Tim Lucas responds to Wellesnet flaying - Video Watchblog entry on Mr. Arkadin

[Harvey Chartrand]

In "About Friday's Blog " (http://www.videowatchdog.blogspot.com/), Tim Lucas responds to the acrimonious exchange of messages in the now closed thread on THE COMPLETE MR. ARKADIN. Lucas raises some valid points on how self-promotion should not be viewed as self-aggrandizement.
Some of our greatest artists (including Orson Welles) were quite adept at marketing themselves and remaining in the public eye. That old literary lion Norman Mailer even wrote a book entitled "Advertisements for Myself."

[Jeff Wilson]

Without meaning to give this any further attention than it deserves, which is about zero, this one sentence stuck out: "It's amazing the degree to which one can put the noses of strangers out of joint just by writing candidly about something personal that doesn't even concern them." My response to that is: you're writing on a publicly viewable Web site, intended for the consumption of any and all who come along, and you think no one should be allowed to comment because it "doesn't concern them"? Wow, this must be some new Internet I haven't heard of.



Edited By Jeff Wilson on 1143508775

[Ste]

How silly.

There is another thread over at the DVD Times Forum in which several disgruntled customers stop just short of calling Mr. Lucas a thief for sitting on their Mario Bava book money for the last six years. I look forward to reading Mr. Lucas's blog on this matter.

[Gordon]

On the locked thread, Tony williams wrote,

the academic establishment usually close ranks when outsiders come up with innovative research and just ignore them. I've fought for years to keep VIDEO WATCHDOG in our University Library to the amazement of a British colleague whose university library would look down its nose at this valuable publication.
Also, as we all know on this site, important work is going on by members which often puts academia to shame.

I wanted to agree that one of the most valuable things about sites like Wellesnet is that they "open up" scholarship to all, rather than just those with university teaching gigs.

[Le Chiffre]

a friend of mine who actually ordered this book five years ago has predicted that the book will never come out. Mr. Lucas has been sitting on (according to him), $100,000 of people's money (1000 preorders at 100 per) - he has been sitting on it for many years, spending it, earning interest on it, and abusing the good will of his fans and readers. I think even the staunchest Lucasite will be nauseated at this latest turn of events.

It has been posited to me by one disgruntled book buyer that Tim Lucas may have simply spent the money and may not have the dough to print the book, and is therefore simply and endlessly buying time. I have no idea if that's true or not, and I would like to believe it's not, but at this point I pretty much believe anything other than what Mr. Lucas is saying.

Wow, I sure am glad I wasn't one of the ones that pre-ordered that Bava book. I'd be pretty P.O.'d by now. Sounds almost like grounds for tossing someone in the slammer.

I do also enjoy skimming through VW at the store though, and will buy an issue on occasion. But it does sound like the guy needs to stop wallowing in self-pity on the Net and finish that book.

Speaking of Bava BTW, his LISA AND THE DEVIL is an entertaining Eurotrash horror flick like MALPERTUIS, and has some nice Wellesian qualities, including Allida (The Third Man) Valli as a reclusive, Isabel Amberson-like matron.

[Jeff Wilson]

Frankly, from reading some of the stuff other people have been saying in those Bava book threads (especially on Scarlet Street's message board, wow), I had to laugh when Lucas characterized the previous thread here as being "nasty" in reference to him. His book sounds like the film world's version of THE LAST DANGEROUS VISIONS at this point.

[Ste]

Wow, I sure am glad I wasn't one of the ones that pre-ordered that Bava book. I'd be pretty P.O.'d by now. Sounds almost like grounds for tossing someone in the slammer.

It is legal, I think, provided that the money is kept in separate trust, fully accounted for, and with any interest accumulated being applied to the individual investors' accounts. Otherwise, one could quite easily find oneself the subject of a class-action lawsuit. But I'm sure it's all above board.

[WaverBoy]

[color=#000000]

a friend of mine who actually ordered this book five years ago has predicted that the book will never come out. Mr. Lucas has been sitting on (according to him), $100,000 of people's money (1000 preorders at 100 per) - he has been sitting on it for many years, spending it, earning interest on it, and abusing the good will of his fans and readers. I think even the staunchest Lucasite will be nauseated at this latest turn of events.

It has been posited to me by one disgruntled book buyer that Tim Lucas may have simply spent the money and may not have the dough to print the book, and is therefore simply and endlessly buying time. I have no idea if that's true or not, and I would like to believe it's not, but at this point I pretty much believe anything other than what Mr. Lucas is saying.

Wow, I sure am glad I wasn't one of the ones that pre-ordered that Bava book. I'd be pretty P.O.'d by now. Sounds almost like grounds for tossing someone in the slammer.

This thread sure is dated now! I wish I had pre-ordered that book. It's just a BIT more expensive these days...

[Le Chiffre]

Yeah, that book looks like it has become a real collector's item. Good to see Lucas finally got it out. I like the Mario Bava films I've seen, but I'm not enough of a fan to pay $300 plus. however, I've considered purchasing THE KUBRICK ARCHIVES, a similar book that hasn't appreciated in price that much.

The only Welles book I can think of offhand that has become that much of a collector's item is Morris Beja's PERSPECTIVES ON ORSON WELLES. I've got a LOT of Welles books, but I've never even seen a copy of that one, nor do I know anyone who has. Can't afford these prices though:

http://www.amazon.com/Perspectives-Orso ... orris+beja

[Jeff Wilson]

I have a copy of the Beja book, and if I could sell it for those prices, I would. It's the usual Amazon/ebay thing of something going out of print, no copies being available, and someone deciding to charge an extortionate price for it. No one will ever pay those prices, so I'm not sure what the end gain for these people is. But once someone decides to ask the high price, everyone else jumps on and asks similar crazy prices. I wanted an obscure new wave CD recently and discovered it had gone out of print. Lowest asking price was $198 or something like that. Speaking of Welles books though, Richard France's Theater of Orson Welles was going for crazy prices last time I checked. But that book had been unavailable for 25 years or so at that point.

[Le Chiffre]

The France book I managed to borrow from a local university library. The Amazon price for it is still pretty high, but not quite as high as the Beja. Glad you got a copy of that, Jeff. How is it? Sounds like it might be a bit of a tough read, like the Peter Conrad book, since Beja is an English professor at Ohio State who's also written books on James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, and Virginia Woolfe. He puts our man in pretty lofty company there.

BTW, for those interested, the Amazon page for the Bava book allows one to take a preview peek inside. Looks quite impressive:
http://www.amazon.com/Mario-Bava-All-Co ... olors+dark

[Jeff Wilson]

Mike, the Perspectives on Orson Welles book is a collection of pieces edited by Beja, the majority of which appeared elsewhere. There's a section of contemporary reviews for several of his films, a couple reprinted interviews (one with Welles, one with Heston on Welles and ToE), and then the bulk of the book, which collects critical essays about various aspects of Welles' work. About four or five of these are new for this book, including pieces by Beja, Jaglom, Naremore, and a piece on War of the Worlds. I wouldn't call it an essential part of the library, but it's nice to have. Most of it can be gotten elsewhere with a little work, after all.

[Le Chiffre]

I wouldn't call it an essential part of the library, but it's nice to have.

Especially if you could get those prices listed on Amazon. Thanks for the info.