The ‘Buzz’ on screenwriter is good
By Bob Strauss, Film Critic
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
Aug. 25, 2006
Albert “Buzz” Bezzerides wrote some of the more flavorful films of
the 1940s and ’50s, Nicholas Ray’s primal “On Dangerous Ground” and
the noir apocalypse adaptation of Mickey Spillane’s “Kiss Me Deadly”
among them.
The subject of the documentary “Buzz” was also Humphrey Bogart and
Robert Mitchum’s favorite dialogue doctor. And he was pals with
much-better-known authors William Faulkner and William Saroyan,
among others.
Additionally, at age 98, the Turkey-born, Fresno-raised son of a Greek
father and Armenian mother is still kicking around his ramshackle
Woodland Hills home, shouting like any screenwriter worth his salt
about how Hollywood screwed him. With missing teeth and sheepdog
eyebrows, Buzz still nurtures the sharp, critical view of the world
that informed his best books and scripts – and even at his most
nostalgic moments disdains sentimentality like a cancer. It’s a ball
listening to him gripe.
Two hours of it, though, is a bit much. And Greek director Spiro N.
Taraviras doesn’t present his material in anything like a scintillating
manner. He makes the crucial mistake of going in straight chronological
order, and there really isn’t very much interesting about Bezzerides’
immigrant background or college days at the University of California
at Berkeley. He would’ve been better, perhaps, to revisit that stuff
after focusing on some of Buzz’s movieland adventures, which cover
the gamut from run-ins with moguls to fighting for story integrity
(and usually losing) to the fear and loathing of the anti-communist
witch hunts.
Apparently unable to access (or afford) actual footage from films such
as “They Drive by Night” and “Track of the Cat,” Taraviras treats us to
their vintage theatrical trailers instead. This doesn’t give us much
sense of Bezzerides’ fine writing, but boy, were those things sexy
as all get-out. Ever wanted to know why they call them teasers? This
movie shows you.
Beside the always-entertaining Buzz, Taraviras interviews some actors
he wrote for (Cloris Leachman, Terry Moore, Gloria Stuart) and director
Jules Dassin, himself 95 and an Athens-based expatriate since the
blacklist days. Friends, relatives and, of course, enthusiastic
European critics contribute their views. The talking heads are
broken up by unimaginative establishing shots of both San Francisco
(Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars) and SoCal (palm-lined boulevards,
Griffith Observatory).
But we sure get what makes Buzz distinctive: an unshakable belief
that the rich and powerful will always cheat the average guy, and
he crankily considers himself one of the latter to this day. Along
with being a respectful portrait of an amusing, singular talent,
the film also, by extension, fights the good fight for all of the
overlooked creative types whose work make movies great while a few
big names grab all the credit.
BUZZ
Our rating:
(Not rated: language)
Director: Spiro N. Taraviras.
Running time: 1 hr. 58 min.
Playing: Laemmle Fairfax, Los Angeles.
In a nutshell: Biography of 98-year-old screenwriter Albert “Buzz”
Bezzerides is often fascinating.

102 ARTISTS FROM 19 COUNTRIES PARTICIPATE IN 5TH GYUMRI BIENNIAL OF MODERN ART
YEREVAN, AUGUST 25, NOYAN TAPAN. The 5th Gyumri Biennial of Modern
Art taken place on August 2-16, according to the organizers, is first
of all important for the fact that the cultural life centrilized in
Yerevan moved to Gyumri for some time. The biennial organizers made
such a statement at the August 24 press conference. “Gyumri, having
great cultural traditions, seems to remain out of the cultural life,
to be out of the margin. In this sense, the biennial is an important
and great cultural event in the city life,” Arpine Tokmajian,
the organizer of the biennial mentioned. The Gyumri biennial has
been held since 1998. Its co-founders are Arpine Tokmajian and Azat
Sargsian. The biennial was financed by different sponsors, including
by the state, in different years. The Open Society Institute, the
British Council, “Zigzag,” “Counsul” and “Ararat” (brandy factory)
companies were among sponsors of this year. 102 artists from 19
countries participated in the biennial this year. 51 of them were
Armenians. The 5th biennial entitled “Sea, Dreams and Illusions”
started on the Sevan lakeside where participants had possibility to
create in a corresponding environment. As a result of contact of
Armenian and foreign artists, a series of joint works was created
which were then exhibited in 6 exhibition halls of Gyumri, with works
brought to Armenia beforehand. Mkrtich Tonoyan, for the “From Sea
to Sea Armenian Theory” performance, got during the press conference
the monitary prize fixed for Armenian artists by the Swiss “Gonche”
organizatiion. “The performance is about discrepancy of Armenia,
from sea to sea, of which I have dreamed, and our life,” the author
of the work consisting of two parts (a video and installation) says.

“KAJATUN” NEWSPAPER RE-PUBLISHED IN AKHALKALAK
AKHALKALAK, AUGUST 25, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The “Kajatun”
newspaper started to be re-published in Akhalkalak from August,
2006. The periodical was published in 2002-2004 once a month. According
to the “A-Info” agency, the last, 21st edition of the newspaper was in
December, 2004. “Kajatun” will be published with weekly periodicity
starting from the 22nd issue. The newspaper, the editor-in-chief of
which is Hamlet Anatolian, has journalists in Akhalkalak, Akhaltskha
and Ninotsminda.

Ex-lawyer testifies in own defense
By Rebecca Boyle, (Bio) [email protected]
August 24, 2006
Greeley Tribune, CO
Aug. 25, 2006
A former Greeley attorney who was disbarred twice for mishandling
client funds is on trial this week for theft from a former client
who alleges he bilked her out of $68,000.
Michael A. Varallo, 58, is representing himself in the felony case,
in which prosecutors allege he misused the client’s money and didn’t
repay her as promised.
Varallo testified on his own behalf for much of Wednesday afternoon,
saying he has made mistakes in the past, but he is innocent in this
case. He said the $68,000 was a loan.
Prosecutors say Varallo took money from Lenora ‘Jane’ Pulos and used
it to pay personal expenses and debts to other clients.
He was supposed to keep $3,000 for a retainer, use other funds to pay
Pulos’ fines stemming from her handful of criminal cases, and return
the rest to her after her release from jail.
Varallo disputed that on the witness stand, where he talked directly
to the jury and told his version of events.
He said he accepted $68,000 from Pulos just before his second
disbarment in 2002, which he’d planned to appeal at the time. It
could take up to a year if he was granted a stay, and he thought he
could work for Pulos during that year.
But then he changed his mind about the appeal because he was upset
about failing to adequately represent a family in immigration court,
which prompted his disbarment.
“I was crushed,” Varallo said. “I had made a mistake and it had
hurt people.”
So he told Pulos he was quitting law for good. She wanted him to
continue helping her anyway, Varallo said. She told him to use her
$68,000 to help close his practice, pay off other loans and help
represent her, refunding the loan later.
“To this day, I wish to God I had said, ‘No, I don’t want to touch
your money,’ ” Varallo said. “I wish I hadn’t been tempted, but I was.”
Varallo said he and Pulos agreed in late 2002 that he would pay her
back overtime. By summer 2004, Pulos intimated that Varallo owed her
about $25,000, after working off some of the loan and making payments.
In fall 2004, Varallo heard a rumor through Pulos’ ex-husband that
Pulos planned to go to the police, so he confronted her.
“I said, ‘Are you playing games here? Are you gonna try to screw me
around?’ ” Varallo recalled, adding that Pulos said, “No.”
He said he didn’t expect her to renege on her loan.
After two years of Varallo sending occasional checks or wire transfers
through Western Union, Pulos went to the Greeley Police Department
to report the theft.
“I helped keep her out of prison, and what’s that worth?” he said,
recalling work he had done for other attorneys on her behalf after
his disbarment.
In April 2005, after Varallo sent Pulos three letters trying to work
things out, he visited her. She told him he owed her $68,000 plus
$5,000 interest.
“She said, ‘You know, I’m going to make your life (expletive)
miserable,’ ” Varallo told the jury. “And she’s right; she has made
my life (expletive) miserable.”
He said if Pulos had only agreed on a number, he would have been able
to pay her back by summer 2005.
The trial will continue this morning, and it may wrap up by the end
of the day.
VARALLO’S DISBARMENT
Michael Varallo has been disbarred twice for mishandling client funds
and not fulfilling his duty. He was initially disbarred in February
1993 and was readmitted in October 1999.
In December 2002, he was disbarred again after improperly controlling
funds from an Armenian family who faced deportation, and failing to
complete a domestic relations order on a different client’s behalf.
“In both cases, Varallo’s misconduct caused and exposed his clients
to serious injury,” the disciplinary judge wrote in disbarring Varallo.
The decision said he intentionally deceived clients, made false
statements, incompetently represented his clients and “prejudice(d)
the administration of justice.”
Source: Colorado Bar Association, Tribune research

OVER 3,5 THOUSAND ENTERPRISES WITH FOREIGN CAPITAL PARTICIPATION
OPERATE IN ARMENIA
YEREVAN, AUGUST 25, NOYAN TAPAN. Over 3.5 thousand companies with
the participation of foreign capital are now operating in Armenia,
which is by 2,000 more than in 2003. RA Deputy Minister of Trade
and Economic Development Tigran Davtian told NT correspondent about
it. According to him, in 2003, the amount of foreign investments
in Armenia made about 200 mln USD (without the banking system and
official transfers), in 2005, this amount increased to 500 mln USD. It
is expected that by results of 2006, these investments will amount to
over 500 mln USD. According to expert opinions cited by T. Davtian,
in 1998-2004, 60-70% of foreign investors operating in Armenia were
Diasporan Armenians or foreigners having business links with them,
while the share of investments made by Diasporan Armenians over the
indicated period made up 25-30%. The deputy minister said that the
Diaspora’s activity is especially considerable in opening small and
medium enterprises in food industry, jewelry making, diamond cutting
and tourism, and investing in these sectors. In T. Davtian’s opinion,
the Diasporan Armenians’ potential for making investments in Armenia
is much greater. He said that in 2005, the amount of remittances
transferred to Armenia by Diasporan Armenians and Armenian citizens
working abroad made about 1 bln USD, while investments made in the
country by Diasporan Armenians totalled 150 mln USD. “A few years ago
this amount of investments in case of annual GDP of 1 bln USD was a
considerable result, whereas the same amount cannot be considered
large in ratio to GDP of 6 bln USD forecast for 2006,” the deputy
minister said.

OVER TEN HEAD OF CATTLE IN ARTIK HAVE SOMATITIS AND NOT FOOT-AND-MOUTH
DISEASE
GYUMRI, AUGUST 25, NOYAN TAPAN. An alarm call was received on August
22 that 10-15 head of cattle in the pasture “Artik Woodlands” in
Shirak marz showed symptoms of foot-and-mouth disease. According to
the veterinary of the city of Artik, the symptoms were confirmed. The
infected animals were disinfected and isolated, measures were taken
to prevent the spread of the disease.
However, according to the information received on the following day,
August 23, laboratory examinations revealed that the animals had
stomatitis, which is not an infectious disease.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

YEREVAN’S MAIN AVENUE PROJECT TO BE COMPLETED BY 2020
YEREVAN, AUGUST 25, NOYAN TAPAN. During the August 25 working meeting
with the Armenian President Robert Kocharian, Mayor of Yerevan Yervand
Zakharian presented the implementation of programs related to various
sectors of the city economy for 2006. Particularly, the matter
concerned urban development programs and measures on construction
work in Yerevan. The Armenian President paid special attention to the
programs of measures related to Yerevan’s Master Plan. These measures
must ensure the implementation of Main Avenue Project by 2020. Noting
that the projects on zoning of the Kentron community have already
started, the mayor said that the zoning of other communities will
be carried out by 2007, which will complete the programs of Master
Plan-related measures. Problems of house construction, street
improvement and transport regulation were also discussed at the
meeting. According to the RA President’s press service, R. Kocharian
gave instructions concerning the problems discussed.

Turkey: Police brutality intensifies along with the political crisis
By Sinan Ikinci and Kerem Kaya
25 August 2006
World Socialist Web Site, MI
Aug. 25, 2006
Last week, daily papers in Turkey reported widely the case brought by
Cigdem Nalbantoglu before a Republican Court against the conduct of
police officers, including women, in Istanbul’s Beyoglu district. She
stated in her complaint that the police assaulted, beat and threatened
her in the course of a random street search.
Cigdem Nalbantoglu is the elected head of the Gumussuyu quarter of
Beyoglu. She is also one of the founders of the Purple Roof Women’s
Refuge Foundation.
According to her complaint, two female officers stopped her on the
street and asked for ID. They searched her bag and found the names
and phone numbers of former security chiefs in her address book. She
told them she was the head of a quarter. They responded by saying
that the new security chief had said that he “would take care of all
transvestites, gays and prostitutes” in the area, indicating that
she was dressed like a prostitute.
When she asked how they could speak like that, the tone of the
conversation changed for the worse. They said, “You are coming with
us to the Public Interrogation Center.”
She was then dragged to a Legal Medical center for blood tests after
being sworn at and hit by some of the male police officers, of whom
there were some 20. All this was recorded by police cameras and some
TV crews that were on the scene.
In the past, such an incident would have prompted a cover-up of the
“heroic” police force. The fact that it has been reported by almost
all daily newspapers is itself a reflection of deep currents within the
Turkish political landscape. No newspapers alleged police wrong-doing,
but neither did they suppress the story.
The Turkish police have a long-standing reputation and proven record
of brutality, especially when it comes to political dissidents. The
force has always been dominated by Islamist and fascistic elements.
They are well trained in torture techniques, especially since their
counterparts in the CIA trained them during the years of the Cold War.
In four years after the September, 1980 military coup, 178,565 people
were detained and nearly all of them badly tortured. In addition to
official detentions, hundreds disappeared and are presumed dead.
Hundreds of officially detained people lost their lives in torture
chambers. The police organization as whole was deeply implicated in
this horrific and systematic practice.
More recently, powerful sections of the Turkish ruling elite have
pressed for Turkey to enter the European Union (EU), and as a result
the police force has been kept in check. Nevertheless, outbursts of
police brutality have regularly occurred.
For example, in the midst of negotiations between Turkey and the EU,
demonstrators on Women’s Day in 2005 were beaten, embarrassing the
Turkish government. For its part, the European press largely ignores
police brutality in Turkey, bringing it forward as an issue only when
it serves the interests of the European powers in their negotiations
with Turkey.
Recently, however, the Turkish military has made a sharp turn to the
right, from a pro-EU to an anti-EU stance, and this has been reflected
in a shift by the governing AKP (Justice and Development Party)
in the same direction. With right-wing elements once again gaining
substantial influence and the hopes of EU membership evaporating,
the Turkish police feel more emboldened.
It would be a mistake to believe that what happened to Cigdem
Nalbantoglu was the result of a few right-wing officers reacting to
a liberal woman. This type of behavior is well on its way to becoming
public policy at the highest level of the Turkish state.
For some time now, this process has not been confined to police
activity. Politics have moved in the same direction. Judicial attacks
on intellectuals are now commonplace.
Orhan Pamuk, currently the most prominent writer in Turkey, was charged
last year with “impairment of Turkish identity,” which became a major
issue in negotiations with the EU. More recently, journalist Elif
Safak, who has received international acclaim, was attacked in the
same manner. Today, dozens of journalists, writers and publishers
are being dragged before the courts.
This is a sign that Turkey is returning to the days of
systematic oppression. With the political situation in the region
deteriorating-the North Cyprus situation deteriorating, the Armenian
genocide dispute growing under pressure from the EU-and the economic
situation growing more fragile-is not difficult to understand the
turn to intensified repression.
Those sections of the ruling elite that still believe Turkey can win
membership in the EU hope to rectify this situation. The publicity
given to Cigdem Nalbantoglu’s complaint can be viewed in this light.
This is essentially an exercise in damage control.
These forces have no desire to go to the roots of the problem. And
for good reason! Under the capitalist form of democracy, in which
oppressive measures are essential to the survival of the system,
these layers require a brutal police force.
Such methods can be ended only by the working people of Turkey, but
not without the help of their counterparts in other countries-the
international working class.
turk-a25.shtml

FIVE MARZES OF ARMENIA TO GET ASSISTANCE BY 5TH STAGE OF COMMUNITY
SELF-HELP FUND PROGRAM
YEREVAN, AUGUST 25, NOYAN TAPAN. Five marzes of Armenia will get
assistance by the 5th stage of the Community Self-Help Fund program
being financed by the U.S. Embassy to Armenia and the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID). The goal of the program having been
implemented by the Save the Children organizations since 2003 is to
improve social and economic conditions of communities, giving small
grants for current programs of communities. As Irina Saghoyan, the
head of the Save the Children organization Armenian Office mentioned
at the August 25 ceremony of giving the grants, the 5th stage of the
program was announced in this March. In her words, 6 of the presented
134 programs were chosen. Those are the creation of the Antenatal Care
Center at the Agarak hospital; renovation of the Community Center in
the Artavaz-Pyunik Community of the marz of Kotayk; reconstruction of
the potable water pipeline in Areg village of the marz of Aragatsotn;
improvement of the drinking water supply system in Mets Parni village
of the marz of Lori; renovation of the kindergarten No4 in Sevan,
the marz of Gegharkunik; construction of the fence in Gavar special
school, the marz of Gegharkunik. The total cost of the 5th stage of
the program is 101.817 U.S. dollars. John Evans, the U.S. Ambassador to
Armenia handed grants to representatives of the marzes. In his words,
international organizations undertand that it’s time to pay attention
to marzes of Armenia. It was also mentioned that 40 programs of vital
meaning for inhabitants of communities were financed during the 4
stages of the Community Self-Help Fund program. Communities have
contributed over 30% of the projects’ costs, providing volunteer
labor and donated materials.

Los Angeles Times, CA
Aug. 25, 2006
MOVIE REVIEW
‘Buzz’
Shining a strong light on Hollywood, American history.
By Carina Chocano, Times Staff Writer
A.I. Bezzerides, Buzz to his friends, had a long, fruitful writing
career in the 1940s and ’50s, churning out pulp novels and scripts
for film noir classics such as “On Dangerous Ground” and “Kiss Me
Deadly.” Yet, like many screenwriters, he remains mostly unknown
today. Spiro N. Taraviras’ documentary “Buzz” chronicles the life of
a tireless worker of the Hollywood “dream factory” of the middle of
the last century, weaving it together with stories about the
working-class experience, labor practices and the Hollywood
blacklist.
The son of Armenian refugees, Bezzerides grew up poor in Fresno,
where he was friendly with writer William Saroyan. After attending UC
Berkeley, he wrote a novel about long-haul truckers that would later
be adapted into the Humphrey Bogart early noir classic “They Drive by
Night.” Warner Bros. had already adapted the novel and begun
production before securing the rights from Bezzerides, which put him
in a good position to negotiate. But rather than risk his
relationship with the studio, Bezzerides’ agent accepted a tiny sum
on his behalf. Thus began a long line of bad deals that marked the
writer’s career. Despite his productivity and success, Bezzerides
never achieved any measure of financial stability, even after
creating the hit TV series “The Big Valley” in the 1960s.
Taraviras spent four years interviewing 98-year-old Bezzerides in his
tumbledown Woodland Hills home, in which he recounts anecdotes from a
remarkable life that included friendships with William Faulkner and
Marilyn Monroe.
The film also includes numerous interviews with actors and directors
who worked with him (including Jules Dassin, who decamped for Europe
to avoid being subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities
Committee and remains there to this day), as well as his children,
journalists and film historians.
The result is an insightful look at a remarkable behind-the-scenes
life and slice of American and Hollywood history. Told from an
outsider’s perspective, it sheds light on the workings of a glamorous
but often treacherous business.
‘Buzz’
MPAA rating: PG-13 for brief strong language
An Outsider Release. Writer-producer-director Spiro N. Taraviras.
Running time: 1 hour, 58 minutes.
Exclusively at Laemmle’s Fairfax Cinemas, 7907 Beverly Blvd. at
Fairfax Avenue, L.A. (323) 655-4010.