The Sheila Variations

Hair and also Dean Stockwell

I think I got the best haircut I've ever had last night. I can't stop staring at myself. She is a genius. A genius.

I came home, made a late dinner, lit some incense, and watched Kim, a movie I have not seen since I was 8 years old. I have to say - it has "dated" very well. It's wonderful! Errol Flynn is ridiculous, campy, and kinda perfect, he makes it all look so easy - leaping on his horse, stroking his beard, thinking and scheming - and Dean Stockwell, age 14, carries the entire movie on his small shoulders. He's in almost every scene, but he shows no wear and tear. He knows what he is doing at all times. He is a complete and total natural. He has to be a street urchin, a fighter, a cunning and conniving operator, a precocious social animal (winking and leering at the pretty Indian lady he is sent to give a message to), a lost little boy - he has to fight, and cry, and do all kinds of physical stuff too - climbing, jumping, hanging upside down - it's all him. He's funny, sweet, a little bit intimidating (like the Artful Dodger would be intimidating if you met him and tried to talk to him as though he were a normal little boy) - he's sad, he's illiterate, he's brave, he can be unscrupulous, and he has deep love in his heart for the Holy Man. He also has flowery language at times, not normal kid speech. It's a lot for a kid to do. He's fantastic. And it's uncanny - you never catch him "acting". He does not ham. I can't think of a hammy moment in his whole career. His talent guides him to what is true, natural, and ultimately right. He was kind of a phenom as a child actor, in that regard.

But more than that, the movie is so much fun! I loved it when I was a kid, and it still is fun to watch.

Oh, and I remember reading once in some interview - it was in the last couple of years - Stockwell was asked, "Who taught you about sex?" (Ah, nothing like a nice personal question to start out the morning.) And Stockwell replied "I did a movie with Errol Flynn when I was 14. I got quite an education."

Their rapport in the film feels genuine. They feel like equals. Co-conspirators.

If you haven't seen Kim, I highly recommend it. It'd be fun for kids, too. I remember loving it when I was a tato-tot.

All Stockwell stuff here