THE PHILADELPHIA STORY and HIGH SOCIETY

First, some details about the FDA-approved Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine:

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  Only for 16 years of age and older.
• Brand name Comirnaty.  Why?  Coined from COvid and the MRNA platform technology.  Also evokes the concept of community.
• Effectiveness dropped from 95% to 91%, which is still pretty good.

Why did it take so long?  The argument is that the normal FDA process takes from 8 to 12 months.  It took only 3.5 months from submittal of the Pfizer application.  Plus, there is yet no permanent commissioner, who currently is Dr. Janet Woodcock as acting.  Why?  Apparently, President Joe Biden can't find anyone who can win Senate confirmation.  Plus Senator Joe Manchin does not want Woodcock to be promoted for she ran the drug division and was too liberal about opioids.

But during this time of pandemic shouldn't some kind of wartime or depression national emergency justification be made to accelerate approval?  I would not be surprised if the FDA does pass through the Moderna application at least a little bit earlier, which means some announcement in a couple of weeks.   No word about the status of the Johnson and Johnson one-shot vaccine.  

But what about those zero to 11 year olds who still can't get inoculated?  They are the ones mostly responsible for the current upsurge in cases.  However, the science is not ready, for tests are currently being run and won't be finished until some time this Fall.  So it might be early in the winter, and only 5-11 years old will first be approved.  But they are the ones bringing home the disease, so it could take until early next year for a serious drop in cases to be seen.

In international news we have evacuated 48,000 people since August 14 and could well reach 100,000 by August 31 when our troops will also leave.  While there could be a delay, turns out that the Taliban said there would be consequences if our withdrawal date moves into September.  In the meantime, there has been a lot of ground emigration into Turkey.

Nationally, the House will vote on the $3.5 trillion Democratic Party wish list budget which will later pass the Senate by reconciliation.  What about that trillion dollar bipartisan infrastructure legislation?  Just part of the politics to get both through, but that second budget matter might take until October.  

Kathy Hochull is now governor of New York, being sworn-in at midnight earlier this morning.  With her was her family and the state's two other top politicians, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.  In the past, the Albany trio responsible for cutting closed-door deals were called the three men in a room.  Well, now it will be the two women and one man in the room.

Today my cuisine and entertainment posting of the week.  I have been compiling a list of double-bill films, the original, followed by some follow-up spoof, or perhaps a musical version.   A typical couplet would be Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart, followed by Play it Again Sam, with a Bogart in the mind of Woody Allen.  Of course the title came from that sequence from the original.  

Through DVDs and recordings I have built up a library of them, and someday in the future will binge-watch the sets.  This past weekend I found a new pair.

This new twosome is the 1940 The Philadelphia Story, followed by the 1956 musical re-make called High Society.  Turns out I saw that scene of Cary Grant pushing Katharine Hepburn's face to the floor numerous times, but never the whole movie.  In short, both are about a strong-willed socialite preparing for her second wedding, and is stymied by her former husband returning to almost innocently scuttle her plans.  Almost is actually an understatement.  This was the final of four films co-starring Hepburn and Grant.

To begin, Rotten Tomatoes rated the The Philadelphia Story 100/93, which is about as good as it can get.  Then you add Hepburn, Cary Grant, James Stewart and Ruth Hussey.  It all began in 1939 with a Broadway play starring Hepburn, written by Philip Barry, who just so happened was a friend of someone who married a Philadelphia queen bee.  Van Heflin played the reporter and Joseph Cotten was her first husband.  A bit complicated, but there was a love quadrangle, if you count Stewart as the reporter.

About the 1940 film, Howard Hughes was helpful and George Cukor directed.  Hepburn wanted Clark Gable to play her first husband and Spencer Tracy as the reporter.  Lots of politics and personality involved, as Cukor was recently booted from Gone With the Wind, which starred Gable.  The writing was outstanding.  Got six Academy Award nominations, with James Stewart somewhat surprisingly getting an Oscar for Best Actor.  Hepburn was nominated for Best Actress.

While I thought Stewart hardly deserved that Oscar, and he did too, I must say something about his life.  First, he and Cary Grant joined World War II following this film.  But Jimmy Stewart:

• He attempted to join the Army, but they found him too thin.
• He tried again and was accepted as a private in the Army Air Corps.  He was 33, now earning $21/month, and sent his agent $2.10/month.
• A degree from Princeton and a license as a commercial aviation pilot got him commissioned in the Air Corps as a 2nd Lieutenant.
• The Army used him as a wartime celebrity on various PR functions.
• However, he volunteered for combat duty and now as a captain led bombing runs over Germany,.
• As a major, he was a pilot hero.
• Walter Matthau was one of his radiomen.

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  At discharge he was promoted to full colonel, and joined the Air Force Reserve where he ultimately became a general.
• His first film after the war was a dud, A Wonderful Life, which lost money.  It is now played too many times during the holiday season.  Also now rated by Rotten Tomatoes at 94/95.

High Society (this is the whole film) was a 1955 comedy starring The Bowery Boys, the 37th in the series.  It actually got an Academy Award nomination through being mistaken for that other film that came in 1956, High Society, the one with the songs by Cole Porter.  In this production were Bing Crosby (53-years old), Grace Kelly (26), Frank Sinatra (40), Celeste Holm, John Lund, Louis Calhern and Louis Armstrong, who was a strong musical presence.  Soon upon completion, Kelly married Prince Rainier III.  The movie was released three months later.

The music by Porter has lived on, with True Love and You're Sensational at the top.  And who can forget Frank and Bing with Well, Did You Evah.  Also, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was used by the TV global game show franchise 50 years later.

A few interesting rumors (actually, all facts):

• She had affairs with many of her leading men, including Bing Crosby, Clark Gable, Marlon Brando, Ray Milland and Gary Cooper.
• Also playboy Prince Aly Khan, who went on to marry Rita Hayworth, who then became a princess.
• Dated the Shah of Iran.

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  She broke off her engagement to Oleg Cassini to marry Prince Rainier.
• The Prince had first asked Marilyn Monroe, who was too involved with her career.
• Kelly's family PAID the Rainier family a $2 million dowry.  Why?   The Prince was somewhat broke.  She also had to take a fertility test, and passed.
• They both had numerous affairs while married, including Grace with Frank Sinatra.
• Much of this was suppressed after she became queen.

Last week I reported that I dropped my weight to 149.6, the lowest I've seen in a third of a century.  So I had a few snacks and a dessert.  By Friday I was up to 153, so back to a salad lunch.

The following roast beef was delivered to me for dinner.

However, I had gone shopping and decided instead to have Miyazaki wagyu steak and Hawaiian ahi sashimi meal as my extravagance of the week:

That green stuff in the white bowl was creamed spinach, which was, actually, supplied with the 15 Craigside roast beef.  Without enhancing it, I would say that was the star dish of the meal.

One joke:

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