DuffyShort

Having eaten with Jim in Paris a half dozen or more times, I can tell you he was as genuine as a person could be. The food was always tasty, with a vegetarian option, and all of the boxed wine you could drink. There was a suggested donation of 30-Euros, but one could pay what they could afford. In inclement weather, the numbers were limited to maybe 50 or 60, and in the summer, it could run to 100 or more, as the group could spill out into the garden. It might include Africans in flowing Robes or Australians in Bush Hats, or Scots in Tweed; you never knew. Jim trained in languages and spent his evenings listening to Russian transmissions during the Cold War, in Scotland: night duty allowed daytime education at Edinburgh University. He requested early leave from the Air Force, and continued school in Edinburgh, and one day met a young student named Jane Quigley, later known as Jane Alexander, the Academy Award nominated actor, who he called the flower of Edinburgh Theater. He opened a groundbreaking Paperback bookstore where he offered free coffee and joked about visitors that stole books after having coffee. His accomplishments included a theater, called the Traverse, which encouraged avant-garde productions. If you are a traveler, you should watch this documentary.

This movie is an edge of the seat type experience. It is formulaic, but the formula has worked forever, and the screenwriter throws enough curve balls, to make it original. Nobody in this film is perfect, as it is in life. I saw a Question and Answer session with 9 of the crew members and they are all dedicated to the craft in a way that leads me to believe that this writer/ director Blayne Weaver is going somewhere good. The cinematography and film editing were exceptional. Tim Smith, stuntman and actor also has a future…..He was wonderful….