Bob Dylan — Moody Club (Painting, 2021) / I Want to Live! (Film, 1958)

Another painting within a film..

The painting Moody Club, by Bob Dylan, is based on a scene from the opening of the film 'I Want to Live!' (1958). After quite a bit of searching / watching, in various ways, I found this scene a couple of days ago — I previously couldn't find any reference to where the scene in this painting was from.

On the stage here is the Gerry Mulligan Quartet. It think this opening scene is great (as is the whole film).

Original painting,

Moody Club. 2021. Acrylic on canvas. 91 x 152cm.

I Want to Live! is a 1958 American biographical neo noir drama film directed by Robert Wise and starring Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, Virginia Vincent and Theodore Bikel.

I think Susan Hayward is brilliant in this. It's based on a true story of Barbara Graham, who was sentenced to death in the gas chamber.

According to some sources the film is a 'highly fictionalized version of the case, indicating the possibility that Graham may have been innocent.' .. but if you watch the film you will see that it says at the beginning that it is based on the 'personal letters written by Graham in addition to newspaper articles written by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ed Montgomery' .. With a signed declaration on the screen from Montgomery at the start of the film (suggesting that there was some doubt that she was guilty, at least by Montgomery).. Either way, I found it interesting, and it is definitely a film worth watching I think.

I think this opening scene is put together brilliantly. The music, the movement, how it is filmed.

Some of the camera angles, lighting, and movement reminded me of Shadow Kingdom.

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Another interesting aspect of the painting is that the woman at the table on the left hand side isn't actually in this scene. I mentioned her previously in this post,

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The woman at the table on the left in the original painting,

I’m wondering who she is…

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‘All these images come from films. They try to highlight the different predicaments that people find themselves in. Whether it’s James Cagney or Margaret Rutherford, the dreams and schemes are the same—life as it’s coming at you in all its forms and shapes.’

Bob Dylan, 2021.

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nm.