“Nuts” & Bolts ...
(Above) Streisand-composed End Credit music with stills from Nuts.
If you look closely (and use the Pause button) at the Nuts DVD, it is possible to see some not-so-obvious surprises that illuminate the story of Claudia Draper.
Lawrence Durrell books
The set decorator (and most likely the director) gave the audience a clue into Claudia’s psyché when the camera, panning across her fireplace mantle, revealed a stack of books written by Lawrence Durrell: Justine, Clea, Nunquam, and Tunc. What’s the significance of these novels? Justine and Clea are from Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet. Set in Alexandria, Egypt before World War II, Durrell told the same story about modern love from different perspectives. Tunc and Nunquam were from Durrell’s series The Revolt of Aphrodite about an inventor living in Athens with a prostitute. Again, Durrell played with timelines in these two novels, switching between past and future.
Superhedging
Another book, this time on Claudia’s desk, revealed to the audience that she not only has a bod for sin, but a mind for money. Superhedging by Thomas C. Noddings was subtitled “Investor’s guide to stock market hedging strategies for higher risk-adjusted returns”. The book was all about analyzing financial investments, with chapters on “Identifying Undervalued Convertibles” and “Hedging Convertible Bonds with Puts and Calls”. Claudia was one smart girl!
Writing on the Walls
Martin Ritt employed an ingenious story-telling device in Nuts: graffiti on the walls. Not only did the jail inmates leave their marks on the prison walls, but so did white middle class men in the boy’s bathroom. The graffiti raged against the establishment … much like Claudia. In the prison: “Screw this joint” and “Mails: A woman’s disease”. In the mens bathroom: “Hypocrates should die” and “You are as bad as the society you condemn”.
Did I Ever Show You My Sketchings?
The screenwriters of Nuts had Claudia doodling during the film.
Claudia’s doodles revealed how she felt about other characters. For
instance, the first caricature the audience saw was on Claudia’s desk.
Leslie Nielson’s character (whom Claudia kills) was drawn on a tablet
—with fangs.
It’s the drawing of Claudia’s family that provided Aaron Levinksy
with the vital clue he needed in order to reveal the truth that Claudia’s
stepfather was not revealing on the witness stand. After seeing a drawing
in which Claudia’s mother had no mouth, Levinsky put two and two
together and realized the family was hiding a secret.
End.
Related Pages:
Barbra-Archives: Nuts Soundtrack
Navigate to other Streisand films using the jump menu below:
