Mortensen, Ali are uneasy riders in ‘Green Book’
Unless you were a jazz aficionado attending shows on the New York club circuit in the 1960s, it’s likely that you haven’t heard of Don Shirley. The capsule version of his musical life is that he was a prodigy, a brilliant pianist who had classical ambitions, but there wasn’t much room for black classical pianists during that era, and though he did make some appearances with symphonies, the only regular work he could find was in the jazz and popular categories. He made recordings for Cadence, and he had regular club dates, but it wasn’t the career he longed for, and he was sort of lost in the mix.
“Green Book” tells a segment of his story, with plenty of dramatic license.
But it’s just as much the story of Tony Vallelonga, aka Tony Lip, who, long after the events in the film, went on to become an actor, landing parts in, among other productions, “Goodfellas” and “The Sopranos” (he played Carmine).
Shirley and Vallelonga died about five years ago, both in their 80s, close friends for 50 years. The film tells of their meeting, in 1962, each about as far from the other on the personality spectrum as can be imagined, and the unlikely events that taught them the life lessons that brought them together.
The film sticks with its main purpose: Showing how Tony is becoming more civilized and Doc is becoming more civil.