Alain Delon 1935-2024

The unbelievably handsome actor Alain Delon, 1935-2024.

The French actor Alain Delon died yesterday at the age of 88. Delon was an icon of European cinema, and a towering figure in French culture. True to his reputation as a lover of animals, the announcement of Delon’s death mentioned his dog as well as his children.  

Thanks to his striking good looks, Delon was offered a contract by producer David O. Selznick in 1957, but he turned it down. Delon forged his own path through cinema, and it did not often involve Hollywood. He quickly became a star in France, and 1960’s Plein Soleil (released in the United States as Purple Noon, even though the French translates to Full Sun) established Delon as an international star. Delon’s performance as Tom Ripley was a perfect blend of charm and danger. The contrast between Delon’s angelic looks and Ripley’s immoral actions was highly effective.  

No summary of Alain Delon’s life and career would be complete without mentioning his looks. To say that Alain Delon was handsome is not enough—it’s like saying the Louvre is just a museum, or the Beatles were just a band. Delon was often described as the most handsome man in the movies, and I would agree with that. Delon had a full head of black hair, piercing blue eyes, high cheekbones, and arched eyebrows that made his face very expressive. The camera loved Delon, and directors quickly figured out that he was an actor capable of delivering expressive performances even with minimal dialogue. A perfect example is the 1967 film Le Samourai. There’s no dialogue until about 10 minutes into the movie, and you don’t need any dialogue—Delon’s face tells the story and gives you all the information you need.  

Delon made several American films, starting with a role in the 1964 anthology film The Yellow Rolls-Royce. In 1965 and 1966, Delon made his biggest push in Hollywood, as he starred in Once a Thief, with Ann-Margret, Lost Command, with Anthony Quinn, George Segal, and frequent Delon co-star Maurice Ronet, and Texas Across the River, a Western with Dean Martin. None of these films were especially successful, partially because mid-1960's Hollywood didn’t know what to do with Alain Delon. So, Delon went back to France, and I don’t blame him. He wasn’t going to find a movie like Le Samourai or La Piscine in Hollywood.  

Delon kept churning out the hits in France, stylish crime thrillers like The Sicilian Clan, and Borsalino with fellow French heartthrob Jean-Paul Belmondo. One of Delon’s finest performances came in 1976’s Monsieur Klein, which features the theme of being someone’s double—also a key element in Plein Soleil and La Piscine. Delon was also a producer of many of his 1970’s films, and he eventually branched out into other ventures, such as men’s cologne.  

Controversy followed Delon numerous times. In 1968, Delon’s bodyguard Stevan Markovic was found dead in a garbage dump. Delon was questioned, but never charged with any crime. The case turned into a lurid tabloid scandal, as allegations were made that Markovic had photos of Prime Minister George Pompidou’s wife in compromising positions, and that Markovic was planning to blackmail Pompidou. The case only increased the French public’s fascination with Delon, and his career was unscathed. The Sicilian Clan and La Piscine were the third and fourth highest-grossing films in France for 1969. Even late in life, Delon still made headlines, as earlier in 2024 his children were pursuing legal actions against each other, regarding their father’s health and care. The life of an icon is not always an easy one.  

In the United States, Delon never became a household name, but more of a cult figure of cool. I first encountered Delon’s films when I saw Le Samourai at a revival movie house in 1997. It was a new print of the film, and upon seeing Le Samourai I immediately thought that Alain Delon was the coolest, most handsome guy I had ever seen. All these years later, I’d say that 16-year-old me hit the nail on the head.  

Thanks to DVD’s and streaming services, it’s never been easier for American fans to watch the masterpieces of Alain Delon’s lengthy career. Delon’s films continue to find audiences—in 2021, La Piscine was held over for 18 weeks at the Film Forum in New York City, a testament to that film’s beauty, and the performances by Delon, Romy Schneider, Maurice Ronet, and Jane Birkin.  

Delon’s romantic relationship with Romy Schneider had been over for years by the time they filmed La Piscine together in 1968. But watching the film, you see the deep emotional connection Delon and Schneider shared. One of my favorite extras of the Criterion Collection DVD of La Piscine is the footage of Delon greeting Schneider at the airport just before filming of the movie began. You can see the sheer joy and delight on their faces upon seeing each other again. And Delon speaks so highly of Schneider’s talent as an actress, and how he convinced director Jacques Deray that she was the perfect choice for the role.  

Alain Delon was always much more than a pretty face. Delon was a fantastic actor, and his performances are masterpieces of naturalism. Delon was also an avid art collector—much of his collection was sold in 2023 in an auction by Bonhams Paris, with the proceeds amounting to $8.8 million. Like his fellow French star and sex symbol Brigitte Bardot, Delon was a lover of animals, and he was especially devoted to his dogs. Alain Delon was truly a Renaissance man, and he will be missed by fans of cinema throughout the world. But I feel confident in saying that Delon’s legendary performances will live on through many generations.  

Movie Review: Elvis Costello: Mystery Dance, directed by Mark Kidel (2013)

Elvis Costello, 1978.

Elvis Costello, 2010's. His aim is still true.

The 2013 documentary Elvis Costello: Mystery Dance recently aired on the Showtime network, and it’s worth checking out if you’re a fan of Costello’s music. Directed by Mark Kidel, a veteran of music documentaries, Mystery Dance interviews Costello himself as well as Paul McCartney, Nick Lowe, and Allen Toussaint, among others. Mystery Dance covers Costello’s nearly forty year career in just sixty minutes, and my complaint about the film is that it’s too short. But when I was researching the film for this review, I learned that there’s also a 90-minute version, which has only been shown in the UK. I’d be interested to see the 90-minute version and see what it adds.

Hopefully the longer version adds more details, since Mystery Dance is a little light on those. In the film Costello talks about making an album and says he made it just because it was time to make another album. As he’s talking the film shows the cover for his 1981 album “Trust.” Is that the album Costello is talking about? It’s not clear. If it is, then it’s a damn good album he came up with just because it was time to make another one. I also learned while reading an interview with director Mark Kidel that he visited Paul McCartney’s studio and heard demos that Paul and Elvis made when they were writing songs together. It’s not made clear in the film whose studio it is, and I would have appreciated a little title telling me that I was seeing Paul McCartney’s studio. 

One of the coolest moments in Mystery Dance is when we see a clip of Costello’s father, Ross McManus, singing “If I Had a Hammer” with the Joe Loss band. Father and son look a lot alike, and the film highlights Costello’s relationship with his father, who was a trumpet player and singer. But again, I wanted more details. What did the elder McManus think of his son’s success? What did he think of Costello’s music?

Costello is one of the great singer-songwriters of the rock era, and he’s one of the most versatile, recording with everyone from Burt Bacharach to opera star Anne Sofie von Otter. Costello had a great quote in the movie, and I’m paraphrasing slightly, “Whenever you do something that’s a little bit different from what you usually do you get some people who act like it’s the end of the world. It’s not.” Costello is an ideal subject for a documentary, because he’s extremely articulate and intelligent. It’s also apparent how much respect other musicians have for him. Costello’s love for all kinds of music comes through very strongly. It’s great fun to see the wonderful Allen Toussaint talk about recording the album “The River in Reverse” with Costello.

There’s not much of an arc to Costello’s career as presented in Mystery Dance. No dramatic events or turning points are uncovered. I think there’s a lot more to Costello’s story, but maybe he’s saving that for when his autobiography comes out later this year.

"That's Entertainment," by The Jam

I’ve been listening to a lot of the British band The Jam lately. The Jam were a great band, mixing punk and new wave in their brief career. Paul Weller was the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter in the band, with Bruce Foxton on bass and Rick Buckler on drums. Foxton’s bass playing was amazing, and it frequently provided the main melody for The Jam’s songs. The Jam never made much of a commercial impression in the United States, but in England they were very successful, with many top ten singles to their credit.

One of The Jam’s greatest songs is “That’s Entertainment,” from their 1980 album “Sound Affects.” It’s not to be confused with the song of the same name by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz from the 1953 Fred Astaire musical “The Band Wagon.” The Jam’s “That’s Entertainment” was written by Paul Weller in 10 minutes after coming home from the pub drunk. (That’s according to Weller, at least.) “That’s Entertainment” was never released as a single in the U.K., but amazingly enough, it charted as an import single, making #21 in the charts in early 1981.

“That’s Entertainment” is a great example of the power of music to communicate emotion. The melody, chords, and progression contain such emotion that you would know the feeling of the song even if you didn’t understand the words that Weller was singing. The song builds tension all through the verses before releasing some of that tension in the chorus. “That’s Entertainment” begins with a catchy guitar riff before Foxton’s bass line enters and provides a neat compliment to the main melody of the guitar. Then the guitar riff gets doubled and gets louder. Then Weller’s vocal enters and he sings the first verse:

“A police car and a screaming siren

A pneumatic drill and ripped up concrete

A baby wailing and stray dog howling

The screech of brakes and lamp light blinking”

Then the chorus, which is simply:

“That’s entertainment, that’s entertainment”

The verses all follow this pattern, seemingly disconnected images of everyday life. The only thread that connects the lyrics is their stark bleakness. In Weller’s lyrics here there is little happiness or pleasure, only bad things and images of urban decay. Weller’s voice is forceful and angry as he sings the verses, and it lightens somewhat as he sings the chorus. The words in the first verse tell us that this is not a happy landscape, the siren is “screaming,” the baby is “wailing,” the stray dog is “howling,” all images that set us on edge right from the beginning.

The second verse isn’t any happier, and it ends with:

“Lights going out and a kick in the balls”

Again, not a very happy image. But the second time through the chorus, after the second “That’s Entertainment,” Weller reaches up for a high “Ah, la la la la la,” giving the music a tremendous lift. The “la la la la la” melody then becomes a backing vocal behind the third verse, providing a kind of ironic counterpoint to Weller’s lyrics about “slow time Mondays” and “boring Wednesdays.” (I’m not sure if the backing vocal is sung by Weller or by Bruce Foxton.) The fourth verse provides a really terrible image:

“Waking up at 6AM on a cool warm morning

Opening the windows and breathing in petrol”

Ugh, what a terrible way to start the day. The beauty and tranquility of an early morning is shattered by the intrusive smell of gasoline. Nature is spoiled by man’s inventions. I’m not quite sure what a “cool warm morning” is, but it’s a nice turn of phrase. At the end of the verse Weller gives us the only escape so far from this stagnation and decay:

“Watching the telly and thinking ‘bout your holidays”

Which isn’t too uplifting. As the fifth verse begins, the only new sound in the record is introduced, a brief backwards guitar part that plays as Weller sings the verse. It’s unobtrusive enough that I didn’t even notice it the first few times I listened to the song. The fifth verse has one of my favorite lines:

“A hot summer’s day and sticky black tarmac”

Which isn’t that deep or anything, but I love the way it sounds. Everyone knows what a day is like when it’s so hot that the fresh tar on the roads bubbles up. And I love all the c’s and k’s in “sticky black tarmac.” It just wouldn’t be the same if Weller had written “sticky black asphalt.”

The sixth, and final, verse starts with the lines:

“Two lovers kissing amongst the scream of midnight

Two lovers missing the tranquility of solitude”

This is simply great writing. In the first line Weller has subverted the usual romantic notions of kissing at midnight, which is usually thought to be the height of romance. But here midnight is not romantic at all, it screams. The next line further explodes the romantic notion of lovers being together. In Weller’s song the lovers aren’t happy that they are together, they are wishing for the other person to leave so they could be alone. In this song there is truly no escape from the harsh brutality of the world. So why do I keep listening to this song? Why does it draw me in? It’s the music that pushes the song forward and makes that chorus so powerful. The chorus is a release from the brutality of the verses, in the same way that entertainment is a release from the brutality of everyday life. Which may be Weller’s point. But maybe not, maybe the point is that we think entertainment is an escape, but it’s only a temporary forgetting of our problems, it doesn’t make our problems go away. “That’s Entertainment” is a truly great song that intrigues me a lot and keeps me listening to it over and over. It’s a great mix of a terrific melody and interesting lyrics. After the sixth verse and chorus, the song slowly fades out as the “la la la la la” section repeats again and again. And then I have to listen to this song again.