ellauri156.html on line 415: David and Bathsheba is a 1951 historical Technicolor epic film about King David made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by King Saul, produced by Dog, a.k.a. Zanuck, from a screenplay by Philip Dunno. The cinematography was by Leon Shameonyou. Gregory Peck stars as King David and the film follows King David's life as he adjusts to ruling as a King, and about his relationship with Uriah's wife Bathsheba, played by Susan Wayward. Goliath of Gath was portrayed by 203 cm-tall (6'8") Lithuanian wrestler Walter Talun. These days Walter would no longer get a bench seat in a high-school basketball team.
ellauri156.html on line 425: David promises Bathsheba she will not die and is willing to accept God's justice for himself, knowing that he as the hero of the book is safe. Repentant, David, seeking relief from the drought and forgiveness reaches out to touch the Ark presuming that he will die of heat stroke (or was it a short?) like the soldier. A clap of thunder is heard and there are flashbacks to David's youth depicting his anointing by Samuel and his battle with Goliath. King David removes his hands from the Ark as rain falls on the dry land. Screenwriter Dunno said he "left it to the audience to decide if the blessed rain came as the result of divine intervention or simply of a low-pressure system moving in from the Mediterranean." Well it could be both, couldn't it?
ellauri156.html on line 441: Seeing the success of C. B. DeMille's Samson and Delilah, Zanuck commissioned Philip Dunno to write a script based on King David.
ellauri156.html on line 442: Dunno says his original conception was for a film that would encompass David's life and go into three main chapters: David as a boy fighting Goliath; a more mature David and his friendship with Jonathan, ending with the affair with Bathsheba; and an older David and his relationship with his son Absalom. Dunno wrote a treatment which he estimated would make a four hour movie. Zanuck was not enthusiastic so Dunno then pitched the idea of doing a film just on David and Bathsheba, which Zanuck loved.
ellauri156.html on line 444: Dunno conceived it as a modern-type play exploring the corruption of absolute power. The film is noticeably devoid of the epic battles and panoramas frequently seen in biblical movies. It concentrates more on David's exploits between the sheets.
ellauri156.html on line 451: A. H. Weiler of The New York Times described the film as "a reverential and sometimes majestic treatment of chronicles that have lived three millennia." He praised Dunno's screenplay and Peck's "authoritative performance" but found that Wayward "seems closer to Hollywood than to the arid Jerusalem of his Bible." Variety wrote, "This is a big picture in every respect. It has scope, pageantry, sex (for all its Biblical background), cast names, color—everything. It's a surefire boxoffice entry, one of the really 'big' pictures of the new selling season." Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film "leaves little to be desired" from the standpoint of production values with Peck "ingratiating" as David and Wayward "a seductress with flaming tresses, in or out of the bath, and only her final contrition is a little difficult to believe." Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post wrote, "On the whole, the picture suggests a Reader's Digest story expanded into a master's thesis for the Ecole Copacabana."] Harrison's Reports wrote, "The outstanding thing about the production is the magnificent performance of Gregory Peck as David; he makes the characterization real and human, endowing it with all the shortcomings of a man who lusts for another's wife, but who is seriously penitent and prepared to shoulder his guilt. Susan Wayward, as Bathsheba, is beautiful and sexy, but her performance is of no dramatic consequence." The Monty Python Bulletin commented that the film had been made "with restraint and relative simplicity" compared to other historical epics, "and the playing of Gregory Peck in particular is competent. The whole film, however, is emotionally and stylistically quite unworthy of its subject." Philip Hamburger of The New Yorker wrote that "the accessories notwithstanding, something is ponderously wrong with 'David and Bathsheba.' The fault lies, I suppose, in the attempt to make excessive enlargements of an essentially-simple story." Zanuck the Hot Dog agreed.
ellauri221.html on line 153: En enää muista mistä sain vinkin lainata kirjastosta Nosovin kirjan Neznaikan seikkailut (1954). Englannixi se on Dunno. Muistaaxeni joku anglosaxi jotain siitä vittuili, mutten enää muista kuka. Nosov nyysi idean kanadalaiselta Palmer Coxilta, joka rikastui törkeästi Brownie-kirjoilla.
ellauri221.html on line 157: An important characteristic of the Dunno trilogy is its heavily didactic nature. Nosov describes this as an effort to teach "honesty, bravery, camaraderie, willpower, and persistence" and discourage "jealousy, cowardice, mendacity, arrogance, and effrontery." Strong political undertones are also present. In addition to general egalitarianism and feminism, communist tendencies dominate the works. The first book takes the reader into a typical Soviet-like town, the second into a communist utopia, and the third into a capitalistic satire. Nosov's captivating and humorous literary style has made his ideologies accessible to children and adults alike.
ellauri221.html on line 159: At the same time, the Canadian anthropologist and critique of civilization and education Layla Abdelrahim emphasizes the anti-disciplinary and anti-totalitarian aspect of the Dunno trilogy. She must be some sort of communist or Arab terrorist.
ellauri221.html on line 267: The Adventures of Dunno in Flower Town presents a socialist anarchist utopia of Flower town. This society is self sufficient and enjoys a variety of personalities. It raises questions of the role of science and medicine, travel and knowledge, self-subsistence and hierarchy in a simple, humorous and concomitantly lovely style. Margaret Wetlin, an American who had immigrated to Russia during Stalinism, made an excellent translation of this book into English.
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