viva freckles

the great actress Isabelle Huppert photographed by Édouard Boubat. i have seen her in so many films and she is always excellent.
she has 99 screen credits and shows no signs of letting up.

she is also aging naturally and stunningly.

kiss but don't touch

well, kissing IS touching, but you know what i mean.

she's got the look

someone fancied garbo's style. this is Cecil Beaton's photo of Princess Natalie Paley. could have fooled me.

natalie paley has but 6 credits but they include films that starred douglas fairbanks, katherine hepburn, and cary grant. pas mal.

smart choices

cillian is right now making a movie called 'now.' it is being directed (and was written by) by the man who wrote 'the truman show.'

kids bring out the best

remakes

may this remain only an idea.

dang

president peck

i can see that happening in a parallel universe.


Tough times don't last, tough people do, remember?
Gregory Peck

What did I do in high school? I grew from 5 feet 4 inches to 6 feet 2 inches.
Gregory Peck

you will meet a tall dark stranger

how in the world did hitchcock get past the censors? did ingrid bergman enter gregory peck's room late at night or not? he did, she did, and the rest is all to be enjoyed in 'spellbound.'

this man who plays goodness like no tomorrow is terrific as an imposter. bergman, well, there are some films she made where it is near impossible to believe any human being can be that beautiful.

pure as snow

when the grand john barrymore was cast to play the dastardly 'svengali', he chose marion marsh to portray 'trilby.' this is the movie that introduced me to the adorable actress. she made several films in the 30's and 40's which sadly, are not available.

however, you can see her heart shine in 'beauty and the boss' on youtube. to say this movie is outdated is an understatement. still, marion is so stunning it matters not.

the big miaow

it is possible that garbo felt she was out of time in more ways than one. the studios no longer solicited her brilliance when she was only 35. needless to say, she'd still be seducing the world had she been born later.

had she been born even earlier, she may not have had to sit for a publicity shot with an actual lion. rembrandt could have done the portrait! clearly, she does not looked too comfortable.


images: him/her

common bond

never imagined it, did you? here is her number:


Fondation Brigitte Bardot - 28 rue Vineuse 75116 Paris - tél: 33 (0)1 45 05 14 60 - fax: 33 (0)1 45 05 14 80

you can call bardot! her animal rights foundation thrives in 60 countries. bless her.

j.d. revisited

pure unadulterated life.

eclisped

'I was the first home-grown sex symbol, rather like Britain`s naughty seaside postcards. When Marilyn Monroe`s first film was shown here [The Asphalt Jungle (1950)], a columnist actually wrote: `How much like our Diana Dors she is.'

no matter. marilyn monroe lives on a platinum planet of one. her sister across the sea did just fine even if she did not make it over to these shores in a big way.

diana dors is really good at conveying threat wrapped up in helplessness. classy was never her forte yet she is indeed most respectable!

p.s. that bracelet...

don't look now

drive-ins...

and the livin' is easy

barefoot bette

and the livin' is easy

bette

i repeat

the best dresser.

louie, louie

a note on 'the dreamers': Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. Starring Michael Pitt, Eva Green, Louis Garrel. A young American studying in Paris in 1968 strikes up a friendship with a French brother and sister.

three young beauties taking all sorts of plunges together. a bit pretentious, a bit predictable, and pure bertolucci. the man who gave us 'last tango in paris' really knows how to pick them.


images: garrel/scene from 'the dreamers'

a true film princess

her parents are marcello mastrioanni and catherine deneuve. she is absolutely their combined image! chiara mastrioanni has 40 film credits, including two films with Louis Garrel. pas mal.


photo: scene from her newest movie 'making plans for lena.'

in search of oz

her aim is clear

jean as 'kitty'

no dinner in 'dinner at eight'

no matter. you could not be treated to a better cast of characters than in this terrific film. from barrymore to berry with jean harlow in the middle. it is non stop delight.

big wallace beery may have a wife who hangs around in white satin poking at chocolates in giant boxes all day long, but when she's mad, she's not a weakling.

Kitty Packard: Politics? Ha! You couldn't get into politics. You couldn't get in anywhere. You couldn't even get in the mens' room at the Astor!

the fight scene between these two is hysterical. i give it a hundred.

mcqueen's way

she sure had great leading men

laurence olivier seems just as spooked by gloria swanson as william holden was. however, looks are deceiving. gloria was probably a darling and nothing like her character in 'sunset boulevard.' (though her six spouses may have disagreed.)

interestingly, 'Perfect Understanding' (1933) is about a young couple decide to marry under the condition that they agree never to disagree.

boris

what's bela been sayin' bout me?

'You think it takes talent to do Frankenstein? It's all makeup and grunting. '- from 'ed wood'

realism

pier angeli and richard attenborough makin' it look so very natural.

i don't want to know

to spare myself the disappointment, i don't even look for some movies because too many films i would love to watch are not in print. i see here that robert montgomery and joan crawford worked together, but knowing him, i can't tell if he was cast as a darling society lad or a psycho tuna of the first order.

versatility rules.

fun times

'cat ballou' was a big one for me. i dare not watch it these days for fear of spoiling the first impression. jane fonda was terrific and lee marvin is never anything but major. the film also starred michael callan who was a peach.

in youth is pleasure

when i first learned that brando was buddies with don knotts i felt for him. for don. but look at how cool he is here.

escapism

'I know this will come as a shock to you, Mr. Goldwyn, but in all history, which has held billions and billions of human beings, not a single one ever had a happy ending.'- Dorothy Parker

image: above the lion it reads: art for art's sake

eli lovin'

versatile gal

lillian gish has 119 screen credits! between 1913-14 she made over two dozen short films. 'birth of a nation' was the epic that began her feature film career.

in 1955 she had a role in the charming little horrorshow 'night of the hunter.' lillian lived to be 99!

stare into those eyes.

the sum of it's creepy parts

even though 'night of the hunter' was directed by charles laughton (awesome actor), starred robert mitchum (awesome actor), and shelley winters (no one can touch her), this film is just not my thing.

































the part of the little girl (whose older brother stuffed the cash into her doll to keep it from the grubby mitts of mitchum) was played by sally jane bruce. this is her only big screen credit. laughton found her to be spoiled and she sure as heck is convincing.

Until her retirement, Sally Jane was a grade teacher and faculty advisor in a school in Santa Maria, California, teaching children about gardening and the importance of the environment.

innocence

Robot Monster (1953)

wonders never cease

tab hunter leaning against images from jean cocteau's 'beauty and the beast.' enough said.

in reality

i have the film 'who's afraid of virginia woolf?' ('i am, george.') so etched i my mind that i am always surprised how sweet elizabeth taylor appears in photos.

santory times!

the mechanics of a man

"When a horse learns to buy martinis, I'll learn to like horses."- you can just hear him saying that.

Steve owned 210 motorcycles, 55 cars, 5 airplanes.

little todd

velvet goldmine

He declined the honour of a knighthood on three occasions, but was appointed CBE in 1956 and became a Companion of Honour in 2001.

the stunning actor paul scofield won my heart last year when i finally watched 'a man for all seasons.' considering he has only 38 screen credits, he clearly lived upon the stage. lucky theatre goers. the man illuminates goodness and his rich voice is like hot cocoa.

lately i have been watching the british drama 'martin chuzzlewit' without sign of stopping. it is a fist class production and scofield is so lovely as the elder 'chuzzlewit.' i recommend it highly.



photos: scofield/with ralph richardson/vanessa redgrave/susannah york