gimme shelter

chaplin with one time wife paulette goddard. in reality they had what it takes to create such a truthful scene. they remained friends always.

'Actors and actresses who say they never go to see their own pictures are talking through their hats. You don't have to be a Freud to know that the most fascinating person in the world - actors or anybody - is yourself.'-paulette goddard.

so pretty. so down to earth. she may have lost the part of scarlett o'hara but her donation of 20 million dollars to new york university upon her death has left a building in her name. charlie and paulette: the tramp and the champ.


photos: true friends/two stills from chaplin's 'modern times'

mifune on monday

Of Akira Kurosawa, Mifune said, "I am proud of nothing I have done other than with him".

were one to begin and end a research of toshiro's work by only watching the films he made with the master kurosawa, no tears need by shed. every viewing of 'rashomon' is like the tale itself: another layer of truth to be discovered. 'seven samauri' may sound like a steep hill to climb as it is EPIC (207 minutes) but every second is precious. toshiro is one of cinema's greatest thieves. he truly takes all of you.

in the words of kurosawa: 'Mifune had a kind of talent I had never encountered before in the Japanese film world. It was, above all, the speed with which he expressed himself that was astounding. The ordinary Japanese actor might need ten feet of film to get across an impression; Mifune needed only three.'

happy birthday boy

my darling jimmy john let me know that february 8 is the day james dean was born.

anna may wong

anna was born in l.a. and began her career at age four. between the years of 1919-1961 she made a total of 55 movies. though popular and extremely special, she never was given a starring role. even worse, her characters always perished. she stated that her tombstone ought to read: 'she died a thousand times.'

much had changed in hollywood since her hey day which was at a time when california law forbid a chinese person to marry a caucasian. 'i've come to the conclusion that everybody should marry, including me.' alas, anna never did. one of the most beautiful love songs ever written was written for her.

'these foolish things' written by strachey/marvell/link

A cigarette that bears a lipstick's traces
An airline ticket to romantic places
And still my heart has wings
These foolish things remind me of you

A tinkling piano in the next apartment
Those stumblin' words that told you what my heart meant
A fairground's painted swings
These foolish things remind me of you

You came, you saw, you conquered me
When you did that to me
I knew somehow this had to be

The winds of March that make my heart a dancer
A telephone that rings but who's to answer?
Oh, how the ghost of you clings
These foolish things remind me of you

How strange, how sweet, to find you still
These things are dear to me
They seem to bring you near to me

The sigh of midnight trains in empty stations
Silk stockings thrown aside, dance invitations
Oh, how the ghost of you clings
These foolish things remind me of you

recorded by: Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Frankie Laine, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown, Aaron Neville, Ronnie Milsap, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis Jr., Nat "King" Cole, Joni James, Bryan Ferry, and Rod Stewart. Instrumental jazz arrangements of the song have been recorded by Stan Getz, Benny Goodman, Benny Carter, Lionel Hampton, Thelonious Monk, Clifford Brown and Max Roach, Dave Brubeck, Chet Baker, Count Basie, Lester Young, Michael Bublé.

that face....

and that voice. ernest hemingway said about dietrich: "if she had nothing more than her voice, she could break your heart with it."

bringing it

'There's something about an American soldier you can't explain. They're so grateful for anything, even a film actress coming to see them.'- marlene dietrich. the german born marlene received american citizenship.

by way of illustration

fancy meeting you here

i never watch films on my computer. this was a first. when the wrong region dvd arrived i had no choice. in no time at all i was swept up in the strangely beautiful dynamic between the director and his muse. marlene dietrich and joseph von sternberg made seven films together. 'shanghai express' (1932) was their fourth.
never before have i been so aware of a performer giving it all to her director. it is quite odd to watch her play with him right in front of us! marlene is just ridiculously beautiful. she has this silky swagger that moves in it's own private corridor of space. when she smokes she appears to not be tainted by its fumes.
in this role she is willing to do anything for her man, both the one before the camera and behind. it is very exciting to see and breathtaking in it's beauty.


photo: marlene (shanghai lily) and the deeply exotic anna may wong (hui fei), both great characters.

leonard nimoy

116 screen appearances! that is not even counting the 80 'star trek' episodes he did. i admit i have never seen one of them. however, that does not stop me from loving this self portrait of the man who will forever be known as 'spock.'

david bowie self portrait

the painter, musician, actor who fell to earth.

nature

channeling 'kitten braden'......

thank you william

William Claxton (October 12, 1927 – October 11, 2008) was one of the best photographers. married to a whimsical looking top fashion model, they must have introduced one another to very different worlds. i bet it was a joy. claxton's lifelong spouse was peggy moffitt, one of the great faces of the sixties. his photos of her are legendary. so are his photos of chet baker. now, it turns out there is an entire book on his pictures of steve mcqueen. i'm in.





photos: claxton and mcqueen/peggy moffitt/dylan