Got an email from a Dudley Moore fan who says she's "hurt" that I didn't post any interesting anecdotes about her favorite performer. I have a pretty good reason: I don't have any. I loved Mr. Moore in 10 and Arthur and especially in Beyond the Fringe and any time he was in vicinity of Peter Cook. But I never met the man and don't know any more about him than any of you. Maybe less than most.
The movie channels on cable and satellite don't have to rearrange programming to do any kind of Billy Wilder Tribute. They already have plenty of his films scheduled. Turner Classic Movies is running The Fortune Cookie on Saturday night and Double Indemnity on Sunday. On Monday, American Movie Classics is running The Front Page and, on Wednesday, Showtime has Sunset Boulevard while Flix is running Kiss Me, Stupid and then, later in the day, Stalag 17. Perhaps the best tribute to the man is simply to note how there is always a demand to see his movies.
My friend Bob Ingersoll reports he had a wonderful time seeing the new cast of The Producers in New York, just the other day. And he says that Henry Goodman, who is now playing Bialystock, has added a new line. In the midst of the song, Betrayed, there's a moment when Max sits down and thumbs through the Playbill for The Producers. Nathan Lane did it in silence. Goodman mutters, "Oh, look. He's British."
We highly recommend Joe Conason's Salon article on how the press has tried to spin the final Whitewater report. Since it's in Salon's "pay" section, you'll have to either subscribe or read it for free here at Bartcop.
We also recommend Michael Kinsley's article over at Slate about reparations to the families of World Trade Center victims. It's one of those pieces that will probably be roundly ignored because it raises an interesting question without providing either an easy answer or some opening for someone to advance a political agenda. Here's a direct link.