som1950

"The Pleasure of Love in Iran" is an out-take from Agnès Varda's "One SIngs, the Other Doesn't." It mostly shows tiles and architectural detail from Isfahan, Iran. Native to Isfahan Darius is showing his visiting French girlfriend, "Apple" (the one who sings) around. She sees the cupolas as being breast-like and the minarets phallic, he translates some poetry for her, and she writes one (on toilet paper). Only the title and a glimpse of "Pleasure" made it into "One Sings," which clocks in at just over two hours. Darius is a character, the major male character I'd say, in "One Sings."

The short is available as a supplement to the Criterion edition of "One Sings."

Sal Mineo was born in 1939, and in 1956 was the right age for the Studio One original of "Dino." (also written by Reginal Rose, directed by Paul Nickell). He had a lot of emoting to do, wound up very tight from surviving reform school (where he was placed at the age of twelve) and a brutish father (Rudy Bond). A year after "Rebel without a Cause," for which Mineo received an Oscar nomination, he took on a role more like that James Dean played than the one he had played, with Pat DeSimone being the younger boy looking up to Mineo's Dino. Also, Dino connected with a girl, albeit Toni Halloran was considerably less glamorous than Natalie Wood. Ralph Meeker played the therapist Dino resists. The teleplay is quite upbeat, for all the stürm und drang of the needy but prickly parolee.

Mineo was nominated for an Emmy and reprised the role in a 1957 movie version with Brian Keith as the therapist and DeSimone reprising the role of the younger brother and gang member.

Consider that Elizabeth Taylor was less credible as Alexandra de Largo in a remake of "Sweet Bird of Youth" than Page, even as a movie star! I totally agree that the "Stage 67" version (and some others, especially "Noon Wine" with Jason Robards and Olivia de Haviliand) should be available on DVD. (IMDB DOES include that version under "Stage 67" and even has a link to that page on the 1997 remake's page, btw.) I also agree that other characters are more developed in the longer version (quel surprise!), though I thought the other older cousins (in addition to Sook) were well-portrayed. I think the production values of the 1997 version were probably higher than for the 1967 one, though Page lives on in my memory. Patty Duke is less mannered, but endearing, and the story of the boy about to lose a playmate old enough to be his grandmother — after their last fruitcake baking orgy — remains as poignant and as clear as in the 1967 version.