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AMERICAN HISTORY X – Anne Dudley
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Tony Kaye, the director of American History X, was so incensed when New Line Pictures re-edited his film against his wishes, he threatened to remove his name from the final cut and replace it with Humpty Dumpty. He believed that the core of the film, its very essence, had been stripped away by the barbarous production company, and that the finished product was now only half the movie it used to be. Having seen New Line’s end result, I can only wonder just what Kaye’s original cut was like, because as it stands American History X is still one of the most emotionally shattering, intellectually stimulating, totally amazing movies I have seen in years. Read more…
Paul Misraki, 1908-1998
Composer and songwriter Paul Misraki died in Paris on October 29, 1998, at the age of 90.
One of the most prolific figures in French popular music and cinema, Misraki enjoyed a career spanning more than six decades, writing hundreds of songs and scores for well over 100 films. Although best remembered in France for a succession of enormously popular songs, film-music enthusiasts know him for works including And God Created Woman, Les Cousins, Le Doulos and Jean-Luc Godard’s science-fiction classic Alphaville.
Paul Misrachi was born in Constantinople, then part of the Ottoman Empire, on January 28, 1908, into a Jewish family of Italian ancestry. He spent part of his childhood in Bucharest before the family settled in Paris, where he received a classical musical education and developed an enthusiasm for jazz and popular song. His professional breakthrough came when he joined Ray Ventura’s celebrated orchestra, Les Collégiens, initially as a pianist and arranger and soon as one of its principal songwriters.
During the 1930s Misraki became one of France’s most successful popular composers. His songs included “Tout va très bien, Madame la Marquise,” “Qu’est-ce qu’on attend pour être heureux?” and “Ça vaut mieux que d’attraper la scarlatine,” witty and immediately memorable pieces that became closely associated with Ventura and the carefree musical culture of pre-war France. He also began composing for films, an activity which eventually became a major part of his career. Read more…
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