Category: Movies

September 29, 2012 /

Okay, it was my intention when I started this blog never to be crass, or destructive, or part of the weird gawker aspect of a fame driven news cycle; and to that end I’ve tried to write pieces mostly on Hollywood history – which means I usually write about people…

September 28, 2012 /

The shop yard – Union Station:

September 27, 2012 /

Get a shave: Buy a cigar: Have a meal at the Harvey House restaurant designed by Mary Colter:

September 26, 2012 /

I’ve recently been contacted by one of the children of these glorious gals, they inform me the band’s manager, Dr. Leonard Stallcup, kept them on a tight leash and they were very sheltered, not at all like the characters in SOME LIKE IT HOT. You can hear them play on…

September 25, 2012 /

A nice publicity still showing director Fritz Lang conferring with actress Joan Bennett and costume designer Travis Banton over a wardrobe sketch. Later we’ll talk about the influence of Fritz Lang (“M” and “Metropolis”) on filmmaking  – and how costume designers like Travis Banton of Paramount created looks that conveyed…

September 25, 2012 /

This is, perhaps, the weirdest cake I’ve ever seen:

September 25, 2012 /

Joe E. Brown celebrates his birthday with friends, George Gray, Chester Conklin, Pinto Colvig, and Billy Beltcher, in 1963:

September 21, 2012 /

I just have to say I saw Endeavour over Griffith Park Observatory and the cheers and the glory and size and the way it banked and tipped its wings and the two fighter planes aloft and escorting in the bright blue California sky – and the impact that this vessel…

September 18, 2012 /

Filming at the track in 1935: The building was designed by Architect Gordon B. Kaufmann (who also designed the Los Angeles Times building) in a fluid Art Deco style – 1936: The entrance and the paddock – 1936: A view of the stands the year it was completed – 1934:…

September 18, 2012 /

Marion Davies 1927: Bing Crosby at Del Mar – 1937: Joe E. Brown and Mrs. Edwardo Blackburn in the 1940s: Tony Curtis, Carol Burnett, and Cary Grant at Hollywood Park – 1978: