Napoleon -- July 14, 2026

San Francisco Chronicle, 27-December-1981

In honor of Bastille Day, here is an ad for Francis Ford Coppola's 1981 revival of Napoléon vu par Abel Gance. We went to see Abel Gance's Napoleon, with a score by Coppola's father Carmine, at the Opera House. When I read Kevin Bownlow's The Parade's Gone By, I thought I would never get to see the Polyvision triptychs in a theater. Kevin Brownlow led the project to produce this restoration.

Joseph Conrad 100 Years -- August 3, 2024

Time, April 7, 1923

Joseph Conrad died 100 years ago today, on 03-August-1924.

Joseph Conrad (Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski) was born in Poland while much of the country was claimed by the Russian Empire. English may have been his fourth language (Polish, French, Russian, English). His family had worked for Polish independence, so he had no future in Russia. He joined the French merchant marine, and later the British. I read somewhere that his shipmates called him "Polish Joe." He began writing fiction in English and then had to give up the sea because of his health.

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I read a lot of Conrad in college. I took a summer class dedicated to him. I got to operate the projector to show Lord Jim with Peter O'Toole. It was my first experience with an anamorphic lens. Richard Brooks directed.

Conrad's books and stories show few signs that English was not his first language. My final paper for the Conrad class was about a play he wrote, based on The Secret Agent I found traces of less-careful writing in the stage directions.

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Alfred Hitchcock's adaption of The Secret Agent was title Sabotage in the UK and The Woman Alone in the US. 

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Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now was a loose adaption of Heart of Darkness. I find it hard to watch. I wish Orson Welles could have made the adaption that he was planning. 

Mario Puzo 100 -- October 15, 2020

 

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Author Mario Puzo was born 100 years ago today, on 15-October-1920. I never read any of his books, except for one famous page from The Godfather, but I have seen the movies that Francis Ford Coppola made from The Godfather many times. Puzo was a veteran of World War Two. 

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Gordon Willis, RIP -- May 24, 2014

I was sorry to learn about the passing of cinematographer Gordon Willis.  I kept seeing his name on movies like All the President's Men and the Godfather movies.  Then I went to the Royal on Sutter near Van Ness and saw Annie Hall and then Manhattan, and I was stunned, especially by the black and white photography in Manhattan.  Broadway Danny Rose has always been one of my favorite Woody Allen movies. 

Francis Ford Coppola 75 -- April 7, 2014

Francis Ford Coppola was born 75 years ago, on 07-April-1939.  I think the first movie of his that I saw was Dementia 13 on Creature Features, a late night horror show on KTVU Channel 2. 

I was too young to see The Godfather when it came out, but I read the Mad Magazine version over and over again. 

The first movie of his that I saw in a theater was The Conversation.  It was on a double bill with something totally unrelated.  I can't remember where I saw it. 

I saw Apocalypse Now  at the Strand, a Market Street house that was very popular with homeless people.  It seemed appropriate, especially when a character mentioned the unspeakable things going on in Kurtz's compound. 

I saw Hammett, which Coppola mostly reshot after Wim Wenders left the project, at the Metro on Union, I think.  I liked the book better. 

We saw The Cotton Club at the Bridge on Geary.  I liked it.  My then-fiancée, who tap dances, liked it.  Critics did not like it. 

I don't know how many times we saw "Captain EO", with Michael Jackson, at Disneyland. 

I've seen his other movies, including the three Godfathers on television.  I would like to see Godfather and Godfather Part 2 in a theater. 

We went to see Abel Gance's Napoleon, with a score by Coppola's father Carmine, at the Opera House. 

Coppola opened a restaurant in the Sentinel Building in North Beach.  Boss Abe Ruef had his office in the building. 

The photo of Coppola with his Godfather Academy Awards and the poster are from www.listal.com.