BEGUILING HOLLYWOOD

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Monthly Archives: May 2012

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entrance bev hills hotel

ARCHITECT TO THE STARS

May 29, 2012 by Vickie Lester

There’s a centennial birthday coming up (July 12th) for the Beverly Hills Hotel which opened in 1912 and was renovated by Paul Revere Williams in 1946… Iconic. If you want to know about an architect who designed many of the landmark buildings of Los Angeles and hundreds of local residences see the highly influential and groundbreaking designs of: http://www.paulrwilliamsproject.org/ His granddaughter, Karen E. Hudson, has written two beautiful coffee table books: PAUL R. WILLIAMS, ARCHITECT and PAUL R. WILLIAMS: CLASSIC […]

Categories: Architecture, Books, Culture, Entertainment, History, Movies, News, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: Architect, Beverly Hills Hotel, Books, celebrities, centennial, Karen E. Hudson, LAX, Los Angeles, Movie stars, Paul R. Williams: Classic Hollywood Style, Paul Revere Williams, Perino's, Sak's 5th Ave.

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Grant:Robson:Hall

BRINGING UP BABY

May 26, 2012 by Vickie Lester

“In the film, the word “gay” was apparently an ad-lib by Grant. According to Vito Russo in the book The Celluloid Closet (1981, revised 1987), the script originally had Grant’s character say “I… I suppose you think it’s odd, my wearing this. I realize it looks odd… I don’t usually… I mean, I don’t own one of these.” Russo suggests that this indicates that people in Hollywood, at least in Grant’s circles, were already familiar with the slang connotations of […]

Categories: Books, Culture, Entertainment, History, Movies, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: 1938, based on a story by Hagar Wilde, BRINGING UP BABY, Cary Grant, gay, Hollywood, Howard Hawks, Katharine Hepburn, movie history, movies, screwball comedy, slang

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a perfect gown

WHAT A DOLL

May 24, 2012 by Vickie Lester

These frocks are fierce and so are their price tags. Most movie stars, starlets, and legends when attending events, such as the Academy Awards, serve as walking advertisements for major designers and wear the gown gratis. While chatting with a movie star’s date for THE event… a perfectly charming and guileless beard and, from what I understand, a grammar school Principal (also called in Hollywood – I think quite condescendingly – a  “non-pro” – a reference for those who toil […]

Categories: Culture, Entertainment, History, Movies, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: awards, beard, celebrities, cheap, designer, gown, Hollywood, Movie stars, non-pro, starlets, tacky

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ablutions

ABLUTIONS

May 22, 2012 by Vickie Lester

There’s a good chance you’re already familiar with the acclaimed novel by Patrick DeWitt, THE SISTERS BROTHERS, an absolutely ripping yarn of the old West. And, perhaps you know it was optioned by John C. Reilly to be made into a film. What you may not be aware of is that the author’s first novel takes place in Hollywood, in a bar so far removed from the stratosphere of Nick and Nora you might not recognize the place – a […]

Categories: Books, Culture, Entertainment, History, Movies, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: ABLUTIONS, bar, Boardner's, dive, Hollywood, John C. Reilly, Nick and Nora, novel, Patrick DeWitt, THE SISTERS BROTHERS

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BEN-HUR

May 20, 2012 by Vickie Lester

Irving Thalberg produced… William Wyler was an Assistant Director and would later direct the 1959 version… Hollywood turned out as extras in togas and sat and cheered in the arena during the chariot race (Joan Crawford, Harold Lloyd, Mary Pickford, Samuel Goldwyn, Coleen Moore, etc.)… Cowboys drove the chariots… Forty-two cameramen rolled… Classic!

Categories: Culture, Entertainment, History, Movies, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: 1925, BEN-HUR, chariot race, classic, cowboys, Fred Niblo, Hollywood, Irving Thalberg, MGM, Movie stars, Ramon Novarro, stunts, William Wyler

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DouglasFairbanksSr

ON A PLATTER

May 19, 2012 by Vickie Lester

Yes, my darlings. The White Party has come and gone. Agility and antics… And no, this item is not about Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., but it is about another icon of the silver screen. A man who played a spy, a pirate, a thief, a soldier, an epic hero… Once upon a time in a very big city, full of fun and frolic, lived a young man who was something of a party doll. He modeled, he acted, and he dressed […]

Categories: Culture, Entertainment, History, Movies, Writing • Tags: actor, ball, celebrity, gay, gigolo, Hollywood, Movie stars, Palm Springs, party doll, White Party

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boys on ice_1

ICE ICE BABY

May 17, 2012 by Vickie Lester

Come on, aren’t you getting just a little of the Loki vibe? Sometimes stuffing male archetypes into skin tights results in THE GREEN LANTERN, and sometimes THE AVENGERS. One can only marvel as to why…

Categories: Culture, Entertainment, History, Movies, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: celebrities, Jimmy Stewart, Lew Ayres, Loki, marvel, Movie stars, THE AVENGERS, THE GREEN LANTERN

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FLYING DOWN TO RIO – 1933

May 13, 2012 by Vickie Lester

Categories: Culture, Entertainment, History, Movies, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: 1933, airplane wing, dance, FLYING DOWN TO RIO, special effects

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FLYING DOWN TO RIO

IN FLIGHT MOVIE

May 12, 2012 by Vickie Lester

Sir Richard Branson announces a “one off” project filmed at 35,000 feet. The half hour movie employed twenty cast and crew and was filmed and edited entirely on Virgin flights. It will premier at the LA FILM FESTIVAL – June 14th-24th.

Categories: Culture, Entertainment, History, Movies, News, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: film festival, in-flight movie, Janeane Garofalo, LA, Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Airlines

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Audrey Hepburn

CHICK FLICKS?

May 8, 2012 by Vickie Lester

Why do movie actresses marry surgeons? Let’s explore. Surgeons have similar schedules. They may only operate three days a week but when they do it can be five surgeries in a day. Often the working day can be fourteen hours long. And, while an actress may groan about a devilish director — a surgeon, at the end of his shift, may collapse in a chair – gray at the specter of looming death – “I almost lost them.” That, according […]

Categories: Culture, Entertainment, History, Movies, Writing • Tags: actress, celebrities, Hollywood, Jennifer Aniston, jock, marriage, Movie stars, popcorn, rom-com, surgeon

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Vickie Lester

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Recent Posts

  • PREMIERE OF GRAND HOTEL AT GRAUMAN’S CHINESE – 1932
  • HOLLYWOOD STYLE – MARION DAVIES AND CHARLES CHAPLIN – 1930
  • HOLLYWOOD STYLE – ELEANOR BOARDMAN AND KING VIDOR – 1929
  • In Conversation | Bruce Weber and Kathleen Turner on Becoming Mentors – NYTimes.com
  • In Conversation | Bruce Weber and Kathleen Turner on Becoming Mentors – NYTimes.com

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