got a gun in his hand.

PAUL
First show me Lillian's body.

LARRY
I -- I got it.

PAUL
(incredulous and furious)
There's no way she could have survived that vat of molten steel!

LARRY
No, no, I... I... I got...

PAUL
If you're not bluffing, where is she?

LARRY
Why are you so nervous?  What are you so nervous about?

PAUL
Where?

LARRY
If I don't have her, why are you so nervous?

PAUL
Where is she?

LARRY
I got her in the trunk of my car.

PAUL
Open it.  Come on, now.

LARRY
I...  I got her.

PAUL
If she's not there, I'll put a bullet through your head.  Now, open it!

LARRY
I... I...

                             Larry walks around his car toward the trunk.

PAUL
Come on.  Come on!

                              Larry opens the trunk.



PAUL
Step back!

                         Larry takes something from inside the trunk, then closes it, but it doesn't catch, and floats back up.  Larry walks over to Paul and shows him what he's got in his hand.

LARRY
No, no, I got her.  See, if I don't have her, how come I've got her ring?  
(holding up wedding ring)
I got her ring, there.  This is... This is her ring.

PAUL
I think you're lying!

                              He walks to the open trunk.

LARRY
It's a...  No, no, no, no.  Uh--

                           Paul takes a dummy torso out of the trunk.

PAUL
What is this?  What is this?

                      He throws the dummy back in the trunk.

LARRY
(sheepish)
I could never bluff...!

PAUL
What?



LARRY
I-- I-- I've lost a fortune in cards over the years....

PAUL
Listen to me.

LARRY
I'm -- not a bluffer.

PAUL
I'm going to put a... Get a...

                           He grabs Larry, who fights back.  They struggle.

INT.  Backstage room - Day

Carol, gagged and tied to the chair.  She's rocking back and forth, bumping the chair around, wriggling her shoulders and arms, trying to loosen her bonds.

As she struggles --

Outside, Larry and Paul House continue to struggle.  A light rain is falling.

Larry tears himself out of Paul's grip; Paul fires his gun; Larry takes off running -- with the wild jazz wailing in the soundtrack, we watch Larry run away from CAMERA, hightailing it into the movie house, his jacket flapping behind him....

{Manhattan Murder Mystery.  1993}

-30-

...and I have a package you might want...

LARRY
Hello, Mr. House?   This is Larry Lipton.  I -- I got a -- a package I think you're gonna want.  Of course it's gonna cost you, uh, two hundred thousand dollars in... in small, unmarked bills.  Or -- or... or large marked ones, if... if -- if you want to go that route.

INT.  Paul's Movie House - Day

In a backstage room, Paul stands with phone in hand.  Carol is tied to a chair in front of him, with a white cloth gag taped over her mouth.  

Paul talks on the phone; CAMERA ZOOMS IN on Carol's frightened face.

PAUL
And I have a package you might want, Mr. Lipton.  If you ever want to see your wife alive again, you'll do as I say.

EXT.  Larry at pay phone.

LARRY
Oh, really?  Well, I think you're bluffing.  Yeah, don't... don't ever try and bluff a bluffer.  Yeah, if... if you got Carol, put her on the phone.

                        Paul takes the gag off of Carol and puts the phone to her face.

CAROL
(crying a little)
Larry, Larry, help me!  I'm here, Larry!

                   Paul puts the cloth back over her mouth.

CAROL
Mmumph - mmrmph --

LARRY
(looking very frightened)
Oh my... Oh my God.  Don-- don't hurt her!



PAUL
I'll tell you exactly where to meet me, and you bring that package I want.  Now, once I have it and I'm safely gone, you'll get your wife back.  Otherwise, I'll -- kill her!



______________________________

{Manhattan Murder Mystery}

-30-

armed and packing index cards

"There's nothing wrong with you that can't be cured with a little Prozac and a polo mallet."----------------------------- the break-out line of this movie -- maybe of all Woody Allen's movies of the 1990s....

     During the '90s, there was a governor who acted kind of like how Trump acts now:  sort of outrageous, camera-hog stuff.  

     One cold gray day, riding in a car with some people returning from a graveyard, someone asked me about that governor and I said, "When I listen to him I sometimes think of a line from a recent Woody Allen movie -- There's nothing wrong with him that couldn't be cured with a little Prozac and a polo mallet."


     "How about just the polo mallet?" asked a social acquaintance from the front seat.


     That quick -- and I doubt he had even seen the movie.

          When I got home, I wrote that down on a 3 x 5 index card.

___________________________________________

{Manhattan Murder Mystery}

INT.  Cafeteria - Day

Ted and Helen at their table.

TED
When was that?

HELEN
Before the drama prize.

TED
The drama prize?

HELEN
And -- Mm-hm.

TED
I don't remember the...

HELEN
Remember?  Remember?

TED
What?

HELEN
"Out, out, damn spot?"  The topless "Macbeth"?

TED
Oh, yeah.  Oh, for the fraternity party, yeah, yeah.

HELEN
Yeah.

TED
Topless "Macbeth."  I don't...  How could I forget that?  It's just...

EXT.  New York Street - Day

Larry is at a pay phone -- he picks up the receiver, puts coin in slot, and starts dialing, glancing at a piece of paper he's holding.

LARRY
Hello, Mr. House?  This is Larry Lipton.  I -- I got a -- a package I think you're gonna want.  Of course it's gonna cost you, uh, two hundred thousand dollars in... in small, unmarked bills.  Or -- or... or large marked ones, if... if -- if you want to go that route.

-30-

elect clowns -- get a circus

LARRY
You got stuff in common with Ted, right?  You can cook together with Ted, or you can take your clothes off and baste a chicken with him.

CAROL
Oh, right.  Oh, oh, well, what about you and Marcia, huh?  What does she teach you besides poker? - That's what I'd like to know, okay?

LARRY
Mud wrestling.  Is that what you want to hear?  Nothing, I'm her editor.

CAROL
Look, I think the time has come for us to reevaluate our lives.

LARRY
I reevaluated our lives.  I -- I got a ten, you got a six.

The CAMERA STOPS following them, and stays stationary while they walk away from it, up the street.

CAROL
Well listen, I think maybe I will go back to seeing my shrink.

LARRY
Oh, you don't have to see your shrink.  There's nothing wrong with you that can't be cured with a little Prozac and a polo mallet.

CAROL
Just -- I just would like to be alone for a while, okay, Larry?

LARRY
What are you talk...

CAROL
Just... just, I... I... Uh, okay?

LONG SHOT of Carol walking quickly away while Larry stands still, and watches her go.

INT.  A cafeteria - Day

A typical New York cafeteria, with tables and chairs set up all around the room.  In the background there's a long counter, where food is displayed; customers lining up.  At a slightly isolated table on the left, Ted and Helen are talking.

HELEN
So, I have this, like, really crazy father and everything.

TED
Oh, yeah?

CAMERA ZOOMS to a MEDIUM SHOT on Ted and Helen.

HELEN
And, yeah.  He's wanted, like, in three states.  He has a terrible driving record.  So we had to move from Virginia then to New Jersey, and...

TED
So, your father is wanted in three states for -- driving?  Really?

HELEN
Yeah, for driving.  Yeah.  So I moved to Hackensack, and then... Well, anyway, I was in all these different contests and I was even, uh, Miss, uh, Teenage Passaic.

TED
Oh, how wonderful.

INT.  Larry and Carol's apartment, the front hall - Day

The front door opens and Carol enters.  She puts her purse on a table and walks down the hall.

Framed pictures are lined up evenly on the wall.  Carol goes into a walk-in closet, to decide what to wear.  

The CAMERA PANS gently, silently back through the hallway, past the row of pictures with their glinting glass, back up to where Carol came in through the door on the right.

From the left, now, the tall anxious figure of Paul House emerges.

He begins to make his way noiselessly down the hall, toward CAMERA; toward the closet.

____________________________________

{Manhattan Murder Mystery}

-30-