Nicktape 7, A Black Diasporaby Nicolas Pillai |
***Cross-reference with: VIII, This World is Full of Danger
Robert Mitchum’s insidious Harry Powell structures this cliptape. In three scenes from The Night of the Hunter, we see him lay out his brutal vision of morality, prepare to kill his wife, and threaten an old lady and the children under her care. Scattered between these moments are exemplary instances of rural psychopathy – Joseph Cotten letting the mask slip in Shadow of a Doubt, Janet Leigh’s fateful shower in Psycho – and songs that illustrate the American preoccupation with death. Mingus erupting; Waits monologuing; Evans mourning; Shelton swinging.
1. ‘Song of Joy’
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, 1996.
2. ‘Love/Hate’
From The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955, Paul Gregory Productions)
3. ‘Solo Dancer’
Charles Mingus, 1963
4. ‘Horrible, fat, faded, greedy women’
From Shadow of a Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock, 1943, Universal)
5. ‘Frank’s Wild Years’
Tom Waits, 1983
6. ‘Are you through praying?’
From The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955, Paul Gregory Productions)
7. ‘NYC’s No Lark’
Bill Evans, 1963
8. ‘Shower scene’
From Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960, Shamley Productions)
9. ‘The Long Goodbye’
Jack Shelton, from The Long Goodbye (Robert Altman, 1973, United Artists)
AND 10. ‘Leaning’
From The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955, Paul Gregory Productions)