All That Jazz? More like She's okay...

 I just read an article that Anthony Hopkins is in talks to star as Alfred Hitchcock in the adaptation of Stephen Rebello’s  Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. This reminded me of one of my times in college where I was the “overachieving Cinema student!” Yeah I was the worst. I was taking a Billy Wilder/ Alfred Hitchcock class it was my favorite well second only to the Film Noir class I took. Our teacher announced that his friend who wrote a book on Psycho would stop by next class to talk to us. This of course was Stephen Rebello who wrote the book  Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho.  I was excited, the rest of the class really wasn’t  that excited mostly because a majority of them preferred to study films after 1970 which is hey their cup of tea not mine. Well I on the other hand was the opposite, a child of Turner Classic Movies, I was pretty weird: “hey did you see this movie? yeah it came out in 1936!” 

My professor loved me. It was my fourth class with him and since I seldom ever stopped raising my hand I know people considered me the “teacher’s pet”; which was pretty ironic to me since my teacher’s parents  were Fay & Michael Kanin who wrote the Oscar nominated 1958 movie “Teacher’s Pet” starring Clark Gable. (See U told you I was the worst)But in reality I just loved reading and talking about older films it is something that just spoke to me.

So when I found out, Rebello would be coming to class I went to the library (where I usually hung out on my 3 hr breaks between classes reading bios and  history books on film) and read  Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho , took notes and really enjoyed it. When class time came I was prepared and ready. I listened intensely to Rebello who shared stories of how he interviewed Hitchcock before his death and about his book. I made comments and asked questions that led to class discussions and kudos. So I guess yes I was the worst, I loved reading and answering questions in class. The history of film at that time made me giddy. I loved it all I went out of my way to see films and read books on my favorite genres/sub genres (screwball comedy and film noir to be exact). But is it the worst to take time and learn everything you want to know about something you love? The youthful  enthusiasm is something we lose as we get older and the fact that I still cling to it is something I cherish. When you stop that enthusiasm choosing apathy and disdain for things then what is the point? 

No I didn’t become a director or an actor. I dabble in writing. I took a break from movies for awhile and focused on live comedy with similar enthusiasm. But in the background film was always there I would pick up a book on film noir, or read a cinema text book for fun. I recently started back up my enthusiasm for film when I met a friend who was amazed I knew what they meant when they referenced “Night of the Hunter.” So I was an overachieving cinema student and what did I learn? A lot about films of course but also that what we love and take time to learn and be excited about is what makes us the unique person we are. So don’t loose the enthusiasm  cause you may just end up loosing yourself.