Miller Time

UNITED STATES—Reed Parker got hold of a mystery a few years ago on one of his trips. As a lawyer who ascertained the ownership of properties of interest to those who drilled for oil, or had already drilled for it eons ago and let the machinery rust, he retraced the same steps of many a childhood trip to Almond...

UNITED STATES—Astonishing news: 33 years after calling it quits on Earth, Orson Welles is back, strong as ever, with his last motion picture being redeemed from legendary limbo by Netflix, the oft-described, seldom seen “The Other Side of the Wind.” This brings to mind a morning spent in Atwater Village opening a box of Orson’s final screenplays. Liz Derby was...

UNITED STATES—"You know I figure I owe mom about twenty thousand dollars over twelve years." "You carry that around?" Karen says. "I do," says Davy. "Somebody told me not to worry. That whenever a mother gives something, they never expect it to be paid back. It was comfort at the time." "You were comforted." "And it was the beginning in Los Angeles, my...

UNITED STATES—Meet Eliza’s accomplice: Roger worked for a production house in Hollywood and had slickly edited together breaking news flashes about a terrorist group that was going to release a geriatric bomb in different parts of the globe. From the Hollywood Hills to Lake Cuomo, in Italy. Flashes appeared of people in black ski-masks that revealed only their eye-holes...

UNITED STATES—Tania Rose (1924-2015) was co-screenwriter, creator of “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” along with her husband William Rose (1918-1987), an American who stayed on in England after World War II service. Rose penned “The Ladykillers” in a stellar string of Ealing Studio Comedies. The one screenplay for which both husband and wife are credited is “It’s...

UNITED STATES—The advertising wiz Bernard Lukasey deftly spurned overtures from Hitler’s people to do work for the Fuhrer. It became a calling card that he had some scruples. On the other hand, Bernie did advise Willy Long, and he later came to rue his undeniable role in the creation of the King of Louisiana. “You have to ditch the bib...