...in 1926, George Burns married Gracie Allen.
And while Carnation does come from contented cows, it's always wise to remember that B. F. Goodrich is the first in rubber.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Hi Hi Blackbird
Today is the 90th anniversary of the beginning of Prohibition in the US. Intending to do a post about it, I got sidetracked (I love when that happens) when I bumped into the life and career of someone who, without the freewheeling mood of the Prohibition and certainly the popularity of Harlem, may have never had success. But I doubt it. So....
Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss Florence Mills!
To begin at the beginning, Florence was born to former slaves in Washington DC in 1896. At age five, having won contests for Buck & Wing dancing, she was invited to do a dance exhibition for the diplomatic circle and the British Ambassador's wife presented her with a gold bracelet. Shortly thereafter this photograph was made.
When the photographer asked her to remove the bracelet, Little Miss said, "No bracelet, no picture!"
Singing and dancing her way through childhood and adolescence on various Vaudeville tours as a member of various groups, Mills moved to Chicago at 20 and joined the Panama Trio (Bricktop, who became a lifelong friend was also in the group). Already an extremely accomplished dancer, she received lessons in tap while there from none other than Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.
The following year, she joined The Tennessee Ten and fell in love with fellow "Ten" dancer, Ulysses 'Slow Kid' Thompson. After touring the US and Canada, Florence and Kid move to New York and marry. Though a brilliant showman in his own right, Kid sees Mills' potential and quits performing to become her manager.
Fortune smiled when she replaces Gertrude Saunders in "Shuffle Along" and overnight she's a star.
At the Plantation Restaurant on Broadway an all black show is built around her. Billboard Magazine notes she has " her name in lights on Broadway . . . an even hundred of them" She becomes the first black to be featured in both Vogue and Vanity Fair. She will eventually also become the first black to play and headline The Palace.
The next three years are a dizzying string of smashes. She introduces what becomes her theme song "I'm Just A Little Blackbird Looking For A Bluebird" a melodic little ditty that is actually a subtle protest song. The message that people of any color or creed have the right to search for "the bluebird of happiness" was well understood by her audiences, and contains the line "Building fairy castles just like all the white folks do". Later the sanitized version "Just like all the other folks do" became the popular way to sing it. With the Cafe Society happily kneeling at her feet, she took her new show "Blackbirds" abroad and conquered London and Paris.
About her dancing, ballet critic Arnold Haskell wrote, "I would put Florence Mills, as a dancer, on a par with any of the admittedly great artists of the dance. She had much to express, and the power and the means technically to express it."
And a Daily Sketch review said, "It is notable how much the show attracts other dancers. Anton Dolin has not missed a Tuesday matinee since the start and Massine, who saw it for the first time last week said 'After this all other dancing is futile. Never before have I seen creative artists able to achieve all they imagined'".
By 1927, exhausted, depleted from her breakneck schedule and ill with Tuberculosis, she was back in New York in the hospital. But bed rest and even two surgeries don't help. Knowing she is dying, she sings songs to cheer her nurses & husband. At 4:00 am on November 1st, Florence Mills dies. Her last words were "I don't want anyone to cry when I die. I just want to make people happy, always"
Florence Mills funeral was the largest Harlem had ever seen. There is a legend that a flock of blackbirds flew over the funeral cortege.
Criminally, no recordings or film exist for us to discover the marvel of her performances for our selves. But had she lived today, I suspect some of our self proclaimed pop divas would opt for an early retirement program.
**If you would like to know more of dear Florence try going here. It is a website compiled by biographer Bill Egan. Of the many sources I went to in researching her this is a fine and complete one.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss Florence Mills!
To begin at the beginning, Florence was born to former slaves in Washington DC in 1896. At age five, having won contests for Buck & Wing dancing, she was invited to do a dance exhibition for the diplomatic circle and the British Ambassador's wife presented her with a gold bracelet. Shortly thereafter this photograph was made.
When the photographer asked her to remove the bracelet, Little Miss said, "No bracelet, no picture!"
Singing and dancing her way through childhood and adolescence on various Vaudeville tours as a member of various groups, Mills moved to Chicago at 20 and joined the Panama Trio (Bricktop, who became a lifelong friend was also in the group). Already an extremely accomplished dancer, she received lessons in tap while there from none other than Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.
The following year, she joined The Tennessee Ten and fell in love with fellow "Ten" dancer, Ulysses 'Slow Kid' Thompson. After touring the US and Canada, Florence and Kid move to New York and marry. Though a brilliant showman in his own right, Kid sees Mills' potential and quits performing to become her manager.
Fortune smiled when she replaces Gertrude Saunders in "Shuffle Along" and overnight she's a star.
At the Plantation Restaurant on Broadway an all black show is built around her. Billboard Magazine notes she has " her name in lights on Broadway . . . an even hundred of them" She becomes the first black to be featured in both Vogue and Vanity Fair. She will eventually also become the first black to play and headline The Palace.
The next three years are a dizzying string of smashes. She introduces what becomes her theme song "I'm Just A Little Blackbird Looking For A Bluebird" a melodic little ditty that is actually a subtle protest song. The message that people of any color or creed have the right to search for "the bluebird of happiness" was well understood by her audiences, and contains the line "Building fairy castles just like all the white folks do". Later the sanitized version "Just like all the other folks do" became the popular way to sing it. With the Cafe Society happily kneeling at her feet, she took her new show "Blackbirds" abroad and conquered London and Paris.
About her dancing, ballet critic Arnold Haskell wrote, "I would put Florence Mills, as a dancer, on a par with any of the admittedly great artists of the dance. She had much to express, and the power and the means technically to express it."
And a Daily Sketch review said, "It is notable how much the show attracts other dancers. Anton Dolin has not missed a Tuesday matinee since the start and Massine, who saw it for the first time last week said 'After this all other dancing is futile. Never before have I seen creative artists able to achieve all they imagined'".
By 1927, exhausted, depleted from her breakneck schedule and ill with Tuberculosis, she was back in New York in the hospital. But bed rest and even two surgeries don't help. Knowing she is dying, she sings songs to cheer her nurses & husband. At 4:00 am on November 1st, Florence Mills dies. Her last words were "I don't want anyone to cry when I die. I just want to make people happy, always"
Florence Mills funeral was the largest Harlem had ever seen. There is a legend that a flock of blackbirds flew over the funeral cortege.
Criminally, no recordings or film exist for us to discover the marvel of her performances for our selves. But had she lived today, I suspect some of our self proclaimed pop divas would opt for an early retirement program.
**If you would like to know more of dear Florence try going here. It is a website compiled by biographer Bill Egan. Of the many sources I went to in researching her this is a fine and complete one.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Pleasure Trip
Today, Felix In Hollywood is one whole month old!!
In celebration, "Let's Fly Away" on a little Voyage shall we.
After which, we'll hop on the Soul Train and collect some "Souvenirs".
In celebration, "Let's Fly Away" on a little Voyage shall we.
After which, we'll hop on the Soul Train and collect some "Souvenirs".
And It's Over
One of my favorite voices from 80's pop and one of my favorite songs, the lyrics of which I wish I'd thought of first! The Motels' Martha Davis is 59 today!
The Motels & Martha Davis - Take The L...
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The Motels & Martha Davis - Take The L...
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Thursday, January 14, 2010
How "Sweet" It Is
If you don't know them, it's time. This is Sweet Honey In The Rock. The group formed in the early 70's comprised of members of the DC Black Repertory Theater. Some of it's membership has change over the years but the spirit and the soul remain. I once worked at a restaurant with one of the members in the 80's and have met most of the group at one time or another. They each have the most incredible essence of grace and dignity I've ever been in the presence of. I have loved their music since I first heard it.
If they come to your town, see them. If not please buy there music.
If they come to your town, see them. If not please buy there music.
A Girl Of Firsts
Phyllis Virgina Daniels was born 109 years ago today in Dallas Texas. Soon after the family moved to Los Angeles. Little Bebe, as she was nicknamed, was recruited into the family business of Show and at age four was touring in a production of Shakespeare's Richard III. That same year, she also appeared in a stage touring production of "The Squaw Man". In 1910, she originated the character of Dorothy Gale for film audiences, in the first version of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", a mere dozen years before the birth of Judy Garland!
In addition to entries as a Singer, Writer and Producer, she has 240 Acting entries on IMDB. Well over 150 of those occur before 1920! This number was possible because of being tapped by Hal Roach (with whom she shares a birthday) at 14 years old to be teamed with Harold Lloyd who was then doing his Lonesome Luke series. The Luke character was little more than a take off of Chaplin's character, only in tight clothes instead of baggy ones. It is said that, while in a movie theater, Lloyd overheard a boy say, "Oh here's that fellow who makes like Chaplin", and that this caused the creation of his legendary 'Glasses Character". Bebe was with him for the transition, benefitting from more involved characterizations herself. She and Lloyd also became romantic, a natural progression given their constant work schedule and genuine fondness for one another. In their social life they won many trophies for dancing as was the rage amongst the Hollywood set at the time. During their years starring together, Daniels not only did all her own stunts, she learned all phases of 'on the fly' film making. Their onscreen personas were The Boy and The Girl.
When her contract came due in 1919, DeMille scooped her up and brought her to Paramount where she would become a star. In 1921 at 20 years old, our quintisential Flapper was famous, beautiful and rich. She enjoyed all the trappings afforded her including a brand new racy Marmon automobile that she loved to drive.....really fast.
This was no problem as she had an uncle 'with connections' who was able to fix her weekly stack of speeding tickets with LA County. However it was on a hellbent drive to San Diego with her mother and Boxing Champ Jack Dempsey in the car (whom she was dating) that she was stopped in sleepy Tustin for going (get ready) 56 mph!
Daniels cried, "Uncle!" but dear Uncle had no pull in Orange County. Thus commenced a happy little scandal that made the Paramount publicity men wet their pants with glee. Believing that her stardom would win her local public favor (yeah, that always works) her lawyers demanded a jury trial. Didn't work. Judge John Cox, a bit of a publicity whore himself, dramatically announced, "10 days in jail!" Bebe was now the first starlett to be in the pokey. Bebe's comment to the papers: “I bet 56 miles per hour sounds awfully fast if you’ve never driven anything faster than a plow.”
It was hardly what you would call 'hard time'. A local furniture store backed a truck up the the Santa Ana jailhouse and her cell was kitted out with a persian carpet and a bedroom suite complete with bed linens to match the curtains mounted over those crass bars. Both florists in town made daily deliveries, and the local eateries entered into something of a contest to provide the most delectible meals to the star, her mother (who was allowed to stay with her) and the rafts of Hollywood luminaries who came each day to visit. Abe Lyman and his Cocoanut Grove Orchestra came to serenade our poor inmate.
Daniels was the only woman among twenty men on Paramount's "inner cabinet," where she headed her own production unit for five years-controlling stories, casts, and budgets.
Once, while in Chicago, Bebe was the victim of a jewel robbery. Al Capone, who was a fan, put out the word that whoever had taken the jewels would be doing themselves a "healthy favor" by returning them in 24 hours. They were returned.
Our 'girl of firsts' was also in the first "The Maltese Falcon" and, bucking Hollywood completely, her first marriage was her last! She and fellow actor Ben Lyon were married in 1930 and stayed that way for the rest of her life.
In the mid thirties, with their film careers winding down they developed a stage act. While touring in England in the late thirties, they felt they had found home, and moved there. In London they raised their two children and had continued success performing, ultimately producing their own radio, and later TV show, "Life With The Lyons".
A few months before her death, Harold Lloyd (they died 9 days apart) paid the Lyons a visit in London. While reminiscing, an observer noted that he was still wearing a ring she had given him during those carefree days together so long ago, and she still had all the trophies they had won in their dance contests.
In addition to entries as a Singer, Writer and Producer, she has 240 Acting entries on IMDB. Well over 150 of those occur before 1920! This number was possible because of being tapped by Hal Roach (with whom she shares a birthday) at 14 years old to be teamed with Harold Lloyd who was then doing his Lonesome Luke series. The Luke character was little more than a take off of Chaplin's character, only in tight clothes instead of baggy ones. It is said that, while in a movie theater, Lloyd overheard a boy say, "Oh here's that fellow who makes like Chaplin", and that this caused the creation of his legendary 'Glasses Character". Bebe was with him for the transition, benefitting from more involved characterizations herself. She and Lloyd also became romantic, a natural progression given their constant work schedule and genuine fondness for one another. In their social life they won many trophies for dancing as was the rage amongst the Hollywood set at the time. During their years starring together, Daniels not only did all her own stunts, she learned all phases of 'on the fly' film making. Their onscreen personas were The Boy and The Girl.
When her contract came due in 1919, DeMille scooped her up and brought her to Paramount where she would become a star. In 1921 at 20 years old, our quintisential Flapper was famous, beautiful and rich. She enjoyed all the trappings afforded her including a brand new racy Marmon automobile that she loved to drive.....really fast.
It was hardly what you would call 'hard time'. A local furniture store backed a truck up the the Santa Ana jailhouse and her cell was kitted out with a persian carpet and a bedroom suite complete with bed linens to match the curtains mounted over those crass bars. Both florists in town made daily deliveries, and the local eateries entered into something of a contest to provide the most delectible meals to the star, her mother (who was allowed to stay with her) and the rafts of Hollywood luminaries who came each day to visit. Abe Lyman and his Cocoanut Grove Orchestra came to serenade our poor inmate.
And when the vacation sentence was over, the brilliant business minds at Paramount rushed her back to the lot to begin work on her next picture, "The Speed Girl".
Daniels was the only woman among twenty men on Paramount's "inner cabinet," where she headed her own production unit for five years-controlling stories, casts, and budgets.
Once, while in Chicago, Bebe was the victim of a jewel robbery. Al Capone, who was a fan, put out the word that whoever had taken the jewels would be doing themselves a "healthy favor" by returning them in 24 hours. They were returned.
Our 'girl of firsts' was also in the first "The Maltese Falcon" and, bucking Hollywood completely, her first marriage was her last! She and fellow actor Ben Lyon were married in 1930 and stayed that way for the rest of her life.
In the mid thirties, with their film careers winding down they developed a stage act. While touring in England in the late thirties, they felt they had found home, and moved there. In London they raised their two children and had continued success performing, ultimately producing their own radio, and later TV show, "Life With The Lyons".
A few months before her death, Harold Lloyd (they died 9 days apart) paid the Lyons a visit in London. While reminiscing, an observer noted that he was still wearing a ring she had given him during those carefree days together so long ago, and she still had all the trophies they had won in their dance contests.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Waiter, A Round Of Confetti For Everyone!
As a fellow Washintonian, I feel honor-bound to lead a chorus of "Happy Birthday" to the one, and certainly the only, Miss Mr. Rip Taylor.
Charles Elmer Taylor was born in the Nation's Capital, and hard as it is to imagine, was a Senate Page in his teens. King of game shows and the talk show circuit in the 70's and 80's his outrageous trademarks of confetti throwing and toupee yanking developed over the course of his career.
I personally have memories of him in the late 70's flouncing into Mr. Henry's in Georgetown, always at happy hour, and over the course of the following 90 minutes or so doing an impromptu act; wandering from table to table and all along the bar, 'reading' the patrons. It was always a sort of frightening treat as you laughed and awaited your turn to come under the ax.
Below you can see Rip get wiggy with it at about 1:45.
Rip Taylor (born 1934)
Charles Elmer Taylor was born in the Nation's Capital, and hard as it is to imagine, was a Senate Page in his teens. King of game shows and the talk show circuit in the 70's and 80's his outrageous trademarks of confetti throwing and toupee yanking developed over the course of his career.
I personally have memories of him in the late 70's flouncing into Mr. Henry's in Georgetown, always at happy hour, and over the course of the following 90 minutes or so doing an impromptu act; wandering from table to table and all along the bar, 'reading' the patrons. It was always a sort of frightening treat as you laughed and awaited your turn to come under the ax.
Below you can see Rip get wiggy with it at about 1:45.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Can You Solve The Mystery? Please?
As I suspect you already know, Felix In Hollywood is also the name of my vintage shop.
So I found this really great necklace that I want to put in the shop,
but I'll be damned if I can decipher what the symbol or insignia is on the medallions.
I'm sorry that my camera isn't so hot on detail, but see what you can make of it. I was beginning to think it was from some secret society or something, but I took it to my friendly neighborhood jeweler today and he's convinced it's a signature. Great. Who's?
It's a pretty fabulous piece. It's heavy and it's solid sterling with gold and black enamel overlay on the medallions. I'm excited to include it in the shop but I'd love to have more clarification, so that I don't have to list it as the "Mystery Necklace"!
Put on your thinking caps kids.
So I found this really great necklace that I want to put in the shop,
but I'll be damned if I can decipher what the symbol or insignia is on the medallions.
Go ahead and click me, I'll be happy to get really big!
I'm sorry that my camera isn't so hot on detail, but see what you can make of it. I was beginning to think it was from some secret society or something, but I took it to my friendly neighborhood jeweler today and he's convinced it's a signature. Great. Who's?
It's a pretty fabulous piece. It's heavy and it's solid sterling with gold and black enamel overlay on the medallions. I'm excited to include it in the shop but I'd love to have more clarification, so that I don't have to list it as the "Mystery Necklace"!
Put on your thinking caps kids.
Ok, I'm a bit late on the uptick...
...but I finally got to see the Tom Ford movie, "A Single Man" yesterday and thought it mesmerising.
I couldn't recomend it more.
I couldn't recomend it more.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Go Go, Girl
Today is the 46th anniversary of the opening of the world famous Whisky A Go Go on the fabulous Sunset Strip!
"Johnny Rivers…returned to L.A. to accept a lucrative offer from Elmer Valentine to open at his lavish new nightclub based upon the popular European discotheque concept. Johnny Rivers at the Whisky A Go-Go turned Hollywood upside down. His first Imperial album, "Johnny Rivers At The Whisky A Go-Go," (produced by Lou Adler) was high in the charts for 45 weeks in 1964."
-Glenn A. Baker
("Johnny Rivers - The Singer, Not the Song" - Goldmine Magazine)
"Johnny Rivers…returned to L.A. to accept a lucrative offer from Elmer Valentine to open at his lavish new nightclub based upon the popular European discotheque concept. Johnny Rivers at the Whisky A Go-Go turned Hollywood upside down. His first Imperial album, "Johnny Rivers At The Whisky A Go-Go," (produced by Lou Adler) was high in the charts for 45 weeks in 1964."
-Glenn A. Baker
("Johnny Rivers - The Singer, Not the Song" - Goldmine Magazine)
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Car Wars
I just read a great post by Ask The Cool Cookie on Doing Hard Time In Shaker Heights on a Plymouth Volare he once owned. It called to mind the following:
The fall after high school, my parents offered to buy me a new car. So off to a dealership in Waldorf, Md. we went. They sold Dodge, Jeep and Triumph.
I, needless to say, was desperate for a Triumph Spitfire. The folks thought the Dodge Aspen the more appropriate way to go. Their compromise however was the 'sporty' Aspen RT.
I was predictably pouty and sullen. (of course I'd kill to have that car now) The car was bigger and therefore safer, my father reasoned. Actually, I countered, a smaller car would make me a more cautious driver.
The Aspen had automatic and power steering dad said. They don't make Triumphs with anything but standard transmissions and power steering would be silly on a little sports car, I retorted. The Dodge is air conditioned, he boasted. Who needs AC with a convertible top, I whined. Well, the Dodge is an American car and it's better built. Shit. The Triumph, by British Leland, was notoriously temperamental. He had me there. That is until I was having a stroll around the RT trying to get used to my fate. (my fate, their money. what a brat.) On the drivers side front quarter panel, just behind the wheel well, was the 'Aspen' name badge in a jaunty chromed script. In the same spot on the passenger side (as could only happen in the fantasy that was quality control in the late 70s) it said 'Volare'! (the look-a-like model by Plymouth)
I grabbed my dad. "American great building, huh?" I sneered as I marched him around the car. When he saw the fuck-up all the color drained from his face and he looked as though everything he ever believed in was slipping away. (Christ, first Nixon and now this).
And I got the Triumph.
The fall after high school, my parents offered to buy me a new car. So off to a dealership in Waldorf, Md. we went. They sold Dodge, Jeep and Triumph.
I, needless to say, was desperate for a Triumph Spitfire. The folks thought the Dodge Aspen the more appropriate way to go. Their compromise however was the 'sporty' Aspen RT.
I was predictably pouty and sullen. (of course I'd kill to have that car now) The car was bigger and therefore safer, my father reasoned. Actually, I countered, a smaller car would make me a more cautious driver.
The Aspen had automatic and power steering dad said. They don't make Triumphs with anything but standard transmissions and power steering would be silly on a little sports car, I retorted. The Dodge is air conditioned, he boasted. Who needs AC with a convertible top, I whined. Well, the Dodge is an American car and it's better built. Shit. The Triumph, by British Leland, was notoriously temperamental. He had me there. That is until I was having a stroll around the RT trying to get used to my fate. (my fate, their money. what a brat.) On the drivers side front quarter panel, just behind the wheel well, was the 'Aspen' name badge in a jaunty chromed script. In the same spot on the passenger side (as could only happen in the fantasy that was quality control in the late 70s) it said 'Volare'! (the look-a-like model by Plymouth)
I grabbed my dad. "American great building, huh?" I sneered as I marched him around the car. When he saw the fuck-up all the color drained from his face and he looked as though everything he ever believed in was slipping away. (Christ, first Nixon and now this).
And I got the Triumph.
The Prince Of Wails
Today we celebrate the birth and life and talent of Johnnie Ray. The singer, and professional perspirer (you'll see), was rendered deaf in one ear at age 13 in his native Oregon. This only served to make his robust, swinging delivery all the louder.
He scored a two sided hit single in 1952 with the record "Cry" b/w "The Little White Cloud That Cried".
A string of further hits in the next five years pretty much concluded his super stardom in the US though he maintained a more loyal fan base there after in England.
Despite a brief marriage (1952-54) he was arrested twice for soliciting sex from men (1951 and 1959).
He also underwent surgery for his hearing in 1958 that just about killed the rest of his hearing and required him to use hearing aids in both ears for the rest of his life.
If hearing loss and a slight case of homosexuality weren't enough, there was also the problem of drink. Suffering from hepatitis and, later, cirrhosis, his liver finally failed killing him in 1990.
Our friend Mr. Ray also has the distinction of being the Best Man at Judy Garland's last wedding to Mickey Deans. Not at all surprising because as you all know: Everything Leads Back To Judy Garland.
He scored a two sided hit single in 1952 with the record "Cry" b/w "The Little White Cloud That Cried".
A string of further hits in the next five years pretty much concluded his super stardom in the US though he maintained a more loyal fan base there after in England.
Despite a brief marriage (1952-54) he was arrested twice for soliciting sex from men (1951 and 1959).
He also underwent surgery for his hearing in 1958 that just about killed the rest of his hearing and required him to use hearing aids in both ears for the rest of his life.
If hearing loss and a slight case of homosexuality weren't enough, there was also the problem of drink. Suffering from hepatitis and, later, cirrhosis, his liver finally failed killing him in 1990.
Our friend Mr. Ray also has the distinction of being the Best Man at Judy Garland's last wedding to Mickey Deans. Not at all surprising because as you all know: Everything Leads Back To Judy Garland.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Cosmic Family Reunions
This morning I read of the passing of Art Clokey the man who created "Gumby" (dammit).
It reminded me that one day in the early 80's I was strolling down the street in my neighborhood of Capitol Hill and there, on the sidewalk I found a Gumby.
It reminded me that one day in the early 80's I was strolling down the street in my neighborhood of Capitol Hill and there, on the sidewalk I found a Gumby.
It made the rest of my day a very happy one and when I got home, I put him on the mantle.
Later that evening I was having my weekly catch-up phone call with my older brother Mike the pothead. I mentioned having found Gumby earlier in the day, and there was a pause. "Are you making that up?" Mike asked, a little spooked. When I asked him why on earth I would think to make something like that up, he told me that earlier that day, in Jacksonville, Fl. mind you, He Found A Pokey!
Thank you Mr. Clokey.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Girls Night Out
On a night very long ago....
Felix In Hollywood & Kabuki Zero - 1981
Who says high fashion is painful? To the best of our collective recollection, when the photo was taken, we had consumed, scotch, michelob, couple hits of speed, a dusting of cocaine, and a 750 placidyl each and were feeling no pain. And it was after the picture was taken that we went out to party.
A Very Special Birthday Spotlight
The greatest female, female impersonator the world has ever known.
Ladies and Gentlemen: Dame Shirley Bassey!! (1937)
Born Under The Sign Of The Treble Clef!
Today we celebrate the birthdays of:
Elvis Aaron Presley 1935
"Little Anthony" Gourdine 1940 with The Imperials
David (Jones) Bowie 1947
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Whaddya Say We Talk Edna May...
With a face like a shoebox, Edna May Oliver was another one of those glorious character people from films of the thirties with a patented bit. She was typically the gruff, sharp tongued spinster or widowed aunt. Queen of the 'take', she had two facial reactions, shock and withering disapproval.
Born in 1883 as Edna May Nutter (who names their kid Edna, anyhow?) in Malden, Mass., she passed away on her 59th birthday in 1942. She was also a descendent of John Quincy Adams. Before film success, she'd made it on Broadway for quite a few years including creating the roll of Parthy in "Show Boat". She turned down the film version of "Show Boat" in order to play Nurse in MGM's star spectacle of "Romeo and Juliet", in which she was wonderful. She was also given a much deserved Oscar nomination for her performance in 1939's "Drums Along The Mohawk".
My favorite Oliver performance ironically didn't include Edna at all! The 1940 Warner Bros. cartoon, "The Hardship Of Miles Standish" has Oliver's 'image' as Priscilla Mullens (voiced perfectly by Sara Berner), with Hugh Herbert's (I'm sure I'll get around to him sometime) image as Miles and Elmer Fudd as John Alden.
Made in the days of sterotypes, at least the Pilgrims are portrayed as goofy and inept as the Indians.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Each Time You Call My Name
I really envy you, dear readers. I just came across this clip at work, on a computer with NO SOUND! But after reading a few of the comments, I feel safe in posting it sight-unheard. I won't, however get to hear it for myself until I get home tonight.
It is my very favorite Labelle song.
It is my very favorite Labelle song.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
My Secret Show Business Dream...
...is to be regarded as the Twenty-First Century Franklin Pangborn
Pangborn's screen character, which might be described at times as prissy or flighty, was often considered a gay stereotype, although such a topic was too sensitive in his day to be discussed overtly in the dialogue. A rare exception occurred in International House, which was filmed before the Hay's Office fully censored filmmaking, and was notable for several risqué references (by 1933 standards). In this scene, Fields has just arrived at the titular hotel in the fictitious Chinese city called "Wu Hu", but he does not know for sure where he is. Pangborn is the hotel manager:
Fields: Where am I?
Pangborn: Wu Hu!
Fields (giving him a sharp look and removing a flower from his lapel): Don't let the posy fool you!
Franklin was born 1889 and went on to his spotlessly clean and neatly ordered reward in 1958, so we're long overdue for a shot of Pangborn-osity. And I'm just the dame to do it.
It's fresh, it's needed, it's an idea who's time has come!
One of those character actors who always played essentially the same character no matter the situation, Pangborn portrayed a fussy type of person, polite, elegant, and highly energetic, often officious, fastidious, somewhat nervous, prone to becoming flustered but essentially upbeat, and with an immediately recognizable high-speeed patter-type speech pattern. He typically played and officious desk clerk in a hotel, a self-important musician, a fastidious headwaiter, an enthusiastic birdwatcher, and the like, and was usually put in a situation of frustration or was comedically flustered by someone else's topsy-turvy antics.
Pangborn's screen character, which might be described at times as prissy or flighty, was often considered a gay stereotype, although such a topic was too sensitive in his day to be discussed overtly in the dialogue. A rare exception occurred in International House, which was filmed before the Hay's Office fully censored filmmaking, and was notable for several risqué references (by 1933 standards). In this scene, Fields has just arrived at the titular hotel in the fictitious Chinese city called "Wu Hu", but he does not know for sure where he is. Pangborn is the hotel manager:
Fields: Where am I?
Pangborn: Wu Hu!
Fields (giving him a sharp look and removing a flower from his lapel): Don't let the posy fool you!
Franklin was born 1889 and went on to his spotlessly clean and neatly ordered reward in 1958, so we're long overdue for a shot of Pangborn-osity. And I'm just the dame to do it.
It's fresh, it's needed, it's an idea who's time has come!
Franklin fucking Pangborn darlings.
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