Perfect Strangers is a 1945 British film made by London Films.
Starring Robert Donat and Deborah Kerr. Produced and directed by Alexander Korda. Screenplay by Clemence Dane and Anthony Pelissier. Based on a story by Clemence Dane.
Painting by Bob Dylan.
I came across this today — whilst searching for scenes of different painting by Bob Dylan!.. I have a few trails that I am following and somehow found this.
I prefer the original British title — Perfect Strangers. (The version here is the US version though). Something about the title seemed familiar — also it reminded me of the title ‘A Complete Unknown’ ..
I could hear Bob singing ‘perfect strangers’.. and then of course I realised it was ..
“Sweet Goddess — your perfect stranger’s comin’ on in at last”
Whilst looking on the official Bob Dylan website just now I notice the lyrics on there are quite different here and there — the perfect stranger’s line isn’t on there (It is in the lyrics book I have though)
The second verse on bobdylan.com lyrics page is:
Dark Lady, Won't you move it on over and make some room?
Rollin’ steady, sweepin’ through the country like a broom
Put your arms around me, like a circle ‘round the sun
You got a pocket full of money but you can’t help me none
Shady Lady, the Dress that you are wearin’ weighs a ton
Looking up ‘Shady Lady’ — There is a film with this title.. and maybe by chance this was also released in 1945.
“A professional gambler is caught cheating and sent to prison. Eventually paroled, he decides to make a fresh start and takes his niece, an aspiring singer, to Chicago. Once there, however, she gets mixed up with a mobster and winds up working at his nightclub--and her uncle, unable to resist the chance at some quick money, goes back to card cheating again” ..
A few other interesting differences in the lyrics .. I was about to type more about this — I wanted to post this film tonight though.. and it’s already soon after midnight.
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Either way, from BobDylan.com, the third verse:
Angel Baby, born of a blinding light and a changing wind
Drive me crazy, you know who you are and where you’ve been
Starin’ at the ceiling, standin’ on the chair
Big fires blazing, ashes in the air
Angel Baby, I wonder what you done back there
On the album Bob begins the first line of the third verse with ‘Sweet Goddess’ not ‘Angel Baby’ (the other lines are all different too)
With other parts of this maybe by chance being film titles.. I had a look and noticed that Angel Baby is a film from 1961.
“A young woman's transformation from healed to healer incurs many dramatic changes, some of which are much more apparent than others.” .. from imbd.com
Angel Baby, born of a blinding light and a changing wind
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I really like this painting though — has anyone reading this seen this one at any of the Bob Dylan exhibitions over the last few years?
There is another view of the same scene at the end of the film.
I notice that the houses in the middle — the ones with the red colour seem to be from a different place — the windows are different. The angled part coming out from the window. The colours of all the other parts of the scene don’t seem to have any of that shade of red in there… apart from that one building.
Ashes in the furnace, dust on the rise.. by the last scene in the film it seems.
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Looking more closely.. I have just noticed how those chimneys seem quite striking. Almost like chess pieces.
Also, Bob seems to have added a building on the right (I might update this page tomorrow with more details / images) — The part around where he has painted his name. A different shape, and what looks like some kind of bowl.
I like how he has painted the distant buildings within the mist — Some with seemingly more details — curved roofs and points/crosses than in the film scene.
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I think I saw Bob Dylan play Tough Mama in Amsterdam in 2009. That’s a different story though.
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Unrelated to this, I have been uploading some new paintings of mine to the website here — www.nightlymothpaintings.space
After the Rain — Part One. Oil paint on canvas paper.
Best wishes,
nm.
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