"Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess," A Modern Moron Book Review

 

A Little Libraires gem, "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess," and if you read this book, you'll learn advanced strategies, or at least know what an interposition move is, and which is the best one to use in various sceneries. 

Personally, I rummage through the book, and set up my chess pieces from various games laden throughout the book and play myself. 

This book is for those who don't know a single thing about chess and for those who play in tournaments, and as stated in the book, you'll learn how to play winning chess, but not as good as Bobby Fischer.

"Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess" tells the reader how to mate in some situations but in most cases he doesn't, he makes the reader think for themselves. Most of the time, Fisher has lay-outs from real championship games and other situations and simply poses the question; can white mate? Can black mate? What's the first move for white or black to begin the mating process. Can white / black mate in one move in this set-up? 

Fischer won his first United States Chess Championship when he was 14-years-old, and after winning that game in 1957, known as The Game of the Century, he went on to win or draw every single match he was in for the next four years.

Four and a half stars easy for this Little Libraies gem.

Mark Izzy Schurr 

 

  

"Drive-In Dream Girls..." A Modern Moron Book Review

 

"Clara Bow Running Wild," A Modern Moron Book Review

Once upon a time mainstream movies were silent and its mega stars included Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford, when sexuality in film was nonexistent for all intensive purposes. (Picture on the left of the book is also of Bow, who many say inspired the creation of the iconic Betty Boop in 1930.)

 Hollywood's B.C. films lacked the jubilant sexiness of youth, these were the years Before Clara. Bravo to David Stenn for B.C.ing Bow, blasphemous or not. Clara brought sex to American cinema in the early 1920s. 

Bow was born on July 29, 1905. Her movie idol was Mary Pickford and very soon in her life, she aspired to be a movie star. Winning the Fame and Fortune Contest at 16 ignited the flames of her explosive career, riddled with praise and harsh accusations about her personal life. Before she was 18, she appeared in her first movie in 1922, and by 1927, she was Hollywood's "It" girl who also starred in that years movie "It," written by Elinor Glyn.

"It," the quality possessed by some which draws all others with its magnetic force. With "It" you win all men if you are a woman-and all women if you are a man. "It' can be a quality of the mind as well as a physical attraction, Elinor Glyn said. 

Having read "Clara Bow Running Wild," I now want to read the 1907 book, "Three Weeks," by Glyn. It's an erotic romance empowering women. 

"Clara Bow Running Wild" is the reason I've seen 13 of Bow's silent films and five of her sound Pre-Code movies. I've watched 11 of the 13 silents multiple times, their solid stories, complete with today's lurid and lascivious storylines. Not nearly as blatant and and graphic as today's flicks, but it's all implied and complete with crime, violence, boozing, drugging, fornication and murder. 

The crazed  mixture of vices amid the human spirit were showcased in the nearly five dozen flicks Bow starred or appeared in. Clara Bow depicted female promiscuity with aplomb and humor. Bow was clever, sly, and delightfully devious on the big screen and officially deemed the "It" girl by Elinor Glyn. 

Bow was a pioneering actress who infuriated some and infatuated many. I've lost count of how many times I've watched "True to the Navy," and "Call Her Savage," Pre-Code gems. 

"She naturally walks away with every scene she's in, she's marvelous, she has everything," Gary Cooper said.    

If you want to know what Clara Bow said about Cooper's baby maker, read the book. 

"...Running Wild" details her bedroom antics in her own words and those of others without being pornographic. Incidentally, her sex life is a blip of the many things this book covers. 

"If you can't be good, be careful", Bow said. 

The 1928 movie "Three Week Ends," based on the book, "Three Weeks" was basically a disaster. Not because of Bow. She lights everyone up with her mere presence. She approached her role with gusto and professionalism in "Three Week Ends," but she could not cover for a plot that was as skimpy as her wardrobe, she said. 

In 1925, Bow made 16 feature films. "I'm jest a woikin goil," Bow said in her native Brooklyn tongue. 

Bow is chunky and spunky as a boxer in 1928s "Rough House Rosie," another missing movie. 

As of 1985, all of her 1928 movies are nowhere to be found. To this day missing silent films are found in attacks, salt mines and mis labeled studio vaults. "Three Week Ends" and "Rough House Rosie," are still MIA, along with two dozen more of her features. For nearly 12 years Bow starred or appeared in 56 feature films, 11 were sound movies. 

The least Hollywood could do is remaster her silents such as "Hula," "The Plastic Age," "Black Oxen," "Capital Punishment," and all five of the sound films I own including "True to the Navy," and "Call Her Savage." 

I must admit, the remastered silents of 1927s "It," "Wings," and my Blue-Ray of "Children of Divorce," are amazing. Surprisingly, "Children of Divorce" was subpar at the box office upon its original release, despite the presence of Gary Cooper and Clara bow. It's a four star flick for me.

When this book was originally released, there were no prints of 1930s, "True to the Navy." This is now one of the 18 DVDs features I have of hers. "True to the Navy" is a Pre-Code Hollywood film. She has multiple boyfriends in the film, very risque for it's time. 

When she was dating Gary Cooper in real life, she had six other boy friends including her then future husband Rex Bell who was one of the sailors in "True to the Navy." Bell knew about her wild antics, and his lack of jealously impressed her. The two married in 1931 and remained together until the mid 1940s. They spawned two sons. They remained close until his death in 1962. 

Bow sings very well in "True to the Navy." She had no training in music and she nailed the one and only song in the movie. She truly was a natural in front of the camera. 

1927 was her glory year, not only did she star in the box office sensation It.," she also co-starred in Hollywood's first film to win the academy award, "Wings." 

Clara Bow in the first best picture of the year, 1927s "Wings" 

She was the female equivalent of Charlie Sheen off the set, boozing, drugging and sexing. She was briefly committed to a mental facility in 1931 and fans and Hollywood movie mongrels were starting to black ball her. She rebounded extremely well in 1932s "Call Her Savage" despite harsh accusations of Bow participating in beastiality with dogs. Accusers point to the one scene in "Call Her Savage" in which she's affectionate with her pet dog. I own the movie, nothing what so ever to indicate animal perversion. 

She made her last movie in 1933s "Hoopla." She retired when she was 28-years-old. She immediately left Hollywood and moved to a Nevada ranch with her hubby Bell. Years before she made her last film, she felt alone and disliked the Hollywood scene. Movies no longer fascinated her and she preferred the company of children over adults. In the 1950s, she was reading several dozen books a month. Like her mother, she was a diagnosed schizophrenic and committed twice to mental facilities. The second time she was committed was in the 1950s, a mental wellness facility in Harford Connecticut for a few months.   

Her mother once put a butchers knife to her daughters throat and threatened to kill her. Her dad was an abuser of alcohol and women. He raped Clara when she was 16. Growing up, she lived in the slums of Brooklyn hiding from abusive Johns her mother brought home before she was 5-years-old. 

When she was only nine she lost her best friend Johnny in a fire. Johnny lived in the same building as her when the structure caught on fire. While Johnny was burning, Bow tried to save him by wrapping a throw rug around him. 

 The one bright spot during her childhood was her grandfather who died in front of her before her 6th birthday.   

"It's easy to cry on cue, all I have to do is think of home,"Bow said.

Movie directors have attested to this quote. The doctor who treated her for mental illness in the 1950s said her life should be told by a master of fiction and not a humble doctor such as himself. 

Mark Izzy Schurr

"Democracy or Else," A Modern Moron Book Review

 

"Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried," Winston Churchill said.  

The three writers and hosts of "Pod Save America" are not Trump supporters by any means, nor do they praise the democrat party, they present common facts with very minimal bashing of the MAGA cult.  

This is a very worthy read for anyone whose into politics, left or right, or in my case, foward, as in the Foward Party. This book really illustrates the importance of voting, no matter how futile all winning candidates seem to be. Political god Andrew Yang said if all eligible voters exercised their rights, there would be a lot of positive change in the government. The 2020 election had record turn-outs in America's history, and yet only 67 percent of the registered voters cast their ballots. 

Currently less than 30 percent of Americans believe in the presidency and eight percent of Americans believe in congress. This book has extensive and understandable details in becoming a politician yourself. I myself have as much political experience as many elected officials. Page 144 clearly states," If you've read this far you have as much political experience...

If you think your vote doesn't matter, think again. In 2000, Bush won the state of Florida by 537 votes, only one sentence in the entire book about that years so called rigged election. When JFK defeated Nixon in the 1960 election, he only won the popular vote by a 120,000. This book didn't mention that John Fetterman won his first mayoral primary in Braddock, Pennsylvania by a single vote in 2005. The 2020 election was finalized by three states which Joe Biden won by a combined 43,000 votes, so yes, your vote matters. 

This book details how to become involved in local and national politics. It's very easy to become a member of Congress for example. Fund raising is the key. Anyone whose insanely wealthy can waltz into the political spectrum and if your not rich, you just need to smooze the right people or get millions of Americans to send you money. Anyone whose extroverted and passionate about politics can become a senator, mayor, whatever, even president. This book has the vital and valid details you need. 

"Our broken political system depends too much on fund raising," one or all three authors of this book said. 

A four star politcal read. 

Mark Izzy Schurr

 

"Ice Cream Blonde," A Modern Book Review

 

Thelma Todd was an iconic beauty and brains actress from the vintage era of the movies and "Ice Cream Blonde" details her life and controversial death with sagacious detail. 

Born in 1906, dead before 1936, Thelma Todd spoke several different languages, including Russian and Spanish. She negotiated her own film contracts and was a student teacher and Miss Massachusetts years before Hollywood Filmograph called her an outstanding example of the new school of women evolved in motion pictures.  

Thelma Todd wasn't the punch line for dumb blonde jokes. What do you call a smart blonde? A golden retriever. I myself can't make Cool Aid. How do you get two quarts of water into those tiny packets?    

Thelma Todd began her movie career in the silent era of the movies and by the early 1930s, she was an established actress. The 21 two-reelers she did with Patsy Kelly, she played the one with common sense, while Kelly, the plain looking brunette was the goofball frequently getting the two into jams and marvelous mayhems. (Thirty-five millimeter film runs 10 minutes on one reel, hence 20 minute short films were known as two-reelers.) Her first two-reeler was with Laurel and Hardy in 1929s "Unaccustomed As We Are," and she rocked the black slip! 

Thelma Todd, shortly before arriving in Hollywood in the 1920s. This book has eight pages of photos, this is my favorite. 

In 1932s "This is the Night," Todd portrays an adulterous woman in this clever comedy, Cary Grant's first movie incidentally. This Pre-Code film put humor in adultery and praised the wanderlust of youth while summoning laughter to the heart.

Cary Grant & Thelma Todd in "This is the Night."

"Ice Cream Blonde" inspirational dvd's added to my collection. 

Michelle Morgan spent five years on research alone for this 2016 book and it's a five star read easy. Morgan details her life from childhood, including the tragic death of her brother when he was only 6-years-old. "Ice Cream Blonde" reveals the business and pleasure's of her personal and Hollywood life, including her sudden horrible death. 

Her death was ruled a suicide, and the legal arguments in the courts made an OK case for this, but like her mother Alice, I believe she was murdered and this book has compelling facts to back her claim. 

Upon her death in December, days before Christmas of 1935, legal arguments in court pointed to accidental death, suicide or murder. Writer Michelle Morgan doesn't reveal her personal opinions on Todd's death. She presents the facts and speculations for all three possible causes of Todd's death, and allows the reader to form their own thoughts on this horrid matter.

Todd ran the Cafe Trocadero, aka the Troc in southern California. This book suggests Al Capone and Lucky Luciano may have been involved in her sudden death. Whether they were or not, one thing is certain, real life gangsters wanted an illegal gambling ring in her club the Troc, and Todd stood up to the mobsters and wouldn't allow illicit casino activities in her club. 

As of 2015, the Troc still exists and is called the Sidewalk Cafe. The glass doors Todd used herself were still attached to the building.

Bravo to author Michelle Morgan for writing this amazing book. 

Mark Izzy Schurr

  

 

"Spinal Tap II The End Continues", A Modern Moron Movie Review

 

It's hard to have a memorial for someone whose still alive David St. Hubbins, aka Micheal Mckean said. 

After more than 40 years the main three writers, artist and actors, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer and Mckean return as the core of "Spinal Tap," along with the bands rockumentary commentator Rob Reiner.  

The bands new drummer Valerie Franco is Didi Crockett, the Tap's first female drummer, and she rocked the drums, she's a true musician. Does she survive, given the history of Spinal Tap drummers? I've seen the movie, and I'm still uncertain.  

The clever goofiness reigns on, I laughed and I'm still laughing about the Holdy award and Tap Water. The Holdy is an award given to song writers whose music is played while people are on hold.

Spinal Tap and their guest performers rose to the occasion of music. Sir Paul McCartney and Elton John  fit the Tap with aplomb as guest musicians. The humor was wry and sly, and full of jabs on the business end of the music industry.

"Spinal Tap II The End Continues," like its 1984 predecessor "Spinal Tap" showcases the musical talent of the writers and preformers while also making fun of themselves. Four stars easy for the sequel.   

  

Mark Izzy Schurr

"Pre-Code Hollywood..." A Modern Moron Book Review

 

Vice drench films of the Pre-Code era showcased the complete spectrum of depravity, excessive boozing druging, picturesque violence, and sexual liaisons. (Thomas Doherty)

Sound on film became mainstream in 1930, the same year Pre-Code began. The exquisite four year era of these flicks ignored the Christian critique of the times and mainstreamed crime with Tommy Gun totin' hoodlums making wads of cash in the era of bootleggers, babes and bullets. The eloquence of Thomas Doherty is griping and incisive. I've watched many of these movies because of him.  The second I heard Joan Blondell say she was APO, Ain't Putn' Out in 1931s "Other Men's Women," I've been impressed with Doherty's taste in vintage cinema. 

Today's movies are far more gratuitous obviously, yet the Pre-Code films from March 1930-July-1934 had all the elements of today's movies. The sex was implied, not shown, as was the violence. In 1931s "Public Enemy," James Cagney, brandishing a pistol is standing behind a man playing the piano. The scene then shows his friend in the same room look over in shock as the audience hears a gun shot. Cagney causally walks away from the man he just killed and tells his friend to have the girls meet them for dinner. "Public Enemy" inspired Martin Scorsese he said on a documentary.   

 

Anti-war movies presented World War I as a horrific farce and medals meaningless. Anyone who reads and thinks knows wars are bullshit and the Pre-Code writers got flack from the government and other people who buy into the lies of wars and what the government tells us. "All Quiet On the Western Front," a 1930 film depicting the stupid politics of war and how rich world leaders dupe their nations young into hating people they don't even know and send other people's children to die in vain.

I didn't expect this book to be political, yet the elements covering this sordid subject illustrated the current fiasco and shame of the Republican party nearly a 100 years ago. Even in the early 1930s, Hollywood flicks took their jabs at the Republicans. 

"The Hobo's Psalm"

Hoover is my Shepard, I shall not want

He maketh me to lie down on park benches

He leadeth me beside the still factories

He arouseth my doubt in the Republican Party

He leadeth me in the path of Destruction

For his party's sake I fear evil, for thou art with me. 

In 1933s "Heroes For Sale," economic institutions, politicians and all other figures of authority are depicted as unjust, corrupt and unfeeling. Movies have always been an opiate to the senses, and I'm impressed how many of these films empowered women. In 1931s "Big Business Girl," Loretta Young portrays a college graduate in business and moves to New York to seek out a job in her field to pay off her $2,000 student debt. In 1932s "Miss Pinkerton" Joan Blondell portrayed a nurse helping a detective solve a murder case. In 1933 Fay Wray was Ann Carver, a lawyer in "Ann Carver's Profession."   

 

Jean Harlow as Lil, flirting with her married boss in 1932s "Red-Headed Woman"

The above picture is a scene from "Red-Headed Woman" in which Lil, Jean Harlow flirts with her married boss and gets between the sheets with him. Lil is a woman who moves up the economic ladder via horizontal means. Lil plays several wealthy men in this movie, and in the end she marries a very rich and much older man, and it's obvious she's doing "The dance with no underpants" with his young good looking chauffer. Her quote unquote sins go unpunished, and even rewarded. If this movie was made in 1935, she would have had to have something bad happen to her by the ending of the movie.

Joan Blondell in 1934s "Dames" 

A year later, this much skin was forbidden to be shown in the movies, and even Betty Boop, the iconic cartoon character could not be shown in her garter belt after 1934.

This 1999 book details the insane rules movie writers had to go through because of urging priests and politicians who got Biblical with written rules; Thou shall not photograph girls in scenes which femmes pull up their skirts to show a lengthy display of legs and the unfasting of garters. The motion picture industry of America started following these ludicrous guidelines in August of 1934 and it wasn't until the 1950s when Hollywood started to wake up again. The current rating system used in the movies today began in 1968.

  

The beffy of information Thomas Doherty sets forth in "Pre-Code Hollywood Sex, immorality and insurrection in American Cinema 1930-1934," is amazing. I've simple scratch the surface of information laden throughout this four star read. 

Mark Izzy Schurr

  

e