Movies #3

December 21, 2010

Jim Driscoll to Daniel Gould

 

Great to hear from you, Dan.  The last time I saw you , I suppose, was at that reunion you mentioned.  I don't recall Janet Richard's interruption, but I do remember that you were not doing so well. 

As I recall, you were going through a divorce or some kind of dissolution, and feeling really down.  Having " been there, and done that",  I could truly empathize.

In answer to your question regarding LA, I left Detroit 12/18/70 (just passed the 40th anniversary!) , in contempt of court, refusing to obey the court's ruling over my son's change of custody back to my ex-wife,  after a year with "Little Tim".  She had remarried (the guy that helped break us up), and I was not going to surrender my son.  She was supposed to pick him up at 9:00AM on that Saturday, her usual visitation time, and that was to be the exchange point. The night before...I sold my home, dispersed my belongings, packed my car, and Sat morning my son, my dog, and I left for California at 8:00AM ...ON THE LAM !!  All I had in California was a job (transfer with GMAC) . Took us 6 days...we arrived in Santa Monica, Ca., on Christmas Eve !!

Stayed there unthreatened until the following September  I'm writing a book on the whole experience..."BORDERS OF MY HEART"....of which is about 70% completed. You'll have to buy the book to see how that odyssey turned out. - - - - - HO-HO-HO.

Speaking of books, and old B-movies, and the Time theatre, all of these elements come together in   " REFLECTIONS OF A B-MOVIE JUNKIE ", which I had published in late 2008. 

It's a tribute (more of a homage) to the old B-Movie genres of the Saturday Matinees of primarily the '40's and '50's, most of which I saw at primarily the Time, and also the Lakewood theatres.

It primarily discusses the B-Western, Comedy Teams,  Jungle Adventures,  Sci-Fi / Fantasy,  Horror,  and the Serial.

I wrote it out of my childhood love for these clunkers  (I also collect them on DVD & VHS, along with some of their movie posters....and comic books, mostly of the old Western Heroes).  I think you would thoroughly enjoy this book---Google it under: Jim Driscoll or the title.  It's a little pricey, due to the number of pages (about 460) , over which I have no control.  Hard cover is about $34.99.... softcover around $24.99.  There is a collage of mini-posters of the relevant films after each chapter.   I'll send you a postcard, if I can get your address.  The book opens as I stand in line at the Time on Saturday afternoon, when I found out that the price had increased to 11 cents....and me with the bare-bones standard 9 cents in my pockets that afternoon.  It goes downhill from there!!!

And, I remember vividly "GUN CRAZY" .  I saw it at the Lakewood theatre on a Friday afternoon, and returned to what I thought was a new program on Saturday...being used to going Sat & Sun to different programs. But, as this was a Fri-Sat duo, you guessed it.....I walked in on the same movie I had seen the day before.........."GUN CRAZY" !!   I got my money back though...as I recall. I saw it again at a revival theatre in Palo Alto, Ca., near Stanford Univ, about 7 years ago.....a little refurbished theatre called the Stanford....showing great double bill tributes to the past.  Went there a lot when I lived just outside of S.F.,  from 2000 to 2005.  I really liked that film, though I couldn't recall the ending when I saw it again so many years later. 

I also loathed LA....but I worked there 30 years, at GMAC.  Know ever alley & byway there. Moved to SF to be close to my grandkids, after retiring in 2000.  That "Little Tim" had grown up, married, and provided me with 3 fantastic grandchildren. In 2005, he was promoted again to British Columbia, where he heads up the operations for Enterprise Rent-A-Car (also National & Alamo).  So...I followed 3 months later!  And here I be!!!

I live about 4 blocks from the Canadian border.  I am pecking out this note on his computer, about 15 minutes north, in Surrey, BC. The family goes down to a home they have in Templeton, Ca, for the Christmas holidays.  Templeton is near Paso Robles, in Central California...near the coast. I stayed back...house watching and chasing BC women....who, BTW, are all seemingly in much better shape that US women!!!

FAVORITE ALL-TIME FILMS???..........................in no particular order:    "PICNIC" ( actually, THIS really is my favorite)- - - -"ON THE WATERFRONT" - - -"GUNS OF NAVARONE" - - -"DR. ZHIVAGO"- - - "SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION"- - -"SHANE" - - -"TITANIC" (Jas. Cameron version)- - - -"NORTH BY NORTHWEST"- - - -"DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL" (original Robt. Wise version) - - - "CASABLANCA"                 These may not all be among the BEST, but you asked for my FAVORITES.

"JD"  just developed over time, probably from my 45 years of playing competitive softball, and needing a short nickname for the jerseys.  

One last thing....you old goat..............(YES...I'm talkin' to YOU, Deniro.........)   ...sort of an editor's comment :  you're only an old FOGGY if you're in a fog.  If you mean you're an old GOAT, which we've already established, then you're an old FOGY, or FOGEY.   Either way..................yer OLD  (like me).............!!     

          ===================== JIM DRISCOLL =================(keep in touch)=========                                                                  

 

 

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