Subject
Fwd: Re: Chess movies
From
Date
Body
The chess game played by Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway, in "The Thomas
Crown Affair"--hot and steamy as it was--was my first exposure to chess,
and I was drawn to it by its mental challenge. Patrice Summers
--On Friday, August 12, 2005 8:00 PM -0700 "Donald B. Johnson"
<chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu> wrote:
> ----- Forwarded message from spklein52@hotmail.com -----
> Date: Thu, 04 Aug 2005 10:13:06 -0400
> From: "Sandy P. Klein" <spklein52@hotmail.com>
> Reply-To: SPKlein52@HotMail.com
> Subject: when you realize Nabokov once said: "Chess problems demand ...
> To: spklein52@hotmail.com
>
> Message requiring your approval (36 lines)
>
> ------------------ [1]
> http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0803chessmovies03-ON.html[2]#
> Chess players in the movies
> AZ Central.com - AZ,USA
> ... The Luzhin Defence (2000). John Turturro plays a chess master
> slipping into madness. The film is based on the VLADIMIR NABOKOV
> novel of the same title. ... Chess players in the movies
>
> Aug. 3, 2005 04:45 PM
>
> Chess shows up a lot in the movies, often for no other reason than
> to make the protagonist seem smart or sophisticated. It's frequently
> used in advertisements for the same reason.
>
> But it's obvious - at least to chess players - that most ad designers
> don't play chess. The tip-off is in the way the board is set up. More
> often than not you'll see a dark square at each player's right, but
> that square is always light in chess. Check it out the next time you
> see a chessboard in an ad.
>
> But we digress.
>
> Only a handful of movies actually have been _about_ chess, or at
> least involved chess as a major plot element.
>
> Here's a sampling:
>
> ? Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993). The best chess movie ever made,
> starring Joe Mantegna, Joan Allen, Ben Kingsley and Max Pomeranc as
> chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin. Based on the book by Fred Waitzkin about
> his son's phenomenal abilities, the film was dramatized, with Kingsley
> portraying chess coach Bruce Pandolfini. Laurence Fishburne plays a
> chess bum whose overly aggressive style of play influences Josh in
> ways Kingsley does not approve.
>
> ? The Luzhin Defence (2000). John Turturro plays a chess master
> slipping into madness. The film is based on the Vladimir Nabokov
> novel of the same title. Nabokov - best known as the author of
> _Lolita _- was an avid and highly skilled chess player who once
> included a series of chess problems of his own composition in a book
> of his poems. Makes sense when you realize Nabokov once said: "Chess
> problems demand from the composer the same virtues that characterize
> all worthwhile art: originality, invention, conciseness, harmony,
> complexity and splendid insincerity."
>
> ? Knight Moves (1992). Starring Christopher Lambert, Diane Lane and
> Tom Skerritt. Melodramatic tale of a chess grandmaster and a series
> of mysterious killings.
>
> Many other films feature the game in a prominent way, without
> actually being about chess.
>
> ? The Seventh Seal (1957). Max von Sydow plays chess with Death in
> Ingmar Bergman's classic.
>
> ? From Russia With Love (1963). The early James Bond flick features
> the tuxedo-clad grandmaster Kronsteen, a SPECTRE operative (Number 5,
> to be exact), winning a match game in brilliant style. The position on
> the board was from an actual game between Soviet grandmasters Boris
> Spassky and David Bronstein, played in 1960.
>
> ? Night Moves (1975). Gene Hackman, Melanie Griffith. A classic
> whodunit, with Hackman as a detective who uses a famous chess game to
> illustrate that he thinks he's overlooking something that's important
> but not obvious.
>
> Hundreds of movies have had chess games here and there. Do you
> remember the chess scenes in these?
>
> _Monkey Business _(1931).
>
> _Casablanca _(1943).{check}
>
> _Stalag 17 _(1953)
>
> _2001: A Space Odyssey _(1968).
>
> _Blazing Saddles _(1974).
>
> _Yentl _(1983).
>
> _Mr. Holland's Opus _(1995).
>
>
>
> Links:
> ------
> [1] http://www.azcentral.com/
> [2] http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0803chessmovies03-ON.html
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
Patrice Summers
Administrative/Financial Asst.
Dramatic Art/Dance
University of California, Santa Barbara
805/893-5508-Voice
805/893-7029-Fax
Mail Code: 7060
----- End forwarded message -----
Crown Affair"--hot and steamy as it was--was my first exposure to chess,
and I was drawn to it by its mental challenge. Patrice Summers
--On Friday, August 12, 2005 8:00 PM -0700 "Donald B. Johnson"
<chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu> wrote:
> ----- Forwarded message from spklein52@hotmail.com -----
> Date: Thu, 04 Aug 2005 10:13:06 -0400
> From: "Sandy P. Klein" <spklein52@hotmail.com>
> Reply-To: SPKlein52@HotMail.com
> Subject: when you realize Nabokov once said: "Chess problems demand ...
> To: spklein52@hotmail.com
>
> Message requiring your approval (36 lines)
>
> ------------------ [1]
> http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0803chessmovies03-ON.html[2]#
> Chess players in the movies
> AZ Central.com - AZ,USA
> ... The Luzhin Defence (2000). John Turturro plays a chess master
> slipping into madness. The film is based on the VLADIMIR NABOKOV
> novel of the same title. ... Chess players in the movies
>
> Aug. 3, 2005 04:45 PM
>
> Chess shows up a lot in the movies, often for no other reason than
> to make the protagonist seem smart or sophisticated. It's frequently
> used in advertisements for the same reason.
>
> But it's obvious - at least to chess players - that most ad designers
> don't play chess. The tip-off is in the way the board is set up. More
> often than not you'll see a dark square at each player's right, but
> that square is always light in chess. Check it out the next time you
> see a chessboard in an ad.
>
> But we digress.
>
> Only a handful of movies actually have been _about_ chess, or at
> least involved chess as a major plot element.
>
> Here's a sampling:
>
> ? Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993). The best chess movie ever made,
> starring Joe Mantegna, Joan Allen, Ben Kingsley and Max Pomeranc as
> chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin. Based on the book by Fred Waitzkin about
> his son's phenomenal abilities, the film was dramatized, with Kingsley
> portraying chess coach Bruce Pandolfini. Laurence Fishburne plays a
> chess bum whose overly aggressive style of play influences Josh in
> ways Kingsley does not approve.
>
> ? The Luzhin Defence (2000). John Turturro plays a chess master
> slipping into madness. The film is based on the Vladimir Nabokov
> novel of the same title. Nabokov - best known as the author of
> _Lolita _- was an avid and highly skilled chess player who once
> included a series of chess problems of his own composition in a book
> of his poems. Makes sense when you realize Nabokov once said: "Chess
> problems demand from the composer the same virtues that characterize
> all worthwhile art: originality, invention, conciseness, harmony,
> complexity and splendid insincerity."
>
> ? Knight Moves (1992). Starring Christopher Lambert, Diane Lane and
> Tom Skerritt. Melodramatic tale of a chess grandmaster and a series
> of mysterious killings.
>
> Many other films feature the game in a prominent way, without
> actually being about chess.
>
> ? The Seventh Seal (1957). Max von Sydow plays chess with Death in
> Ingmar Bergman's classic.
>
> ? From Russia With Love (1963). The early James Bond flick features
> the tuxedo-clad grandmaster Kronsteen, a SPECTRE operative (Number 5,
> to be exact), winning a match game in brilliant style. The position on
> the board was from an actual game between Soviet grandmasters Boris
> Spassky and David Bronstein, played in 1960.
>
> ? Night Moves (1975). Gene Hackman, Melanie Griffith. A classic
> whodunit, with Hackman as a detective who uses a famous chess game to
> illustrate that he thinks he's overlooking something that's important
> but not obvious.
>
> Hundreds of movies have had chess games here and there. Do you
> remember the chess scenes in these?
>
> _Monkey Business _(1931).
>
> _Casablanca _(1943).{check}
>
> _Stalag 17 _(1953)
>
> _2001: A Space Odyssey _(1968).
>
> _Blazing Saddles _(1974).
>
> _Yentl _(1983).
>
> _Mr. Holland's Opus _(1995).
>
>
>
> Links:
> ------
> [1] http://www.azcentral.com/
> [2] http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0803chessmovies03-ON.html
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
Patrice Summers
Administrative/Financial Asst.
Dramatic Art/Dance
University of California, Santa Barbara
805/893-5508-Voice
805/893-7029-Fax
Mail Code: 7060
----- End forwarded message -----