you beautiful doll

“Aging is an inevitable process. I surely wouldn't want to grow younger. The older you become, the more you know; your bank account of knowledge is much richer.”- william holden

cornel lucas

'Anouk Aimee is perhaps best known for her roles in a number of films for Fellini, including La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2. She was an especially regal and intelligent woman, and at the same time rather enigmatic too. It's no surprise to me that Anouk went on to marry an actor as intelligent and dominant a personality as Albert Finney.'- cornel lucas

i have just discovered the work of photographer cornel lucas. it is beautiful. this photo of anouk is arresting as in films she had very dark hair. a couple years ago i was in paris wandering around an upscale neighborhood in search of a boutique when anouck walked past. it completely emptied my mind of all thought other then, 'the actress from 'a man and a woman' just walked by!' she was stunning.

top photo: cornel

just hanging around

judy at home!

for the love of kerouac

'i'll let you be in my dream if i can be in yours.' dylan and allen were true friends. united by profession and lords knows what else. hare krishna!

the very fine art of casting

james franco is the one who won the film role of poet allen ginsberg. somewhere allen is smiling.


























blessedly wise observation: “It isn't enough for your heart to break because everybody's heart is broken now.”- allen ginsberg.


poet photo courtesy 'the impossible cool.'

forever loretta

a truly universal pose. Photo by Edward Steichen

new yawk

paul newman and rocky graziano: makin' movies. in this case 'somebody up there likes me.' such a great title.

creating a legend

Travis Bickle: I should get one of those signs that says "One of these days I'm gonna get organezized".
Betsy: You mean organized?
Travis Bickle: Organezized. Organezized. It's a joke. O-R-G-A-N-E-Z-I-Z-E-D...
Betsy: Oh, you mean organezized. Like those little signs they have in offices that says, "Thimk"?

Travis Bickle: June twenty-ninth. I gotta get in shape. Too much sitting has ruined my body. Too much abuse has gone on for too long. From now on there will be 50 pushups each morning, 50 pullups. There will be no more pills, no more bad food, no more destroyers of my body. From now on will be total organization.

how quickly one gets the message.

image: great poster form 1976. yes, i actually saw this milestone film while peeking through the curtain of my hands covering my eyes.

by way of illustration

gorgeous illustration

honest as the day is long

another opportunity to post my admiration of actor walter huston. papa of director john, walter 's performances ring very true. he appears to be free of vanity and the man can play business men with dreams and scrappers skirting the edges of the civilized norm with equal accomplishment.
in 1930 the silent filmmaker d.w. griffith made a bio pic on abraham lincoln. starring walter, it was one of only two talkies made by the legendary director. even if they got some of the facts wrong, i have no doubt that huston spoke the inaccuracies with truth in his heart!

"Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it." -abe lincoln.

gotta see this.

photos: the astounding lincoln memorial (visited by 'keppi' who was much moved)/walter as the beloved president

who's that girl

in 1985 a girl by the name of madonna ciccone received her first film credit. 133 soundtrack credits and 22 acting jobs later, the transformation of wholesome pale skinned punkette to glamor gal is subject of many tomes.
in 1987 she starred in 'who's that girl.' in that film her character had the unfortunate name of 'nikki finn.' from the beginning madonna embraced 'marilyn' and her screen persona, critics be damned, refuses to shy away from the camera. look how dang darlin' she appeared back then.....

music and movies and...

marianne. she did/does both and before i take off to my art opening in nyc i wanted to post this lovely photo of ms. faithfull taken by robert mapplethorpe. it is amazing to learn that many of robert's gorgeous images were made using a polaroid.

j.d. forever

blogger Marie. 20. bookworm. movie buff. i found this little composite on her blog. dean's legend only grows. i listened to a documentary the other night on hulu.com while working on my 'la strada' series. it was made in 1957, shortly after james dean had died. the narrator was unbelievably bad! his voice was exactly like what you would hear in a warning film in health class. still, facts on the actor are ever interesting. so many people in his life concluded that this great talent had a huge need for love that was only matched by his drive to push love away.

interestingly, director robert altman's first choice for the narrator was marlon brando.

by way of illustration

killer cast.

chums for life

robert ryan is one of the classiest acts to play a bully. though he antagonized the heck out of harry belafonte in 'odds against tomorrow', in real life they were the best of friends.

beautifully outspoken

belafonte may have far less credits as an actor in films than as 'himself' but with 120 appearances on screen (big but mostly small) harry has a legacy to share. his most recent appearance is in: ”Lead Belly: Life, Legend, Legacy (2009).
actor, singer, composer and civil rights activist, harry belafonte is brutally honest regarding his views of the bush administration. however, running the president down is only part of what he has to say:

“Each and every one of you has the power, the will and the capacity to make a difference in the world in which you live in.'

his films i am familiar with are 1954's 'carmen jones' and 1959's 'odds against tomorrow.' the man is staggering handsome and still fighting the good fight.

photo: harry and dorothy dandridge in 'carmen jones'

bestowing a blessing

sophia loren and marion cotillard

a true teen

when kids looked like kids. actress tuesday weld. photo courtesy of Greg Ferrara.

beyond last resort

James Myers Thompson was born on September 27th, 1906 in Anadarko, Oklahoma where his father, James Sherman Thompson, lived as the sheriff of Caddo county. The story is told through the eyes of its protagonist, Lou Ford, a 29-year-old deputy sheriff in a small Texas town.

okay, i read the book. the woman who graciously signed me to her record label was falling in love with her future husband at the time. said husband liked the writer jim thompson and told me to overcome my fears about thompson. he assured me that jim was a great writer. so i read. i read them all. yes, jim thompson is great. in print.

there is no reason on this earth to film his most disturbing novel. the main character 'lou ford' is a psycho tuna of the first order. like a sleep walker, he sows his seeds of destruction with no connection to his deeds. everyone just sort of asks for it.

i love sharing movies and i try quite hard to gain trust. i suggest you pass on the soon to be released film version of 'the killer inside me.' heck, good as it is, i wouldn't even recommend the book.

fellini's 'la strada'

'fresh from prison zampano heads to the sea to contemplate his freedom'

gouache painting by pal shazar from the 'la strada' series.

by way of illustration

fifties simplicity.

paul punches in

Rocky Graziano, born Thomas Rocco Barbella in New York City (1 January 1919[2] – May 22, 1990), was an outstanding American boxer. Graziano was considered one of the greatest knockout artists in boxing history, often displaying the capacity to take his opponent out with a single punch.

paul newman won me completely as the young pool hustler 'fast eddie' in 1961's 'the hustler.' five years earlier he played real life boxer rocky graziano. co starring was pier angeli, perhaps most famous for being the woman james dean fell in love with. strangely, james dean was set to step into this role. 'somebody up there likes me' was co-written by rocky himself.

photo: paul playing new yorker 'rocky.' this was his second film following four years of television work.

'He says "Don't hurry, baby
Somebody up there (somebody) likes me"
Somebody plays my song in tune
Makes me, makes me, makes me stronger for you, babe'- david bowie from the song 'somebody up there likes me.' (from the record 'young americans')

silent partner

maybe jackie gleason was not one of the rat pack but legend has it that it was jackie who turned frank on to jack daniels. oh demon alcohol.

photo: dean martin, sammy davis jr., and sinatra.

mouth of babes

'If you have it and you know you have it, then you have it. If you have it and don't know you have it, you don't have it. If you don't have it but you think you have it, then you have it.' - Jackie Gleason

'the hustler' is one great movie. based on the exceptional novel by one of the very best novelists, walter tevis, paul newman is faced with much more heft than jackie gleason's size. gleason plays 'minnesota fats' and delivers a stunning and graceful performance as the pool hustler who teaches newman more about winning than a mountain of cash ever could.

in real life jackie was: boxer, barker, pool hustler, actor, musician, and extremely popular television star of his own series. born in brooklyn, jackie has been duly honored with a highway sign spelling out his signature quote.

precious territory

now that director lee daniels has made many people grateful for his film, 'precious', he is going to make a bio pic about martin luther king. that is sure to be an amazingly difficult and deeply rewarding experience for everyone involved. so far i have only read about what lee will not include. i sure hope he does include this precious gesture of the king doing whatever it takes to sink one in the pocket.







photos: lee daniels in a great sweater/martin luther king

happy childhood

well, i don't know abut that. what i do know is that dame elizabeth taylor was born in hampstead, a very fancy area of london. after traveling the world and living the vida loca in hollywood, she returned to hampstead to live with her husband richard burton. strange! i cannot imagine wishing to live right where i grew up. perhaps she was a very happy tot.
even though e.t. is one of the grandest dames in cinema history, here she is, on the sidelines with her little chap, most likely waiting for a wave from the queen. not only does liz seem to be wearing a tiny crown on her own hat, what a darling chapeau on her boy.

mark rothko 1903-1970

going within

'I realize that historically the function of painting large pictures is painting something very grandiose and pompous. The reason I paint them, however . . . is precisely because I want to be very intimate and human. To paint a small picture is to place yourself outside your experience, to look upon an experience as a stereopticon view or with a reducing glass. However you paint the larger picture, you are in it. It isn’t something you command!' - mark rothko

alfred the great

The Times UK review:
"Moreover, Molina's blunt, bitter, baleful Rothko is able to communicate a ferocious pessimism to Eddie Redmayne's Ken, the aspiring artist who becomes his assistant and much misused lackey. Indeed, he rages unforgettably against the dying of the light as it is represented by those paintings in which rectangles of black overwhelm the reds he saw as symbolising life."

i would watch molina peel a grape and not lose interest! my fave molina moment came in 'coffee and cigarettes' but the man is just a giant of talent. as the overbearing partner of joe orton in 'prick up your ears' to the powerful diego rivera in 'frida', the actor seems inclined to slip into the shoes/sheets of artists. his portrayal of the russian born american painter mark rothko in the british play 'red' looks to be heading to ny.

photo from the play 'red': alfred and eddie redmayne

mouth of babes

'The process of filmmaking is very musical, you get into the rhythm and the rhythmics of how someone is, especially with Woody Allen who is very much into body language and body movement.'- Charlotte Rampling

ah, the grace of an intellectual. even though woody writes in a way that might make one think otherwise, charlotte sets the record straight.

i never understood the desire to have less freckles!

reality star

this man just had it. the candid shots of him make me feel like he looks right here. i can think of no better song then david bowie's 'kooks' when i think of brando.

'And if you ever have to go to school
Remember how they messed up
this old fool
Don't pick fights with the bullies
or the cads
'Cause I'm not much cop at punching other people's Dads
And if the homework brings you down
Then we'll throw it on the fire
And take the car downtown'

the good mother

'The average man is more interested in a woman who is interested in him than he is in a woman with beautiful legs.'- Marlene Dietrich

photo: marlene and her daughter maria riva photographed by horst.

young and old, all at once

'the loneliness of the long distance runner' 1962. Plot: A rebellious youth, sentenced to a boy's reformatory for robbing a bakery....

naturally there is a plot, super performances and great direction by tony richardson. however, the main attraction is this face, as english a face as ever i saw.

pretty sore loser

'Lolita...

Yeah, yeah, I remember that name all right.

Maybe she made some telephone calls, who cares?'


photo: peter sellers playing table tennis with james mason. the genius dialogue between the two actors was most likely written by the books novelist vladimir nabokov who is credited with writing the screenplay. not only did russian born nabokov master the english language, he was hysterically funny in english as well. peter sellers is simply crazy great as 'clare quilty', the man who died for love, even though it was not his own.

makin' movies

i just watched the 2008 version of 'tess of the d'urbervilles.' it was excellent. the highlight of the adventure into the rainy lanes and inhumane behavior on and off the farm was the lead actress gemma arterton. she was incredible in the role of the luckless country girl seduced and abandoned on her way to the true love that slips through her beautiful fingers.

friday on my mind

one of my favorite songs ever is 'friday on my mind' by the easybeats. it is absolutely as great today as it was in the sixties. david bowie recorded it on his covers record 'pinups' and the song has been included in soundtracks for six films, the most recent being 2009's 'the boat that rocked.'

space is a place

'In giving you are throwing a bridge across the chasm of your solitude.' - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Wisdom of the Sands. Antoine de Saint Exupéry (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃twan də sɛ̃tɛɡzypeˈʀi]) i just love that helpful pronunciation code!

antoine was not only a man of the air, he also gave the world the novel, 'the little prince.' hands down, this book will uplift the spirits with every page, every reading. antoine the aviator took much more to the skies than his airplanes, he took our minds.

other flyers in the arena of mind expansion were 'the jefferson airplane.' what a perfectly psychedelic band name. 'surrealistic pillow' was an amazing record and that album's hit, 'white rabbit' has been in many films. man, could grace slick sing. the band has 59 soundtrack credits and it keeps growing.

photos: antoine/the little prince (and favorite figment of the imagination)/classic band photo of the 'jefferson airplane'