Two Nice Things That Happened Recently

All the negativity that's heaving and gasping around us sometimes overshadows the simplest and nicest things.

A couple of days ago a patron called to see if he could renew his interlibrary loan. It was due in just two days, and I didn't know if the lending library would be able to respond that quickly. He was upset and didn't want to "ruin his reputation" with the library, because he was so impressed with the ILL service we offered. "This is what makes America great!" he exclaimed in a foreign accent I could not identify.

Today a young-sounding gentleman called looking for the old 1950's sci-fi movie, "The Fly" which starred the great Vincent Price and David Hedison. We did not have the DVD in our system and since we do not ILL media at all, I checked Amazon, finding out that he could either view the old movie online for a small fee, download it and watch it (not sure how that works), or buy it, along with "The Return of the Fly" for about $15.00.

He was extremely happy to hear that. Of course I don't know why he wanted to watch this particular movie, nor does it matter but it seemed important to him. I was glad I thought of Amazon's Video on Demand, where I have watched a few films. In addition, if you're a Netflix subscriber, there are hundreds of not thousands of movies available to watchfor free online.

Technology is a burden sometimes but there is a huge positive side to it, making so many things available for little or no cost. As a movie buff, I'm thrilled to have so many options, particularly at night when I can't sleep or if I'm feeling a little blah, a movie can pick me right up.

I loved the reaction of the ILL patron, who thought that ILL service was just great. Many people are astonished to learn that libraries across the country and indeed, many around the world, are willing to lend their materials outside their own systems. Recently, we received transcripts of some interviews of President Eisenhower from the Eisenhower library in Kansas. No problem! They were even willing for the patron to take the materials outside the library.

Interlibrary loan is a fundamental service in almost all libraries. ILL service is interesting and challenging to me, although our operation is very small. We process about 200 loans a month and lend our materials about half that many times. We are able to obtain microfilm of old newspapers (very popular with genealogists), out of print fiction, research materials, magazine articles. It's that great cooperative spirit of libraries that I love, and that so very many people are either unaware of, or - the flip side - take tremendous advantage of.

National Library Week is just around the corner. Use your library!

Joan Crawford in Sudden Fear

Joan Crawford was surely one of the most formidable movie stars of her time.

Wathing the classic noir film, Sudden Fear (1952) (which was nominated for four oscars: Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design) all I could think was: "Work it, girl!" Those eyebrows! Those lips! Someone points out that there were numerous shots of Crawford's shoes and ankles in this film. And I didn't quite get (first time anyway) that whole white scarf routine - I'll have to watch it again.

The film costars Jack Palance, one of the great character actors. He's terrificly menacing in this movie, preying on Joan's vulnerable, woman-of-a-certain-age character.


Here's a great shot of the two stars, Joan Crawford at her most beautiful.

Both stars are pretty intense - wonder how they got along?

And, get a load of a really young Mike Conners as Junior Kearney.

Memories of 2008

Time to get ready for work but here's a link I can't get enough of. The music is haunting as are the images. TCM does it every year:

Transsiberian

Transsiberian starring Emily Mortimer, Woody Harrelson, and Ben Kingsley.

This one completely eluded me this year. I had not even heard of it until I was poking around on Amazon's Video on Demand last night for a last minute diversion. Just couldn't face the end of the long weekend.

It's also available for FREE (which I found out too late) from Netflix's Watch Instantly feature, if you get that.

It's very Hitchcock - Jessie and Roy, travelling to Moscow on the Transsiberian Railroad meet Abby and Carlos. Jessie (Emily Mortimer) becomes suspicious of the other couple for various reasons. Roy, distracted by the excitement of the trip and the trains, is distracted. He's also a bit naive. A chain of events lead to a dangerous situation. Is that vague enough? I don't want to give away one minute of this film, it's that good: very well paced and the performances are excellent. Where has this movie been?

Having been burned way too many times in recent weeks, I checked Rotten Tomatoes where it got a 7.1 out of 10 rating. It's a good way to spend a couple of hours.

Emily Mortimer is becoming one of my favorite actresses. I loved her in
Lars and the Real Girl and another independent film, Dear Frankie. I think she's just terrific, and always gives a solid performance. She has a great quality about her - a little fragile, but steely underneath, if that makes sense. She's pretty without being fanatically beautiful.

Transsiberian was refreshing after subjecting myself to The Strangers, Eastern Promises, and Death Sentence (I'm not even going to bother linking to them).

ARGH. Got to get myself motivated to get dressed for work!