Lives of Quiet Desperation: In praise of William Holden

"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them."
- Henry David Thoreau

My favourite actor from the golden age of Hollywood is William Holden.

Sure, the man was gorgeous. But beyond that, I've always been drawn to the type of characters he tended to play: the cynical, defeated anti-hero. The man who "could have been" but knows damn well that he never will be. I found this quote by Michael Atkinson, in a piece called "William Holden: A Different Kind of Hero", that sums up his appeal quite nicely:

Holden was 'on the surface one of the Hollywood century’s typical all-purpose leading men, but beneath it [he was] the keeper of poisoned secrets, and a living embodiment of America’s postwar self-doubt and idealistic failure. He seethed with disappointment as a persona, and we all knew what he meant. Holden was the anti-Duke, an avatar of hopelessness, shrouded in the smiling physique of an all-American boyo. For every high school football star turned pot-bellied gym teacher, every prom queen turned food-stamp mom, and every good-hearted B student turned Cracker Barrel waiter, Holden was the walking, talking, growling truth, in a sea of showbiz lies. He always radiated the confidence and physical grace of an Ivy League wunderkind, and his timing and pitch were always perfect. Yet in his voice and eyes lurked a crushed dream."

Like all studio contracted actors of the day, he made a lot of forgettable movies; but when he was great, he was sublime. Perhaps his greatest role was as gigolo Joe Gillis in "Sunset Boulevard"; a shamed man who pays the price for selling out his principles. I always associate him most with Cmdr. Shears, the bitter, self-loathing everyman, torn between his own selfishness and inescapable fate in "The Bridge on the River Kwai". Holden was a master of portraying characters who, either as a result of their own poor choices or by cruel destiny, are painfully aware that they are in a situation from which they can never escape. I have always found this to be a powerful theme.

Random Shuffle

When things get busy in my personal life I tend to have difficulty focusing on anything for very long. Tonight my thoughts are all over the place, so I'll put the blog on "random shuffle" and share a smattering of things that have been occupying my head space as of late.

Flickr. I've been addicted to Flickr for a quite some time. When I first got a Flickr account my intention was to have a place to post my drawings and photos (which I still do). A nice bonus of adding your stuff to Flickr is that total strangers will look at your stuff and often comment on it or even add it as a favourite, which is pretty cool. Getting feedback on your work is always great, especially when it's from an unbiased source. Lately I find myself trolling other people's Flickr sites and discovering a lot of cool stuff along the way. Sure, some people use it as a repository for their boring party photos and such, but you can also find a lot of really interesting creative and artistic work there too. It's great for archival information too. Admittedly, I can waste many hours just creeping around on Flickr.

kijiji. It's a well known & documented fact that I am a cheapskate. I like to bargain hunt and I also like old, retro things. Ok, I have yet to actually buy anything off kijiji... but I check it constantly just in case something I want ever shows up there! With the move into the townhouse brings the need for some new (to me) household items. Right now I'm in the market for bedroom furniture. I want something high quality, in good taste -- and I want to pay next to nothing for it! I realize it is highly unlikely I will ever find anything there... but I've gotta look! After browsing a great number of ads there, I've come to the conclusion that (a) most people have no idea how to use a digital camera (pictures, when provided, are usually blurry and displayed sideways!) and (b) some people don't really give a shit about presentation, or accurately describing their item or even about spelling.

Movies. I've never been what you'd call a "movie buff" but I am slowly getting around to watching some on my "want to see" list. I've been having a weekly "movie date" night with my husband which is a nice change of pace for us. He likes romantic comedies, whereas my taste usually gravitates more toward older classics or rough & tumble escapism so we're enjoying a mix. Usually whatever we can borrow for free is what we end-up watching (... remember what I said about being a cheapskate?) Showing this weekend: "The Wild Bunch", "The Great Escape" and "American Graffiti". Mmmm... young Harrison Ford.... To Flickr!!!

"Heroes" Since this series premiered I've tried to follow it but only caught episodes sporadically. I borrowed season 1 on DVD and am finally watching it in sequence. Liking it a lot so far... although Hiro's childlike goofiness and constant squealing grates on my nerves. Thankfully I really enjoy the rest of the ensemble cast so they're a good buffer! My current favourite series is still "Lost", which gets more deliciously convoluted every episode and I love it. I can't wait for the season 5 DVD to be released so I can re-watch it.

Music. I haven't really been listening to anything new lately. I'm sort of going through a dry period right now where nothing new has captured my attention. I've been listening to Daft Punk "Alive" a lot, and I got a newly remastered double CD of The Smiths a while ago that I'll probably blog about later.

And to shift gears for a moment: Is it just me, or have you noticed an increasing amount of musical plagiarism on top 40 radio these days? The radio plays at my work so I am subjected to it all day long, and it seems every other song uses the music of some hit from the 70s or 80s with new, irrelevant vocals over top? It's like some vapid karaoke. And I have yet to hear any song that has been improved upon in this way -- just the opposite actually-- which begs the question, why bother? What a lazy, obvious cash grab that is! More and more I am learning that pop music really is just for teenagers. A 3 minute pop song is just the aural equivalent of fast food anyway; there comes a point when your tastes change or you just outgrow it and you really can't stomach it anymore. People take their musical taste very personally and seriously (myself included -- I can be as big of a music snob as anyone!) but in the end it just boils down to one thing: ENTERTAINMENT. When I was in high school we had an English assignment where we had to choose a song and prove that it was poetry. Most of the class failed that assignment. (I didn't. I chose the alternate assignment: to do a literary comparison of a song to a specific piece of poetry). Anyway, to me it proved conclusively that no matter how strongly you may feel about it, Bon Jovi or Poison isn't poetry. Rhyming couplets set to a catchy tune does not make art. Anyway, maybe my musical memory is too long. The entire evolution of popular music seems to be the bastardization of something that has already been done. Meh. I think it's just my old fartism setting in.

Tenko

Does anybody else remember this British tv series, "Tenko"?

Several years ago they re-ran this on the Vision tv network on Sunday nights and I became hooked on it. I would love to find this on DVD someday.

If I were to try to describe the premise, it would sound absolutely horrible in a "women in prison" kind of way but actually it was a very engaging and quality drama (in the typical British style). It was wonderfully depressing. Think "Bridge on the River Kwai", only with an all-female cast.

Read a much better description here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenko_(TV_series)

I can't even find any clips on YouTube except the opening & closing credits and a cheesy fan video. o_O

I seem to have an affinity for stories about imprisonment. Must be something psychological about my own feelings of being trapped in my job, etc!

"Secrets in the Shadows: The Art & Life of Gene Colan" by Tom Field

"Gene's work is like the seam on a black stocking -- a glimpse of it leads you to want to see more, and yet you can't, and you're seduced into looking harder. This has to be played softly; it should never look like it's trying too hard."

- from the introduction by Glen David Gold

When I read the above quote in the introduction to "Secrets in the Shadows: The Art & Life of Gene Colan" I realized why I have always been attracted to Colan's artwork. In the overly exaggerated 4 colour world of comic book art where the standard was set by the bold, forceful graphics of Jack Kirby, and later evolved into the more aggressive, "in your face" styles of hotshot artists like Rob Liefeld or Todd McFarland, Gene Colan stands apart with his subtle, atmospheric tones and the soft interplay of light and shadows. It is often said that a great storyteller won't just "show you" what's going on but rather draw you into their world. This is the source of Gene Colan's greatness. And he doesn't beat you over the head with it! His pencils can convey so much through mood and impression; whether it is the mysterious astral plane of Doctor Strange or down foggy alleyways in search of Dracula, Colan's art can give you a wonderfully disoriented and decidedly creepy feeling!


As I've mentioned before, I tend to shy away from biographies... but I will read them when they lean more toward an insightful career retrospective. "Secrets in the Shadows" is a terrific example of this. Sure, a significant chunk of the opening part of the book is biography but even it is supplemented by lots of early artwork and meaningful anecdotes. Fields presents a delightful contrast, introducing us to an extremely timid and fretful boy -- afraid of the dark, the dead, and even afraid of an antique chair! -- who became the man whose name would be forever linked with one of the most evil characters in all of horror. Without dallying too long, the book gives us a quick but succinct account of Colan's early days in the military and as a young artist in the burgeoning comics industry in the 50s and 60s. Then we get to the reason we all came to the party: his work at Marvel.

The real "prize inside" of the book are the chapters "in conversation" with Colan and his greatest collaborators: Stan Lee, Tom Palmer, Steve Gerber, and his wife, Adrienne Colan. Here you get a glimpse of "Gentleman Gene" and the people who understood his talent and helped to bring out the best in his work. Until I read this book, I guess I never realized how misunderstood and under appreciated Colan's art is, and how viciously maligned it was by a few well known comic creators. (Suffice to say I lost a lot of respect for John Byrne after reading this book!) The book also includes a fun little experiment wherein different artists (including Byrne!) attempt to ink over Colan's pencils, showing what a difficult task that can be, surely giving fans a renewed appreciation for the skills of Tom Palmer! One piece in the book that I found particularly interesting shows the same scene from "Stewart the Rat" done by artist Tom Sutton and as done by Colan, effectivley illustrating the difference in pacing and storytelling technique.

Whether you're a fan or a detractor of Colan's art, "Secrets in the Shadows" will help you gain a greater appreciation of his unique style. There's really no secret as to which camp I belong... and this seems like a good time to show off a piece from my personal collection: a Gene Colan original featuring Dr Strange vs Dracula!