I've been making new finds of old stuff on the web, most of them thanks to Google Alerts. Here are some curios that have just come to my attention.Ever wondered what happened to the monorail Montag used to get home in Truffaut's film of Fahrenheit 451? It was a real monorail in France, built as a protoype, and Truffaut chose it because of its futuristic appearance.
The monorail is no longer in existence, but a few years ago some monorail enthusiasts tracked down what remains of the system, including the vandalised car and some sections of track. Find out more by visiting Randy Lambertus's page from 1999.
Going back to 1993, we find Ray Bradbury being interviewed about his alleged total recall. This unlikely gift is what allows him to remember the moment of his own birth. No one really believes this claim, but his belief in it led him to write one of his classic short stories, "The Small Assassin". Bradbury has discussed this in many interviews, but this one from YouTube is one I hadn't seen before. It's from a Canadian TV show called Prisoners of Gravity.
2 comments:
L wrote:
Phil,
I'm from the US and I tried to leave a comment on your website. The visual ID doesn't appear so I couldn't type in the visual identification to post my comments.
I just wanted to say that the old and new photos of the monorail were fascinating. Their design appeals to me like the beauty of wind farms--like commissioned art. It was exciting to see the actual monorail used in F-451 and to see the exit ladder. The old monorail would be a great starting point for a "Back to the Future" kind of movie where the audience is transported to the past in the graffetti shell to end up in the shiny, new monorail car with Montag and Clarisse.
The 1992 interview with Ray about total recall was calming, not crazy. He made it seem so logical and clear--I believed every word. And the host of that program was a hoot.
I'll keep checking your website for more gems.
Thanks,
L
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