THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (Dreyer, 1928)

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(Watched: thu/20230105 via the Criterion Channel. Directed by Carl Th. Dreyer from a screenplay by Joseph Delteil and Dreyer; starring Renée Jeanne Falconetti, Eugène Silvain, André Berley, and Maurice Schutz. Released April, 1928.)

While a lifelong devotee of Dreyer's VAMPYR, I hadn't seen THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC but within a few seconds, I understood why it's been hailed as one of the greatest films of all time since it came out: with a simple, sparse language of action/reaction and closeups punctuated by the occasional cinematic flourish, Dreyer’s telling of Joan's (Maria Falconetti, in one of the finest performances ever - I can't add anything to the nearly hundred years of praise other than Wow) martyrdom at the hands of the theocratic inquisition and its ignoble sycophants is nothing short of a triumph of brutal and uncompromising depth. This one's going to stick with me for awhile.

Clotheslined OHMSS Telly Savalas Blofeld, by Howie Noel

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When Dick Tracy Rogues Gallery artist Howie Noel mentioned in his Instagram Stories that he was thinking of doing a series on Bond villains, I sprung into action with a special request / commission: that he draw me a Telly Savalas Blofeld from OHMSS (still my favorite Bond film of all time with my favorite Blofeld of all time) after he was clotheslined by the tree at the climax of his bobsled chase with Bond.

Though Howie’s been cool enough to send me updates at each stage of Telly’s birth, it didn’t prepare me for how awesome the final result was: a place of framed honor in The Paintshop is guaranteed. Be sure to check out Howie’s Dick Tracy Rogues Gallery project on Instagram, where he shares all sorts of amazing stuff, including CLEW, his detective comic strip, and, of course, a bounty of Dick Tracy rogues.