Cannery Row

I have a few books waiting for me at the library, including a non-fiction one by John Steinbeck growing from his travels with the guy that inspired "Doc" in Cannery Row and its sequel Sweet Tuesday.  Read at least the first one years back, maybe connected to watching the film.  Tortilla Flat, based on earlier novel, was television some weeks back.  I checked out novel and soon grew tired of the "lovable losers" that the book were about. Cannery Row has a gang of them (led by Mack), but only as part of the mix. 

My copy looked like it was from the 1945, a small cheap looking fragile thing and earlier on its one hundred and thirty or so pages was fairly easy going, but seemed to take me a while to read. Like there was enough for a vignette, but reading the book (with shades of color and character bits that reminded a bit of Justice William Douglas' writings about nature and people he knew, but then there were sorta of the same era and locale -- Douglas growing up in Washington State, this taking place in California) would be a bit much.  Still, the second half went down fairly well. 

The whole book had a somewhat bittersweet feel to it (Roger Ebert says the film was rather fake and the characters come off as too saccharine, but don't recall it much)  though the author has respect for its characters.  The frog hunt was a well done vignette, including Mack (logically played by M. Emmet Walsh in the film, though Ebert doesn't even reference one of his favorite character actors) laying on the charm/con when the gang (shades of an older Bowery Boys -- the first novel takes place in the 1930s) meets up with a local with his dog.  Then, there were a few rather dark moments, including a boy being taunted to talk about his father's suicide.  Think it could make a could limited series. 

Just started to read the second, longer novel and wonder if it will be too much -- the book might not really be double the length of the first, since it is a more sturdy copy with bigger font. The sequel explains the name of the new madam (Ebert, not liking the movie much, did his thing where he takes potshots like "She goes to work in the local cathouse, where the madam is named Fauna, maybe because Flora was already taken."  If he likes a movie better, he lets that stuff go more often.)   In the movie, the actress that played Mrs. Roper plays the madam, another bit of casting that fits one's mental image of the character.  

(Got tired of the book -- doesn't look like I will read most of the sequel, which is longer with more vignettes.) 

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The leads in the Hallmark film Christmas by Starlight (a pun on a cafe which plays a role) recently were also in Wedding Every Weekend, which I liked better.  Both tossed in some gay friendly stuff, the first having an assistant being a gay married (his husband pops up) and the second including a lesbian wedding.  Both leads were in other Hallmark fare (e.g., she pops up in the Nine Lives of Christmas, which is aired repeatedly over the years), but Paul Campbell in particular pops up repeatedly.  

Those familiar (like me) probably amused his future father-in-law (not a fan, at first) in Surprised by Love now played his father, if a similar sort of character.  The film itself had shades of Two Weeks Notice (itself pleasant enough though Alicia Witt was kinda too nice as the alternative love interest*), where a liberal minded lawyer winds up counseling a rich boy business person who she would naturally scorn, but soon becoming quite good at it.  Here a liberal minded lawyer works as a sort of temporary babysitter/advisor of the Paul Campbell character, who is not taking his job at his dad's firm seriously enough.  The firm plans to seize the family business as part of a business deal and he promises to help if she pretends to be his watcher. 

But, it's Paul Campbell -- he always plays a down to earth reliable sort (deep down), and his true nature comes out soon enough.  So, when complications seem to be ready to come out (and not very smoothly) with over a half hour left it, I turned it off.  It was pleasant enough but didn't quite have enough content to fill two hours.  At least, with so many of these films and all, there has to be a certain mix for it to be enjoyable.   Their last film had more story and the multiple weddings to ease things along.  

Nice they tossed in the gay couple. The Kristen Stewart film also had an interracial couple. 

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 * The movie, like various light-hearted fare  over the years, has a reference (here a cameo) to Trump.  From now on, each time that comes up, including Chandler and Monica's Trump sighting in a charming episode where them both seeing him helps Joey figure out they are a couple, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.