Front Page

(Photo by E.J. Greenblat) MARCHING DOWN NASSAU: The Princeton Fire Department held its annual review with a march from Station No. 1 to Township Hall. Leading the way (from left) Deputy Chief Roy James, Department Chief Dan Tomalin, and Deputy Chief Truestar Urian.

Princeton Wins “Destination” Grant

Ellen Gilbert

The Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau (PRCVB) recently announced that the organization had been approved for funding by the 2008 Destination Marketing Organization Cooperative Marketing Grant Program provided by the New Jersey Department of State, Division of Travel and Tourism.

Congo, Three Other Dogs Euthanized by James After Second Attack

Dilshanie Perera

The Congo story, which began last June following the mauling of landscaper Giovanni Rivera by the James family dog Congo, has come to an abrupt conclusion. Last Tuesday at 5:14 p.m. Princeton Township Police received a 911 call from Elizabeth James reporting that her mother, Constance Ladd, had fallen and sustained injuries after four of their German shepherds had jumped on her.

Township Moves on Grant Application for Mountain Lakes Rehabilitation

Ellen Gilbert

The Mountain Lakes Preserve Dam Project, street repairs on Leabrook Lane, and the proposed construction of a cell tower on River Road occupied the Township Committee when it met on Monday evening.

DVD Review

Dancing In The Dark With Cyd Charisse

Stuart Mitchner

Perhaps the greatest female movie dancer. Her acting is like the songs in Marx Brothers films.

You could say as much for The Band Wagon (1953), one of the greatest movie musicals in spite of less than stellar acting, peppy but uninspired dialogue, and a silly premise involving a musical version of Faust that stars an aging song and dance man and a snooty ballerina. To be fair to Cyd Charisse, who died last week at 86, the problem with her portrayal of the supposed prima donna isn’t a question of acting but of temperament; there’s an essential sweetness in her that keeps shining through, which is well and good because once she and Fred Astaire sort things out, she’s luminous. “Dancing conveys emotions denied to her as an actress,” says Thomson, stating the obvious in his Biographical Dictionary of Film. Isn’t that what dancing’s all about? No words; no impediments like accent or phrasing; no quirks of diction; when it’s working, it’s pure, exalted pantomime.