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Tag Archives: Clifford Odets
The Books: “Paradise Lost” (Clifford Odets)
Next in my Daily Book Excerpt: Another Clifford Odets play – and this one is considered to be his best – Paradise Lost So far – the other plays I’ve mentioned have some kind of pretty heavy theme or plot. … Continue reading
The Books: “Till the Day I Die” (Clifford Odets)
Another entry for my Excerpt a Day: Another Clifford Odets play – Till the Day I Die. Odets wrote this to be a curtain-opener for Waiting for Lefty (excerpt here). Eventually it got its own production, opening in 1935. It’s … Continue reading
The Books: “Awake and Sing” (Clifford Odets)
Next in my Daily Book Excerpt: Another Clifford Odets play – Awake and Sing Unlike Waiting for Lefty which is a series of vignettes, culminating in the taxi strike when all the different strands come together … Awake and Sing … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Theatre
Tagged Awake and Sing, Clifford Odets, Group Theatre, John Garfield, Morris Carnovsky, Sanford Meisner, scripts, Stella Adler
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The Books: “Waiting for Lefty” (Clifford Odets)
Waiting for Lefty was an EXPLOSION, when it first was produced in the 1930s. [That original production is one of my top 10 moments I would LOVE to go back in time and witness, first hand.] It made Clifford Odets … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Theatre
Tagged Clifford Odets, Elia Kazan, Harold Clurman, politics, scripts, Waiting for Lefty
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Odets: “the superb old German actor”
Entry from Journal April 25, 1940 Every [movie] studio has its own style in writing. A Warner Brothers picture always has an interesting linear quality about it, but is always dead in parts. The picture I saw last night, Dr. … Continue reading
Lee Strasberg on “the blight of Ibsen”
I always thought the following anecdote from Clifford Odets’ 1940 journal was hysterical, and also thought-provoking. Entry from Journal April 17, 1940 In the early evening went to Lee Strasberg’s house for dinner. Paula’s mother was there, preparing the dinner, … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged Anton Chekhov, Clifford Odets, Henrik Ibsen, Lee Strasberg, The Time is Ripe
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Odets on Beethoven, once again
Entry from Journal April 12, 1940 Perhaps the main activity of the romantic, often idealist, is that of giving, that of offering himself up, of throwing himself at the world. The trouble beings when the world coldly refuses him. Nothing … Continue reading
Odets on Mozart
Entry from Journal April 9, 1940 Mozart, in his best work, has the profound sadness of a man trying to break out of a form not his own personally: which is to say a man trying to break out of … Continue reading
Odets on Berlioz
Entry from Journal April 8, 1940 In the music of Berlioz you will find something petulant, like a man with a toothache. I write this because I am thinking of the “Roman Carnival” overture which I played this afternoon. There … Continue reading
Odets on Dostoevsky
Entry from Journal March 29, 1940 The man of genius walks, talks, sleeps, eats, loves, and works with a load of dynamite in him. If he carries this load carefully — balance — its power for good work and use … Continue reading