lost in translation

'twilight of the gods' may seem light years away as a literal translation for 'sunset blvd' yet what a beautiful and apt title it really is for director billy wilder's masterpiece.

transference

who's lovin' who here?

makin' movies

faye dunaway and steve mcqueen. the man is simply impossible.

99 lbs of soul

'99 lbs. of natural born goodness....
99 lbs. of soul'
















so sang ann peebles, one terrific singer who is the female counterpart to the otherwise incomparable al green. same band, same seduction.

veronica lake

the teeny tiny femme fatale had the best hair in hollywood. during the war it was requested of the women working in factories to stop trying to look like veronica as it was considered a danger in the workplace. it is interesting how in film noirs the smaller the gal with the weapon, the more dangerous she seems.

ouch

FEELINGS (lyrics)

'Feelings, nothing more than feelings,
trying to forget my feelings of love.
Teardrops rolling down on my face,
trying to forget my feelings of love.

Feelings, for all my life I'll feel it.
I wish I've never met you, girl; you'll never come again.

Feelings, wo-o-o feelings,
wo-o-o, feel you again in my arms.'

there is an jaw dropping scene in 'breakfast on pluto' involving suave and wonderful rocker bryan ferry and cillain murphy. transvestite hater (bryan) gives transvestite (cillain) a ride in his posh car, pulls off the main road, and pops on a cassette of the smarmiest of all songs! cillian's 'kitten', in an effort to be sweet, says she loves love songs. then bryan proceeds to try and strangle her.

the entire soundtrack to this film is pure delight. filmmaker neil jordan could only have been having fun at the songwriter's expense in this very frightening scene. mustachioed bryan ferry was excellent.

he won

the most beautiful actress of her time gets eclipsed by the most beautiful singer of his time. mick jagger and catherine deneuve photographed by andy warhol, the most famous artist of his time.

the miracle of touch

'The Braille system was based on a method of communication originally developed by Charles Barbier in response to Napoleon's demand for a code that soldiers could use to communicate silently and without light at night called night writing. Barbier's system was too complex for soldiers to learn, and was rejected by the military. In 1821 he visited the National Institute for the Blind in Paris, France, where he met Louis Braille. Braille identified the major failing of the code, which was that the human finger could not encompass the whole symbol without moving, and so could not move rapidly from one symbol to another. His modification was to use a 6 dot cell — the Braille system — which revolutionized written communication for the blind.'- wikipedia entry.

writer, anti war activist, and major inspiration, helen keller was born a healthy child. at 19 months an illness resulted in her loss of sight and hearing. years of determination by both helen and her teacher anne gave birth to an author. helen learned to read braille and became the first deaf and blind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree. she never ceased taking giant strides to overcome her lack of sight and hearing. she was known for her humor! what a gift is her legacy.

years ago a friend of mine suffered an accident which left him, for a short while, with bandages over is eyes. i proceeded to make him a braille chart out of pot seeds!

photo: 1888 photograph of helen and her dear teacher anne sullivan.

the sublime

anne bancroft can do no wrong in my eyes. most famous for her portrayal of 'mrs. robinson' in 'the graduate', the woman shines in everything. as the wife in a slowly disintegrating marriage in 'the pumpkin eater' the inner strength she draws on to survive her emotional collapse is mind expanding to witness.
she won an oscar for her role as 'anne sullivan' in 'the miracle worker.' her co-star, the amazing patty duke, took home an oscar as well. the filmed story of helen keller and her teacher navigates the deep waters of the impossible to the sublimely possible.


photo: anne preparing for her role as anne sullivan

says who?

i am naive. i still wonder why actresses play it safe and show up at the oscars in the most famous designer gowns instead of introducing a new name. when will i get it through my head that these days actresses have about as much choice in what they wear to the event as they have in what they wear while filming?

there was a time when it was all wonderfully different! Bette Davis felt so in ‘servitude' to Warner that she decided to dress like the hired help at the awards.

the l.a. times via jezebel.com brings the issue of who wears what to light.

photo: audrey hepburn wore designer givenchy on screen and off.

beyond 'beautiful'

actress/t.v. personality whoopi goldberg is justifiably angry that 'vanity fair' magazine has excluded black actresses from their new 'hollywood' cover. other folks are mad that fashion mags don't use models on their covers. i suggest this beautiful face grace all the covers and silence the complaints for a month.

photograph by uwe ommer

truly gorgeous

theresa harris had beauty that was only topped by her personality and timeless style. of her 83 screen credits, a mere handful of those productions gave her credit. her films i am familiar with are:

'jezebel': she plays 'zetty'
'out of the past': uncredited role
'baby face': the drop dead gorgeous 'chico', best friend to gold digger barbara stanwyck.

in the 30's, 40's, and 50's she was working steadily. these days theresa would be walking the red carpet. alas, we have her delightful performances.

photos: harris and dietrich/harris and stanwyck