The Occidental tourist

A selection of scanned articles from vintage print mags and film journals

A few summers ago, I (Dave) started going to the library at Occidental College every day to write. School was out, but the library kept their regular hours — meaning a random 30-something dude with a backpack could cruise in there anytime from 9 to 5 and be the only person on an entire floor of a quiet library tucked away in Highland Park. But beyond the surreal solitude it offered for my writing, it also became an unexpected resource for the OG of physical media: THE PRINTED WORD.

One day, I found myself working near the magazine stacks — those endless shelves of bound periodicals usually housed in the basements of college libraries. They seemed boring (or homework-related) back when I was in school, but as a screenwriter looking for inspiration in present-day LA, it was a treasure trove. I’d spend hours taking pictures of old interviews with screenwriters I loved, Joe Camel cigarette ads from the era when he got heavy into jazz, fonts from ‘80s magazines I thought were cool. You know, normal Tuesday afternoon adult work stuff.

When we were coming up with ideas for this newsletter, I flashed back to my days browsing the stacks. And we figured, since most of this stuff isn’t available online, why not share it with you all?

• HAL ASHBY INTERVIEW // Millimeter Magazine (October, 1976)

Hal Ashby was a king — not only a defiant original at the forefront of New Hollywood, but also a legendary late bloomer who didn’t direct his first film, The Landlord, until he was in his forties. He also famously loved battling studio executives and chiefing dank nugs. At the time of this interview, the king was at his peak, smack-dab in the middle of an epic run that could outmatch any filmmaker’s oeuvre (except maybe Rob Reiner in the ‘80s). Here, in 1976, Hal serves up a long-ranging interview that even hardcore Ashby freaks probably haven’t seen before — showcasing the wisdom earned on his slow road to success, and digging into Bound For Glory, an extremely underrated movie about Woodie Guthrie that should be of major interest to any fellow A Complete Unknown enjoyers. While it often gets buried beneath some of Ashby’s more iconic jams from that decade, Bound For Glory is worth checking out no matter your level of interest in literal folk heroes. Roger Ebert called it, “one of the best-looking films ever made, in its photography, in its use of locations, in its recreation of the America that Woody Guthrie discovered.” Whew!

“If a talented person takes a chance, 9 times out of 10 it will usually turn out pretty good.”

“I’ve been blessed with being very naive about certain things at a very late age in life.”

“There is nothing tougher than being the recipient of information and being made to look like Mr. Blah.”

“The real hard-core Woody Guthrie freaks may not like the film that much, but you’ve got to make the picture for other people that will come to it and say, “Hey, I didn’t know about that; I didn’t know about Woody Guthrie; that’s fantastic.”

“It’s the only film I’ve ever made where it’s legitimate for someone to get up and really say something.”

• DAYS OF HEAVEN FEATURE // Horizon Magazine (September 1978)

Horizon is a long-defunct magazine that operated out of New York City until the late 1980s. Existing somewhere between Esquire and Harper’s, it was beautifully made and jammed with all sorts of longform pieces and heady interviews that cover every zone of American arts and culture. I was initially drawn to their place in the stacks because my Dad was an editor there in the ‘70s, working under the legendary Otto Fuerbringer. The old man had his ear much closer to the ground than I would’ve given him credit for — and here, Horizon tunes nicely into the Malick frequency. Also, if you’re looking for more Malick, there was a great biography that came out last fall, though it won’t give you a full picture of the man. He made sure that will never happen because he tended to avoid profiles like this one, which is part of what makes him so great.

“Malick, who is loath to establish a point with a line of dialogue when he can establish it with a long shot, uses the changeability of the countryside to reflect the changeability of his characters.”

Terence Malick did a rewrite on Dirty Harry?!?!

Interesting to see how critics were talking about Days of Heaven and Badlands back then, especially since both films are now widely considered classics.

• VARIOUS COVERS // Film Comment (1974 - 1977)

Film Comment miraculously still exists today, albeit in newsletter form (you can subscribe here) but check out this quadriptych of vintage FC covers highlighting some of our favorite ‘70s movies, not to mention some strong font and visual design choices.

(Clockwise from top left) A collection of Film Comment covers for 3 Days of the Condor, California Split, Carrie and The American Friend

• VARIOUS COVERS // Jump Cut Magazine (1974, 1995)

I’d never heard of Jump Cut before, but these covers caught my eye and a quick Google search revealed that their entire archives have been digitized and put up online. It’s a fascinating collection of film writing featuring well-known names like Peter Biskind of Easy Riders, Raging Bulls fame. According to Wikipedia, Jump Cut stopped printing hard copies back in 2001, but apparently they are still issuing new releases digitally via their website. That’s an impressive 50 year run, Jump Cut!!

• DUSTIN HOFFMAN ON WARREN BEATTY // Life Magazine (1987)

We’ll leave you with a (slightly blurry) scan of a very strange Dustin Hoffman / Warren Beatty profile, wherein the two legends attempt to promote the movie Ishtar by posing in… a pile of garbage? Which is almost too on-the-nose ironic considering how badly the film was trashed upon its release that year.

“DH: He has this reputation with women but I have never met anyone who blushes as much as Warren.”

“DH: I’ve been a star for 20 years and a human being for 30 years before that… The trouble with Warren is he’s always been a star.”

“DH: The biggest surprise about Warren is that he’s the worst-dressed human being I ever saw in my life.”

That’s all for now. If you happen to be browsing your local library stacks and find something cool you’d like to share that’s not online, email dave@trackingnoise.com and maybe we’ll include it in a future edition.

See you next week!

— Dave & Matt