I told myself that I was going to close the year by or just spend the break drawing, even after tiring my hands after finishing up holiday cards and papers, so I’m back with my stylus. Will I finally conquer the digital medium for art? Probably not. The current theme I have in mind for my doodles will be mostly classic film.
About a year ago this week, I started watching an ungodly amount of classic films and decided to log in all of them. Frankly, I’m surprised that I actually did for over 100 of them. I thought I first watched “Sunday in New York” in January, but it was actually on Dec. 20, right after “The Apartment,” which I caught earlier today. Who doesn’t rewatch classic films, especially favorites?
Apparently, I saw this movie at least three times this year. Considering that the soundtrack lives rent free in my head, I’m probably going to catch the next broadcast, using Peter Nero’s music as the incentive. I even saw the movie during a Jane Fonda marathon in August.
I managed to find a copy of the original play, as published by Random House, and it was nice to see how the impromptu date change from an afternoon in a movie theater turned into a boat ride in Central Park. Plus, seeing Cliff Robertson’s character struggle to stay with his fiancé for more than a minute due to screwball hijinks at the airport, especially with the TWA planes, was a nice addition. Worth noting is that Robert Redford played Rod Taylor’s leading male character in the original Broadway production, and he’d later star opposite Fonda, who was considered for her character in the play, in “Barefoot in the Park.”
My doodles for this feature the moment Eileen Tyler (Fonda) and Mike Mitchell (Taylor) meet on the bus.
An incredibly true fact: I was deciding on whether to go with this film or The Monkees as my favorite form of entertainment of the year for a Ticker article, and I ultimately chose the former because I thought the band would always find relevance no matter the year. It was particularly good year for the band given the increased attraction from Marvel fans via “WandaVision,” Micky Dolenz’s cover album of Michael Nesmith songs, and the conclusion of the Farewell Tour. I couldn’t help but feel I missed out on something after learning that Nesmith died the day the final choice was published. Still, I’d take any opportunity to write about/reference a classic film, as the Nez would’ve done in a skit. I’ll own that choice when I wear one of these ‘Sunday in New York’ buttons by Kate Gabrielle.
Update, 11 Jan. 2022: I’m not entirely sure why I was @’d in a tweet on Sunday — especially along with Jane Fonda, TCM, and Kate Gabrielle — but I know it has to do with ‘Sunday in New York.’ Was tagged because of the Ticker article or the illustrations? Either way, if there’s any effort to increase appreciation for the film, I’m for it.
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Dearest Reverie 