MIDSECTION: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
“Makeup artist.” It seems a contradiction in terms—or, at best, just another example of Hollywood powder-puffery. And yet, what other term could apply to those wizards of cosmetics and collodion who paint a canvas—or sculpt from a pliable material—that happens to be the human face? It is their task to make goddesses out of mortal women, and horrifying monsters out of ordinary men. In our Midsection, David Chierichetti eulogizes the artists and models of Hollywood glamour makeup. A special photo section is devoted to the masters of eccentric makeup, from Lon Chaney to Dick Smith. And Maurice Seiderman, who designed the sculptural makeup for Citizen Kane, details his amazing achievement in the article-interview by Norman Gambill.
THE ROAD TO NEOREALISM
There’s more to Italian cinema in the fascist era than stuffy tributes to Il Duce Vita. As Ted Perry suggests, the Italians produced many delightful entertainments—and, in films like Sole and Ossessione, the first strains of neorealism
SIDNEY LUMET: WIZ KID
As the ringmaster of that multimillion-dollar circus, The Wiz, Sidney Lumet had to have a lot on his mind. He still does, and in the interview with Dan Yakir he talks about everything from Long Day’s Journey to the Yellow Brick Road
JOURNAL
Gilbert Adair, our Paris correspondent, visits London to see movies where they can best be seen: on TV
MICHAEL MILLER IN JAIL
Interviewed by Todd McCarthy
A conversation with the Second City graduate and “southwestern tough action director” of Jackson County Jail
AD LIBIDO
Daniel Menaker, Film Comment’s new television columnist, looks at some of the best-known commercials, and discovers that the ad men’s pitches can be beanballs (Schlitz Gusto) or curves (the R.C. girl)
ALL’S WELLES
By Joseph McBride
After a long dry spell, the great man’s career looks to be moving again
NEWMAN’S GUILTY PLEASURES
Screenwriter and raconteur David Newman reveals some of his secret sins: Vera-Ellen, Charles Hawtrey, Cass Daley, and (shh!) Susan McBain
THE FESTIVAL THAT WAS
The 1978 New York Film Festival reviewed by Elliott Stein (favorite film: Spies) and James McCourt (favorite film: Perceval)
BOOKS
Gary Carey reviews biographies of Joe and Herman Mankiewicz
INDUSTRY
By Mitch Tuchman
When Uncle Sam starts investing in Hollywood, that’s not Small Business
INDEPENDENTS
Amos Vogel on a big Deal
BACK TALK
By Todd McCarthy
Murf. Goes to Academe. The latest on Apocalypse Now
LETTERS
Addenda and errata from Jonathan Rosenbaum and Robin Wood
BULLETIN BOARD
