love will find a way

should you ever wish to curl up with a wonderfully sad black and white movie, here it is. even though the ending is pure melodrama, the story is just great and the acting is tops. beautiful carole lombard meets handsome cary grant by a woodland stream and sure enough, their spirits ignite. she is widowed, he is married to a woman who makes you wonder if he goes to bed at night with a little pistol under his pillow. kay francis (i love her) is sublime as a conniving social climber who only married cary for his money. 1939's 'in name only' is romantic, frustrating, and beautifully acted. every time i watch cary grant i am amazed.

patti smith and keith

makes the heart sing

brother love

every once in a while someone gets the concept of 'mercy.' whether the outcome is for better or worse, friendship takes it toll. in 1997 'dream with the fishes' asks the question: how does one help a friend who is slowly dying to not suffer more than necessary? this tragic tale of two loose cannons has some hysterically funny scenes within the darkened drama. actors david arquette and brad hunt are so good. cathy moriarty, who has one of the best voices ever, is in this as well. speaking of voices, the rebel with a cause, patti smith, is included in the soundtrack. go patti lee.

the little girls understand

'forty days since i don't know when. i just saw her with my best friend. do you know what i mean?' my first ever crush on a musician was lee michaels, a marin county blonde, blue eyed soulful singer who played the organ like no one's business. he left making records behind so long ago. i now see that his great wtf anthem 'do you know what i mean?' was part of the soundtrack for the 2002 film 'laurel canyon.' starring frances mcdormand and christian bale, maybe it is going to be a good movie.

daytime, nighttime, anytime

if there is one actor who can delight like no other it is robert montgomery. simply put, the man is adorable. he excels in comedy and surprisingly, with a face like his, he communicates the dark side so well. for those interested in more on robert, there is much to enjoy here: http://classicmontgomery.blogspot.com/

photos: montgomery with carole lombard/greta garbo/rosalind russell

there he is again

for decades jack carson was one busy guy. one of the most popular character actors, he seems to be in almost every forties film i like. he is always so good. big and a little goofy but smart and dependable. that's him on the right. perhaps doris day has that look on her face due to the fact that she was involved with him offscreen.

myrna loy 1905-1993

before myrna loy seduced the public as the charming and bright wife of william powell in the 'thin man' series of films, her powers of seduction were quite different. as fu manchu's daughter, fah lo see, she is downright wicked. back in the thirties it must have been pretty strange to watch her enjoy the torture of a handsome prisoner only to make love to him after. it is still very shocking to see. i have read that many actresses lamented being cast as the vamp. myrna so completely broke out of that typecasting that the fact that it is her as manchu's heartless kid is stranger than the how she behaves. myrna was simply a treasure. fun, serious, sensual, and savvy.

this gentleman prefers blondes

even though william powell made 14 films with the divine brunette myrna loy, when it came to off screen love his preference was for the fair haired cinema beauties, carole lombard and jean harlow. he and carole had a short marriage and jean was his sweetheart till her sudden death at the age of 26. they are all amazingly special onscreen.









photos: powell/with carole/with jean

well, shut my mouth

i apologize. leave it to dylan. he topped bowie's seemingly endless list of soundtrack credits by over fifty!






photo: my favorite period

elvis

the king of lonely street in a category of one

by way of illustration

knockout poster

things have changed

all one has to do is take a look at the publicity photo for 1958's 'king creole' to see what a different world we live in today. before cynicism wrapped itself around our wholesome hearts we were given movies like this, where an ambitious good looking teen still possessed some innocence.
elvis receives affection and insight from two women who are very different from each other, yet they both know more than the budding singer of the story. this new orleans coming of age tale has elvis doing a great job of acting and singing. actresses carolyn jones and dolores hart are super, one dark the other creamy.
loyalty, sincerity, and a good grasp of the evil ways of man help elvis to shine in one of the more respected films of his movie career. the scenes are atmospheric and the king is gorgeous.