Hollywood Trainwreck

I continue to be impressed by Claroscureaux's artistry

2010-02-04T21:24:00.000-08:00

Whether or not it's our beloved Marion

or tragic actress Sharon Tate,
Hollywood Trainwreck's artist-in-residence, Claroscureaux's work is regularly updated, please visit his site often. He updates his site alot more than we do.

Honestly this one bedroom apartment is so stifling

2010-01-17T19:36:00.001-08:00

Don't be fooled: it's raining like crazy now

Beverage of the weekend: Dirty Martini

2010-01-16T19:07:00.000-08:00

I got most of the fish out before Cobina poured 100 bottles of Beefeater's into our courtyard fountain. She'll spend the day sipping from this font missing her beloved Carole Lombard whose plane crashed sixty eight years ago today.

Still Dead

2010-01-15T19:30:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth Short sure is sixty two years later; careful as you watch this, it is occasionally shocking
There is no better telling of the saga of Elizabeth Short than Donald Wolfe's "The Black Dahlia Files". This is truly one of the best Los Angeles stories ever, with Bugsy Siegel and Norman Chandler front and center in the drama surrounding Elizabeth Short's murder.

Just Watch This

2010-01-15T10:21:00.001-08:00

Still Dead

2010-01-14T08:27:00.000-08:00

This time it's Peter Finch who in 1977 collapsed in the lobby of the Beverly Hills Hotel (probably dreading the Golden Globes)

Stiller Dead

2010-01-13T08:13:00.000-08:00

Fifty-two years later I'm talking about film pioneer Jesse L. Lasky, who could be visited by you today at the Hollywood Forever Mausoleum, in the Sanctuary of Light.

Gone nineteen years today

2010-01-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

Whom? Why, the obvious answer of course: Keye Luke Perhaps you know this if you watch the other nine parts let me know how that was.

Also Still Dead- this one thirteen years

2010-01-11T21:28:00.000-08:00

Are you familiar with Sheldon Leonard's work? Here he is interviewed by his dear friend Sam Denoff:there are four more parts to this, click on the youtube logo to watch more.

Still dead, two years later

2010-01-10T20:57:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, I speak of Maila Nurmi, also known as "Vampira".Here she is today at Hollywood Forever:

She's in Section 7, Lot 203 Space 1.

It all caught up with him twenty-three years ago today

2010-01-09T09:19:00.000-08:00

I'm speaking of Arthur Lake, I remember him as Dagwood Bumstead in the "Blondie" movie series. Over champagne french toast this morning in Natalie Schaefer's villa (Mother is having "only liquids"), I was aghast to be reminded of this, from Donald Wolfe's excellent book "The Black Dahlia Files":
and from John Gilmore's book "Laid Bare"

and this is about seven years before he died at the 1980 premiere of Neil Simon's Seems Like Old Times:Arthur's buried with his mother in law Marion Davies in the Douras Mausoleum next to the lake, not the one in center, the one at the edge.

The hurt never goes away fifteen years later

2010-01-08T21:12:00.000-08:00

I'm speaking of my heartache over the loss of Pat Buttram perhaps you are familiar with his work:

Still Appearing at Hollywood Forever, Sixty-one years later

2010-01-06T21:36:00.000-08:00

Acclaimed film director Victor Fleming died on this date in 1949. In case you want to visit him today at Hollywood Forever, you can find him in the Hollywood Forever Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Refuge, crypt number 2081.

Half of a century ago today

2010-01-04T08:36:00.000-08:00

This world said goodbye to screenwriter Dudley Nichols. Dud's famous for writing so many wonderful movies, but probably his most famous footnote is that he was the first person to refuse his Oscar (for writing THE INFORMANT in 1936) as his guild was on strike at that time. Dud resides at Hollywood Forever and you may visit him in the Garden of Exodus in Section 13, grave 520. Look for the rocket shaped monument (not too many of them) stand in front of it, one row back, Dudley should be there on your left three or four headstones.

It all went to hell forty-seven years ago today

2010-01-02T20:48:00.000-08:00

dead in the morning
dead in the evening
Jack Carson and Dick Powell both died on this date in 1963. Jack Carson was one of the most popular character actors during the golden age of Hollywood, with a film career which spanned the 30's, 40s and 50s. Primarily employed for comic relief, his work in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof proved he could also master dramatic material. During his career, he worked at RKO, MGM (cast opposite Myrna Loy and William Powell in Love Crazy), but most of his memorable work was at Warner Brothers. Carson's trade mark was the wisecracking know it all who eventually and typically was undone by his own over self-confidence.
Carson's success on radio led to a more lucrative contract with Warner Brothers. He was teamed with Dennis Morgan in a number of films, supposedly to compete with the popular Crosby and Hope road pictures. Like Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, Morgan and Carson enjoyed a genuine off-screen friendship. Their first film together was a dark drama called The Hard Way, which was nothing like their subsequent pairings.
However, despite this auspicious beginning, most of his work at Warner Brothers was limited to light comedies with Morgan and later with Doris Day (who later in her autobiography would credit Carson as one of her early Hollywood mentors). Critics generally agree that Carson's best work was in Mildred Pierce, where he played the perpetually scheming Wally Fay opposite Joan Crawford in the title role. Another later role which would win accolades for Carson was that of Matt Libby in A Star is Born.
.Carson married four times: Elizabeth Lindy (married 1938, divorced 1939), Kay St. Germain (m. 1941, div. 1950), Lola Albright (m. 1952, div. 1958), Sandra Jolley (1961-1963). He also had an affair between his second and third marriages with Doris Day from 1950-51, but she left him for Marty Melcher, who would become her third husband.In 1962, while rehearsing the Broadway play "Critics Choice", he collapsed and was subsequently diagnosed with stomach cancer. Carson died in Encino in 1963, aged 52. The death of the burly Carson, whose screen image was one of energy and vitality, made front page news, along with the death of fellow actor Dick Powell.

Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American singer, actor, producer, and director. He made his film debut as a singing bandleader in Blessed Event. He went on to star as a boyish crooner in movie musicals such as 42nd Street, Footlight Parade, Gold Diggers of 1933, Dames, Flirtation Walk, and On the Avenue, often appearing opposite Ruby Keeler and Joan Blondell.
Powell desperately wanted to expand his range but Warner Bros. wouldn’t let him. Finally, reaching his forties and knowing that his young romantic leading man days were behind him, he lobbied to play the lead in Double Indemnity. He lost out to Fred MacMurray, another Hollywood nice guy. MacMurray’s success, however, fueled Powell’s resolve to pursue projects with greater range and in 1944, he was cast in the first of a series of films noir, as private detective Philip Marlowe in Murder, My Sweet, directed by Edward Dmytryk. The film was a big hit and Dick Powell had successfully reinvented himself as a dramatic actor.
The following year, Dmytryk and Powell re-teamed to make Cornered, a gripping, post-WWII thriller that helped define the film noir style. He became a popular "tough guy" lead, appearing in movies such as Johnny O'Clock and Cry Danger. Even when he appeared in lighter fare such as The Reformer and the Redhead and Susan Slept Here, he never sang in his later roles.
From 1949 until 1953, Powell played the lead role in the NBC radio theater production Richard Diamond, Private Detective. His character in the 30 minute weekly was a likeable private detective with a quick wit.
In the 1950s, Powell produced and directed several B-movies and was one of the founders of Four Star Television, appearing in and supervising several shows for that company. His film The Enemy Below (1957) based on the novel by Denys Rayner won an Academy Award for special effects.
Powell died on January 2, 1963 from lymphoma at the age of 58. He was one of many cast and crew members of The Conqueror (1956) who died from the same disease. The Conqueror was filmed in Utah near an atomic test site. It has long been rumored, but never proven, that the film's shooting location may have been the cause of the cancers that afflicted the crew. Dick Powell was cremated and his remains were interred in the Columbarium of Honor at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

This always happens every year

2010-01-01T20:44:00.000-08:00

For Victor Buono, that is, for sure. I'm busy, wiki him. Wait, watch this:and you've probably seen this but you never tire of this crap:

Hey, I'm busy

2009-12-21T21:04:00.001-08:00

but here's a little anticipatory Christmas music from my favorite group Conspirare

A Company of Voices: Conspirare in Concert from KLRU / Conspirare on Vimeo.

not all of it is christmas music but they are a joy to listen to. Remember those who aren't with us this holiday season.

It's that time of year

2009-11-27T18:41:00.000-08:00

they really knew how to sell a movie in those daysFox trots their talent roster out to plug their 1947 Christmas movie.

a Thanksgiving offering

2009-11-26T09:05:00.000-08:00

we had a few minutes on our hands, so we said hello to some old friends at Hollywood Forever today:

We went to Beatrice Lllie's Villa this morning

2009-11-20T09:13:00.000-08:00

and had to sit through this before they would serve the stupid pancakes.

It all went to hell Eighty-Five years ago today

2009-11-19T00:27:00.000-08:00

Well, for a lot of people, but let us start with Thomas Harper Ince: see, The Chief was throwing a birthday party for Mr Ince on his boat "the Oneida". Lore has it that Marion had disappeared underdeck with perhaps Mr Chaplin for horizontal mambo-ing. The Chief, a jealous sort, went and got his gun and starting firing wildly and allegedly shot Ince in the process.

Such was the power of the Hearst press that the incident was spun very differently: Ince was overtaken with severe stomach cramps and was taken off the boat and driven home where he died. 'Course the fact that the chief had his body taken from the boat to the crematory sort of obviates that possibility. Ask Louella or ask Mother to ask Louella for you. A very entertaining book I would go see if I could find a used copy either at Larry Edmunds or Dragon Books<:

another good for larfs:
"written" by Marion Davies, who had something or another to do with Mr. Ince's passing.

It all ended for Joe Forty Years Ago Today

2009-11-18T23:10:00.000-08:00

I am speaking of the patriarch of the Kennedy clan, once all-powerful Joseph Patrick, who spent the last eight years of his life paralyzed and in a wheelchair unable to speak.

Needless to say, a "complicated" guy. Mother recommends this book: Mother is "of a generation" wherein people still wrote letters to each other. His letters to his children do show a side of him not really seen before.

Mother had to borrow a cup of Drambuie from Mr. Benchley's villa, and while there he reminded us that this book is very entertaining::

excellent reading, from the author of "Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and the Powerful Women of Early Hollywood" which is an excellent book.

I myself have a favorite to suggest: this should succinctly explain it all for you, these are all good Christmas presents.