Long Day’s Journey Into Night, filmed in 1962, stars Katherine Hepburn and Dean Stockwell as a morphine-addicted mother and her sensitive poetic son. Katherine Hepburn is intense and I must say a young Dean Stockwell is totally hot in this picture. The film explores the murky, depressing lives of four family members who are so mired in past mistakes that they can’t make any positive changes for themselves.

Written by Eugene O’Neill, this classic play was never meant to be seen on stage, as he had a lawyer draw up a contract sealing the manuscript away. Somehow O’Neill’s wife got around this and that is why we can appreciate this work of art today. Deeply personal, the play draws from O’Neill’s own family life growing up.

Relentlessly throughout the entire film, the characters attack each other and blame each other for their own problems, while all the time trying to escape their own pain using alcohol and drugs. It’s a powerful movie that has a great deal of resonance for people today.

The movie was beautifully shot on City Island, and the house on Tier Street where most of the action takes place is still standing. A photo of the house can be seen on Forgotten New York’s amazing City Island page.

The Little Make-Out Room

Originally uploaded by jpeterstein.

Last night I went out on the deck as it was raining and yet the sun was heavy as it set in the sky. Took some images of a duck family with two baby ducks who had fur! The sky was crazy, dark and grey in parts and bright orange in others. It was so relaxing after a stressful week to just be outside in the quiet, on the deck and the beach below it, walking around in the drizzle. I took this shot of my neighbor’s “make out room”. It’s a little room they built for their teenage kids to hang out in. And when the kids have a party, they hire their friends as bouncers to stand outside their little “VIP” room.

Tonight City Island has it’s own fireworks and we will sit out on the deck and watch them with our neighbors. I was just reading the wikipedia on City Island, brilliant read if you’re not familiar with the place. Oh and I’m totally overusing flicker’s blog this photo function, but i heart it.