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Gary A. Braunbeck

Author • Editor • Actor


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LATEST POSTS


COMING BACK SOON…

Janet Harriett August 27, 2020 0 Comments

Look for the new GaryBraunbeck.com coming soon. In the meantime, keep up with
all the latest Gary A. Braunbeck news at his Facebook fan page.

Uncategorized


OF SUBTEXT, SUBTLETY, AND COMING IN AFTER THE FACT

Gary Braunbeck February 19, 2018 0 Comments

I’m kind of a snob when it comes to fiction — horror or otherwise — and don’t
mind admitting it. This gets me into a lot of trouble when it comes to reading
for pleasure, something I have less and less time for these days. I often make
the mistake of applying (sometimes consciously, mostly not) my own storytelling
standards to the work of those I read, and that’s just silly (as well as being a
habit I am fighting to break); if everyone wrote the same kind of stuff I do,
and wrote it the same way I do, “variety” would be the stuff of fairy tales. And
everyone would be depressed and grumpy all the time.

But every once in a while I start to ask questions about the fiction being
produced in the horror field, simply because I’m still stubborn enough to want
to see the field expand beyond its popular definition.
(more…)

Uncategorized

writing


GARY A. BRAUNBECK ACCEPTS BRAM STOKER AWARD

Gary Braunbeck February 19, 2018 1 Comment



Uncategorized


BOOK TRAILER FOR MR. HANDS

Gary Braunbeck February 19, 2018 0 Comments



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FAR DARK FIELDS

Gary Braunbeck February 19, 2018 0 Comments



Uncategorized


MOVIE REVIEW: GRAND PRIX

Gary Braunbeck January 4, 2009 0 Comments

In 1966, director John Frankenheimer turned out a pair of films that could not
possibly be more different in subject matter and execution: Seconds and Grand
Prix. Frankenheimer did not want to make Grand Prix, but was forced by the
studio to do so after Seconds died a miserable death at the box office.

Grand Prix, on the other hand, was a tremendous hit, and remained
Frankenheimer’s most financially successful film until 1998’s Ronin. The script
by veteran playwright Robert Alan Arthur (who co-wrote All That Jazz with the
late Bob Fosse), ultimately focuses too much on the soap-opera level problems of
the drivers and their families, but it’s when the film gets on the racetrack
that Frankenheimer and cinematographer Lionel “Curly” Lindon (who did a season
as Night Gallery‘s director of photography) blindside you.

When faced with the challenge of filming a lengthy race in such a way to make it
interesting for film audiences, Frankenheimer decided he wanted to have the
camera become part of the actual race, so he and Lindon designed a special
camera and harness that could be attached to the front driver’s-side of the car,
giving the illusion that the viewer was riding on the hood during the race.

You’ve seen this same shot about a million times over the years in every car
chase that’s been filmed. You have John Frankenheimer and Lionel Lindon to thank
for it. Until Grand Prix, no director had ever attempted to film a race or chase
in this manner; nowadays, a director would feel like a fool not to include at
least one such shot in an action film.


MOVIE INFORMATION

Running Time: 179 min.

Rating: PG

Director: John Frankenheimer

Screenwriters: John Frankenheimer, Robert Alan Arthur

Cinematography: Lionel Lindon

Cast:

> James Garner: Pete Aron
> Eva Marie Saint: Louise Frederickson
> Yves Montand: Jean-Pierre Sarti
> Toshiro Mifune: Izo Yamura
> Brian Bedford: Scott Stoddard
> Jessica Walter: Pat Stoddard
> Antonio Sabato: Nino Barlini
> Francoise Hardy: Lisa
> Adolfo Celi: Agostini Manetta
> Claude Dauphin: Hugo Simon
> Enzo Fiermonte: Guido

movie, movie review


MOVIE REVIEW: THE SWIMMER

Gary Braunbeck January 4, 2009 0 Comments

1968’s The Swimmer (based on the short story by John Cheever) was a labor of
love for its producer/star Burt Lancaster. In it he plays a businessman who, at
film’s start, has decided to spend a bright summer Sunday afternoon making his
way from pool to pool, swimming his way across suburbia to his own home. He
lives in an upscale and trendy community where everyone knows everyone else in
their chosen clique, so it comes as no surprise to anyone when Burt wanders into
their back yard and tells them he is swimming home. They laugh. They make
martinis. They talk about what a card Lancaster is and what a simply mah-velous
party story his little escapade will make. It seems like another Peyton Place
soap opera at first.  But then people start asking about his wife and daughters:

“I heard what happened…”

“I was so sorry to hear…”

“How are you feeling now?…”

“I didn’t think you’d want to be around anyone for a while, not after…”

What exactly did happen in Lancaster’s life that has everyone treating him
either with extreme caution or overzealous joviality? Where exactly is he coming
from at the beginning of the film? (Our first sight of him comes as he’s running
in his swimming trunks through the woods, already sopping wet, yet he tells the
first back yard gathering he appears in that theirs will be his “first” swim on
his way home.) And why can’t he tell anyone what he’s been doing lately?

These key questions are skirted for the first half of the film, but it’s the
very lack of ready answers that provides a good deal of tension. Hints are
dropped, concerned looks are exchanged, surreptitious gestures made behind
Lancaster’s back, and soon the viewer wonders about Lancaster’s mental stability
as, piece by piece, the horror of his life comes together like a jigsaw puzzle
that’s missing the last piece–which may be the reason The Swimmer is such a
turn-off for many viewers: there is no direct and final answer to any of the
questions, no last-minute revelation, but if you pay close attention, everything
you need to know is there.

Lancaster gives a typically terrific performance, one full of both internal and
physical catharses; every pool is a new baptismal fount where he washes away
past sins, yet by the time he reaches the next pool, a different load of sins
have made themselves known.


MOVIE INFORMATION

Running Time: 95 minutes

Rating: PG

Directors: Frank Perry, Sydney Pollack

Screenwriter: Eleanor Perry

Cast:

> Burt Lancaster: Ned Merrill
> Janet Landgard: Julie Ann Hooper
> Janice Rule: Shirley Abbott
> Tony Bickley: Donald Westerhazy
> Marge Champion: Peggy Forsburgh
> Nancy Cushman: Mrs. Halloran
> Bill Fiore: Howie Hunsacker
> David Garfield: Ticket Seller
> Kim Hunter: Betty Graham
> Rose Gregorio: Sylvia Finney
> Charles Drake: Howard Graham
> Bernie Hamilton: Halloran’s Chauffeur
> House Jameson: Chester Halloran
> Jimmy Joyce: Jack Finney
> Michael Kearney: Kevin Gilmartin Jr.

movie, movie review


QUADROPHENIA

Gary Braunbeck November 11, 2008 0 Comments

By its musical structure alone, The Who’s Quadrophenia opened my eyes and my
intellect to the endless possibilities offered by the metaphor; add to that its
compelling and challenging narrative structure, and you’ve got something that,
to my mind, qualifies as a masterpiece.

Quadrophenia centers on a young kid in 1960s England named Jimmy. Jimmy comes
from a hard-luck, working class family. He wants to be popular among his
friends. He also wants to be a good son, a good worker, and a great lover. In
the midst of trying to be all things to everyone, he realizes that he presents
four very distinctive personalities to the world over the course of his days:
the tough guy, the romantic, the crazy fun friend, and the troubled son. All of
these separate personalities are represented by a distinct musical theme, and
each personality encompasses only one aspect of the real Jimmy; none of them
represent who he is in his heart. On top of all this, he’s saddled with having a
deeper insight into the human spirit than most people think a person of his
station is capable. He admits that even he doesn’t know who he really is. Being
a confused angry young man with rampaging hormones, it doesn’t take long before
certain aspects of his other personalities start bleeding over into the parts of
his life where they don’t belong.

There’s much, much more to Quadrophenia’s story, but that’s the spine of it.

This sounds like a ham-fisted cliche, but hearing this album for the first time
changed my life. On side 4 of the album there’s an instrumental piece called
“The Rock” which remains for me one of the most amazing and moving pieces of
music — and that’s music, period, not just rock music — that I’ve ever heard.

In Tommy, the central character’s epiphany is conveyed through words and music;
but in Quadrophenia, it is conveyed solely through music. “The Rock” starts off
by repeating each of the four themes separately, then, one by one, begins
overlapping them until the four themes blend seamlessly into one, creating a
fifth, unique, defining theme as Jimmy finally realizes who he really is.

That was a revelation — ahem … uh, er … discovery — for the 12-year-old me. Pete
Townshend and The Who had pulled an incredible musical sleight-of-hand, created
a musical Rubik’s Cube that I hadn’t even realized existed until the puzzle was
completed.

I knew then that I wanted to someday create a piece or body of work that did
what Pete Townshend had done with Quadrophenia’s music; present you with a group
of seemingly disparate pieces/themes that in the end converged into a unified
whole that was not only rewarding in and of itself (as “The Rock” most
definitely is), but also enriched the sum of its parts.

“The Rock” is a perfect metaphor for what we as human beings strive toward
during every moment between that first slap on the ass and the last handful of
soil tossed on the lid of the coffin; call it the psychological equivalent of
string theory or whatever you will: we strive to bring the various Selves
together to form the whole that is uniquely ‘me’ or ‘you’, all the while
treasuring the journey that has led to this time, this breath, this moment.

music


THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE

Gary Braunbeck November 11, 2008 0 Comments


1962’S THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE

A lot — a lot — has been written and said about The Manchurian Candidate, the
film that put John Frankenheimer on the map as a director. How effective you’ll
find the film today depends on your personal level of cynicism.

Candidate — a satire in the truest sense of the word — deliberately sets out to
make the viewer uncertain as to whether or not it’s supposed to funny.
Admittedly, some of the scenes in the film have an aura of comedy about them
which I think was intentional, while others (scenes obviously intended to be
serious) unintentionally draw chuckles. Laurence Harvey’s British accent seems
ludicrously out of place for a veteran of the Korean War, especially since he’s
supposed to be American, but once you get past his voice, you cannot help but
admire his rich, complex performance.

(more…)

movie, movie review


MOVIE REVIEW: SECONDS

Gary Braunbeck November 6, 2008 0 Comments

Seconds is arguably director John Frankenheimer’s best film. Based on the
excellent novel by David Ely, in it we meet middle-aged bank executive Arthur
Hamilton (John Randolph in a masterfully shaded performance) whose life is so
miserable he walks as if the earth might open at any moment and swallow him
whole. His job drains him of humanity. His marriage is hollow and cold. His
self-respect is rattling its last breath. He doesn’t know how things came to
this. He knows that he was once a decent man but he isn’t any longer and he
can’t understand why. He feels alien to the world around him.

Then one day a stranger in the subway hands him a card with an address written
on it; the stranger knows Hamilton’s name, and as soon as we see the expression
on Hamilton’s face, we know that he has some idea why he’s been handed this slip
of paper.

That night Hamilton is called by a supposedly dead friend. “I have a wonderful
new life!” he tells Hamilton. “I’m happy, old buddy, and I want to do the same
for you!”

It seems there are these “people” who can give you a new life. A new face. A new
voice and identity. They can give you a life where you are successful at the
thing you always dreamed of (in Hamilton’s case, being a famous artist). It
costs a lot, and once the process has begun there is no turning back.

Hamilton, after much soul-searching, decides to go through with it, and embarks
on a chilling journey to the secret headquarters where these “people” make
arrangements for a new life. (He is taken there in the back of a meat delivery
truck–some of the most unnerving black-humored symbolism I’ve ever encountered.)
There he meets with the company president (Will Geer, Grandpa Walton himself,
who is quietly and absolutely terrifying in the role) who has created this
program. The decision made, the work begins, and soon Hamilton is transformed
into the younger, more vital Antiochus “Tony” Wilson (played by Rock Hudson),
given a new profession, a new home, a new life. Things are idyllic for a while,
but eventually Hamilton’s conscience and its questions about his old life drive
him to return to his widow in an effort to find out where he went wrong.

Frankenheimer always dealt with extremes in his best pictures, and Seconds is
possibly the most extreme film he ever made. His penchant for lean storytelling
and muscular pacing is at its peak here, as is his use of his
ought-to-be-patented foreground framing technique.

The film’s biggest surprise, perhaps, is the performance of the late Rock
Hudson. In a role originally slated to be played by Laurence Olivier (who the
studio decided didn’t have Hudson’s box-office clout), Hudson displays a depth
and power that viewers of Pillow Talk would never have thought possible.

Hudson’s face is a subtle prism of conflicting emotions; every joy, every
sorrow, every triumph and regret is there, etched into his expressions like
words on a headstone. When something hits at his core, you see it on his
face–and not in any heavy-handed, watch-me, watch-me way; Hudson’s performance
is one of impressive constriction, understatement, and substance, heart-felt and
affecting, and (like the superb performance of Tony Curtis in The Boston
Strangler) a rare glimpse at a good but limited actor’s one moment of true and
undeniable greatness–which gives this film an added dose of bitter irony when
viewed today: had Hudson lived, would he have wanted a second chance to prove
his worth as an actor of substance and power?


MOVIE INFORMATION

Release Date: 1966
Running Time: 107 minutes
Rating: R (disturbing sequences and some nudity)
Color: B&W
Director: John Frankenheimer
Cinematographer: James Wong Howe
Writers: Lewis John Carlino (screenplay), David Ely (novel)
Cast:

> Rock Hudson: Antiochus ‘Tony’ Wilson
> Salome Jens: Nora Marcus
> John Randolph: Arthur Hamilton
> Will Geer: Old Man
> Jeff Corey: Mr. Ruby
> Richard Anderson: Dr. Innes
> Murray Hamilton: Charlie
> Karl Swenson: Dr. Morris
> Khigh Dhiegh: Davalo
> Frances Reid: Emily Hamilton
> Wesley Addy: John
> John Lawrence: Texan
> Elisabeth Fraser: Blonde
> Dodie Heath: Sue Bushman (as Dody Heath)
> Robert Brubaker: Mayberry

movie, movie review


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Production Photos

Gary A. Braunbeck as George and Colleen Cunningham as Martha in the Curtain
Players production of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
Gary A. Braunbeck as George and Colleen Cunningham as Martha in the Curtain
Players production of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
Gary as George in Virginia Woolf
The cast of A Delicate Balance.


Recent Posts

 * Coming Back Soon…
 * Of Subtext, Subtlety, and Coming In After The Fact
 * Gary A. Braunbeck Accepts Bram Stoker Award
 * Book Trailer for Mr. Hands
 * Far Dark Fields

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