The late-night/early-morning spot for Cubs fans asks if Paul Goldschmidt would be a good fit in Chicago.
It’s Wednesday night here at BCB After Dark: the hippest hangout for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. We’re so glad to see you. New friends and old, all are welcome. We’ve got no cover charge tonight and the dress code is casual. There are still a few tables available. We have a big announcement to make tonight. Bring your own beverage.
BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.
We have a big announcement to make this evening. This club has always been open Monday night through Wednesday night, and to be honest, sometimes it’s hard to make the rent when you’re only open three nights a week. But I also don’t want to work any harder, so it’s been a problem.
But we’ve solved that problem by renting out this space on Thursdays and Fridays to Sara Sanchez, who will have her own version of BCB After Dark. That’s right, we’re now open five days a week, starting now. I believe she’s going to close down the bar, install an espresso machine and turn this place into a very hip coffee shop those nights. Of course, that will be for her as it is still bring your own beverage. But those of you who don’t like the jazz will be able to get more of an eclectic coffee shop mix of music. She’s also not going to be leading discussions about old movies either. For now, I’ve been told she’s going to stick to baseball and music and then she’ll see how it goes from there.
And I want to take some time to thank you, our readers. When I started this feature back in 2021, it was kind of an experiment. I wasn’t sure whether it would work, mixing baseball with music and whatever else was going through my head that day. It’s been humbling that you all have found this late-night feature valuable enough to keep reading and that we’ve been asked to expand it to five nights a week. So I wish Sara luck, but I don’t think she’ll need it. I will be reading and I ask that you do too.
Last night, I asked you to grade Nico Hoerner’s 2024 season and, hoo boy, did you have a lot to say about it. Usually I have a sense of what questions will provoke a lot of comments, but this one really took off far more than my wildest expectations. In any case, there was a strong consensus of 70 percent of you that thought that Hoerner deserved a “B.” Another 22 percent gave him a “C” and seven percent gave Nico an “A.” No one failed Hoerner.
So here’s the part where I play jazz and we talk movies. Those of you who want to skip that can do so now. You won’t hurt my feelings.
Tonight, we continue to feature jazz music to get you in the spirit of Halloween. We’ve got the SFJAZZ Collective playing perhaps the most famous Halloween song of all time. No, not “Monster Mash.” It’s Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” This is a live performance from 2015.
The Island of Lost Souls (1932) is such a good pre-Code horror film that I’m ashamed that I hadn’t seen it before. Perhaps I’ve avoided it because it’s the first talkie adaptation of the H. G. Wells 1896 novel The Island of Doctor Moreau, which I read back in the mid-nineties and found it distinctly “meh.” But this film adaptation, directed by Erle C. Kenton, is both disturbing and sexy and has all the “taboo” stuff turned up to eleven, like in all great pre-Code films.
The Island of Lost Souls was so transgressive for the time that The Island of Lost Souls was pretty much banned in the US for decades after the Code came into effect, with the Production Office saying that there were no amounts of edits and cuts that could make the film pass muster. As such, the film was considered “endangered” as the original negatives had been lost and the remaining copies were badly deteriorating. Luckily, a massive restoration project was completed in 2011, meaning you can now see the film mostly as it was meant to be seen in 1932. It also looks great as the cinematography by Karl Struss (who won the very first Oscar for cinematography in 1928 for F.W. Murnau’s Sunrise) is a treat.
The part of Dr. Moreau is deliciously played by Charles Laughton, in one of his first film role after coming to America. Moreau is a brilliant scientist (well, he thinks so) and is one of those types who always asks “Can I do this?” and never stops to ask “Should I do this?” Laughton plays Moreau with a kind of aristocratic detachment that he uses to try to hide the fact that he’s a psychopathic sadist.
You’re probably familiar with the central concept of The Island of Dr. Moreau. The good doctor is basically a vivisectionist, who cuts up live animals to make them walk on two legs and speak. Yes, that idea probably made more sense in 1896 than it does today, that you could make half-men/half-beasts by simply reshaping the animals to walk like humans. But certainly the terror of the “house of pain” where Moreau takes the animals to cut them up is more effective on screen than on the page.
Into this world comes Edward Parker (Richard Arlen), who was shipwrecked and rescued by a ship taking supplies to Moreau’s island. After getting into a fight with the cruel and drunk captain (Stanley Fields), the captain strands Parker on Dr. Moreau’s island. Soon, Parker discovers that the entire island is populated by Moreau, his assistant Montgomery (Arthur Hohl), and a large group of “ani-men.”
The film makes one big change from the book, which is the addition of Lota, the “Panther Woman.” Moreau considers Lota to be his greatest creation and he wishes to know if she has fully become woman or if she is still mostly animal. So his idea to to mate her up with Parker and see what happens. And yes, Moreau watches.
So yeah, beastiality plays a major role in the film, even if it’s never fully consummated. It’s hard to see what the Production Code found objectionable about that.
Lota is played by Kathleen Burke, who won a contest where women with no film credits from around the country would be pitted against each other in weekly contests where one would be eliminated each week, American Idol-style. It was a publicity stunt for the film, but Burke, who had been a model and a radio actress in Chicago, is actually really, really good in this film playing the Panther Woman. In the best pre-Code traditions, she’s half-dressed and she seductively slithers around the set as she tries to get to know Parker. Of course, Parker is attracted to Lota, but his heart belongs to his fiancée Ruth (Leila Hyams). So there’s a weird love triangle going on where one of the sides isn’t even human.
Burke would go on to have about an eight-year career in Hollywood, mostly playing seductresses in B-movies before she finally moved on to other things.
Eventually, Ruth makes the captain bring her to the island of Dr. Moreau to rescue Parker. That leads to Moreau telling one of the ani-men to go rape Ruth in his hope of finally being able to mate a human with one of his beast creations. Yeah, pre-Code films. Anyway, this sets in motion the film’s violent and disturbing climax.
Laughton and Burke’s performances are the highlights as far as the actors go. Bela Lugosi plays the Sayer of the Law, who leads the ani-men in a ceremony where they all recite the laws of the island together to make sure they all follow them. (Walk on two legs, don’t eat meat, don’t shed blood, Moreau is in charge) It’s the start of a series of embarrassing parts for Lugosi, who took the part because he was broke, just one year after creating one of the most iconic characters in film history. Lugosi is barely recognizable in a kind of “wolfman” makeup and he has to read his lines in a guttural English with a heavy Hungarian accent. Although I have to say, I’m of the age that when Lugosi asks the other ani-men “Are we not men?,” I respond “We are Devo.”
Struss’ cinematography is also worthy of an extra mention. Too keep the makeup jobs from being too noticeable, the ani-men are pretty much only seen at night with limited lighting that usually only partly breaks up the darkness. The film really looks great, with lots of eerie scenes with just enough lighting to see what’s happening but not enough to see how fake it all is.
As I said, The Island of Lost Souls is a classic that shouldn’t be missed. It’s got Laughton and Burke’s great acting, Struss’ gorgeous cinematography and about as much depraved behavior as one could stick in a pre-Code film. And hey, it helped inspire a Devo song.
Heck, even the trailer is fantastic. You can get a good look at Burke, too.
Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.
The Cardinals are not bringing back first baseman Paul Goldschmidt next season. As much as some of us would hate to admit it, Goldschmidt has been a terrific player over the course of his career. He’s won one MVP Award in 2022, finished second in 2013 and 2015 and third in balloting in 2017. While it’s no sure thing, I’d say he’s more likely than not to go into Cooperstown.
Of course, the Cardinals wouldn’t be letting him walk if he were still the player he was in those seasons. Goldschmidt turned 37 in September and he had the worst season of his career, hitting .245/.302/.414. At least he still hit 22 home runs and played a solid defense at first base. While those numbers are bad by Goldy’s standards, they are also good enough that if he doesn’t want to retire, some team is going to give him a shot in 2025.
Now this article suggested that Goldschmidt could be a fit for the Cubs. At first I dismissed it as pure engagement bait, but the more I thought about it, the more I could see a certain logic to it.
For one, as mediocre as Goldschmidt was last season. he still destroyed left-handers to the tune of .295/.366/.473 last year. That might make him a perfect platoon partner for Michael Busch. On top of that, Goldschmidt was much better in the second half last year than he was in the first half. He also hit very poorly at Busch last year and maybe getting into a new environment might help. (On the other hand, if Wrigley plays next year like it did this past year, it probably won’t help.)
At 37, Goldschmidt would also likely be willing to accept a one-year deal. No, he’s not signing for the major-league minimum, but he’ll make a lot less than the $26 million he made last year.
On the other hand, even if he signs for one year and half of that, it’s still $13 million that could have been spent on someone else. Sure, you can just release Goldschmidt if he stinks, but that’s still money down the drain. And that’s a lot of money for a platoon first baseman.
But if Goldschmidt hits lefties like he did this past season, he’d easily be worth that money. And an added bonus would be that the Cubs signing Goldschmidt would absolutely drive Cardinals fans nuts.
So tell me, is signing Paul Goldschmidt to a one-year deal crazy like a fox or just crazy?
By the way, this assumes that Cody Bellinger opts out, which recent reports say he’s “leaning” towards.
Thank you to everyone who stopped by this evening. It’s been great hosting you. You’re a terrific audience. Please get home safely. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join Sara Sanchez tomorrow night for more BCB After Dark.