Happy Anniversary, Claire Trevor!

Happy Anniversary, Claire Trevor!


Portrait of Claire Trevor (born Claire Wemlinger) in 1944.


Pat O'Brien and Claire Trevor in a scene from "Crack-Up" (1946) directed by Irving Reis


Claire Trevor and her son Charles having rest on the set of the film "Borderline" (1950) directed by William A. Seiter.

Happy 65th birthday, James Ellroy!

Betty Short died at twenty-two. She was a flaky kid living out flaky kid fantasies. A reporter learned that she dressed solely in black and named her "The Black Dahlia." The tag nullified her and vilified her and turned her into a sainted lost daughter and a slut. The case was a huge news event. Jack Webb steeped his twelve-page summary in the ethos of the time: Femme fatales die hard and are complicitous in attracting death by vivisection. He didn't understand the killer's intentions or know that his gynecological tampering defined the crime. He didn't know that the killer was horribly afraid of women. He didn't know that he cut the Dahlia open to see what made women different from men.


Webb described the Dahlia's last days. She was running to and from men and stretching her mental resources schizophrenically thin. She was looking for a safe place to hide. Two photographs accompanied the story. The first one showed Betty Short at 39th and Norton. Her legs were half visible. Men with guns and pocket notebooks were standing over her body. The second one showed her in life. Her hair was swept up and back -like a 1940s portrait shot of my mother. My Black Dahlia obsession assumed new fantasy forms. I rescued Betty Short and became her lover. I saved her from a life of promiscuity. I tracked down her killer and executed him. They were strong, narrative-based fantasies. They took the queasy edge off my Dahlia fixation.



I took bus trips downtown to the Main Public Library. I read the 1947 Herald-Express on microfilm rolls. I learned all about the life and death of the Black Dahlia. Betty Short came from Medford, Massachusetts. She had three sisters. Her parents were divorced. She visited her dad in California in 1943. She got hooked on Hollywood and men in uniform. She wanted to be a movie star. She was concurrently engaged to several army flyboys. She frequented cocktail bars and cadged drinks and dinners off strange men. She told whopping lies routinely. Her life was indecipherable. I instinctively understood that life. It was a chaotic collision with male desire. Betty Short wanted powerful things from men -but could not identify her needs. She reinvented herself with youthful panache and convinced herself that she was something original. She miscalculated. She recast herself in a cookie-cutter mold that pandered to long-prescribed male fantasies. The new Betty was the old Betty bushwhacked by Hollywood. She turned herself into a cliché that most men wanted to fuck and a few men wanted to kill. She wanted to get deep dark down and cozy with men. She sent out magnetic signals. She met a man with notions of deep-dark-down-and-cozy cloaked in rage. -"My Dark Places" by James Ellroy (1996)


Scarlett Johansson and Josh Hartnett in "The Black Dahlia" (2006) directed by Brian De Palma


As the story progresses, Bleichert gets more and more erotically obsessed with the Dahlia and Madeleine; it also becomes clearer that Blanchard is nothing like his heroic exterior, but is a deeply corrupt cop. The book develops into an examination of two illusions and the people who become these illusions, and surpass them.


Bleichert ends up a better cop than Blanchard ever was. The Dahlia, who was a lousy actress who had sex as a recourse from loneliness is surpassed by Madeleine, a woman who is a gifted mimic who revels in sex and her image, the image of the dead girl. The attraction of the Dahlia is also an intersection with the now ubiquitous culture of fame, fame exclusively through an image, rather than any achievement. Though Betty Short was entirely unknown as performer or individual, the image of the Dahlia becomes known throughout Los Angeles, and it is the ubiquity of this image, that so many other men lust for this image, that makes Bleichert want it even more. This is something that plagues every well-known beautiful actress: a woman who is not just beautiful, but a beauty ever present in the dreams of men, Liz Taylor or Scarlett Johansson. A line from Ellroy’s Dahlia sequel, The Big Nowhere, is apt: “Downtown came and went; the woman stayed.” Source: italkyoubored.wordpress.com

Jennifer Lawrence talks Mental IIlness Stigma

Jennifer Lawrence, the new darling of the film industry after she won the Best Actress gong at the Oscars, said she was on a campaign to change the public perception of mental illness after accepting her award.


She was recognised for her role in the David O. Russell drama, Silver Linings Playbook, about two troubled people who find connection and stability with one another. "I don't think we're going to stop until we get rid of the stigma for mental illness," she said. "I know [director] David O. Russell won't, and I hope that this helps. "It's just so bizarre how in this world if you have asthma, you take asthma medication. If you have diabetes, you take diabetes medication. "But as soon as you have to take medicine for your mind, it's such a stigma behind it." Source: www.news.com.au


"The American media has promoted images of mental illness that are patently untrue. People know that what they see on television isn’t necessarily accurate, but the image of the violent criminal suffering from mental illness has sunk in through sheer repetition. A longitudinal study by the Mental Health Module Team found that between 1950 and 1996, the proportion of Americans who describe mental illness in terms consistent with violent or dangerous behavior nearly doubled. Since then, the media’s grossly fictional depictions of mental illness have only increased. Yet most studies have found little correlation between mental illness and violent crimes. One study in the American Journal of Psychology found that only five percent of violent crimes are committed by those suffering from mental illness." Source: www.studlife.com


Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in "Silver Linings Playbook" (2012) directed by David O. Russell

Clothing worn by Jennifer Lawrence in her Oscar-winning role as an outspoken young widow in comedy "Silver Linings Playbook" went up for auction on Tuesday, just two days after the Academy Awards ceremony. Memorabilia dealer Nate D. Sanders put the skin-tight white dance pants, winter coat and sports bra Lawrence wore in the film up for sale in the online auction that will end on Thursday. The items are expected to fetch between $500 and $1,500 following the 22-year-old's Best Actress win on Sunday.


"She's now on the record for having an Academy Award, which definitely gives it (the items) status now," said Laura Yntema, spokeswoman for auction house Nate D. Sanders. Five items, either worn by Lawrence or from her wardrobe on the film, are up for auction with starting bids at $100. Source: www.reuters.com


Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale and Josh Hartnett in "Pearl Harbor" (2001) directed by Michael Bay


This WWII era U.S. Army Air Corps pilot’s flightsuit was worn by the character “Danny Walker” portrayed by actor Josh Hartnett in the 2001 Jerry Bruckheimer production “Pearl Harbor”. The tan colored flightsuit with zippered front has a brown leather nametag on the left breast with the character name “D. Walker” sewn on as seen in the film. The interior collar of the garment has the original Motion Picture Costume Company label sewn inside with the actor’s name “Josh” handwritten in black ink.


This item was acquired directly from the costume house that provided it to the production and is accompanied by a letter of authenticity. The garment is in good screen used condition with some minor evidence of wear from its use in action sequences.


“Pearl Harbor” won an Oscar for Best Sound Editing in 2002 and received numerous other nominations including Best Effect, Visual Effects, Best Music, Original Song, and Best Sound. The film featured an all-star cast including Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, Cuba Gooding Jr., Alec Baldwin, and Jon Voight. - Source: www.thegoldencloset.com


Radha Mitchell and Josh Hartnett in "Mozart & the Whale" (2005) directed by Petter Næss

"Mozart and the Whale" is a 2006 romantic "dramedy" about a man and a woman with Asperger syndrome and, in many ways, it makes a very neat thematic companion to the other film. In "Adam" (2009), the protagonists' relationship ultimately fails because the title character's autism prevents him from fulfulling an appropriate "masculine" role. In Mozart and the Whale, the relationship succeeds because both characters are autistic; neither of them can successfully maintain a relationship with a "normal" person but, as the tagline says, "They don't fit in. Except together." The troubling implication is that if autistic people are going to pursue romantic relationships, it's best if we stick with "our own kind."


The relationship also works because Donald (Josh Hartnett) can take on a normatively masculine role in relation to Isabelle (Radha Mitchell). Even though he is arguably "more autistic" than she is (his behavior is much more rigid and ritualistic, and he is less socially aware), she is ultimately "more disabled." She exhibits mood swings, manic outbursts, and petulant, domineering behavior that prevent her from integrating into normative society. This renders her sufficiently dependent, and Donald can take on the role of emotional and financial caregiver. Source: bitchmagazine.org


Josh Hartnett as Donald Morton in Mozart and the Whale (2005)


"Patients with Asperger's syndrome, a rare pervasive developmental disorder, have characteristics such as eccentricities, emotional lability, anxiety, poor social functioning, repetitive behavior, and fixed habits that can mimic symptoms of other illnesses, including schizophrenia spectrum illness, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Their disorganizing anxiety in response to stress, which may be accompanied by increased oddness of speech, can easily be misinterpreted as psychosis."
Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Oscars 2013 Recap

Daniel Day-Lewis wins Best Actor, as expected for his portrayal of Abe Lincoln in "Lincoln." Lewis cracks a joke in his acceptance speech, saying he was supposed to be cast as Margaret Thatcher and presenter Meryl Streep was the first choice for Lincoln. "Meryl Streep was Steven's first choice to play Lincoln... I'd like to see that version," Lewis says.


Anne Hathaway wins "Best Supporting Actress" for Les Miserable- Acceptance Speech


'You guys are just standing up because I fell and you feel bad,' she said. 'That was embarrassing.'


Christoph Waltz Oscar Speech 2013 - Best Supporting Actor for "Django Unchained"


List of Oscar Winners 2013:

1. Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz

2. Animated Short Film: "Paper Man"

3. Animated Feature Film: "Brave"

4. Cinematography: Claudio Miranda for "Life of Pi"

5. Visual Effects: "Life of Pi"

6. Costume Design: "Anna Karenina"

7. Makeup and Hairstyling: "Les Miserables"

8. Live Action Short Film: "Curfew"

9. Documentary Short Subject: "Innocente"

10. Documentary Feature: "Searching for Sugar Man"

11. Foreign Language Film: "Amour"

12. Sound Mixing: "Les Miserables

13. Sound Editing: "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Skyfall" (A tie)

14. Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway

15. Film Editing: "Argo"

16. Production Design: "Lincoln"

17. Original Score: "Life of Pi"

18. Original Song: "Skyfall"

19. Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio for "Argo"

20. Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantion for "Django Unchained"

21. Directing: Ang Lee

22. Actress: Jennifer Lawrence

23. Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis

24. Best Picture: "Argo"

Source: abcnews.go.com

Josh Hartnett attending Vanity Fair Pre-Oscars Campaign 2013

Josh Hartnett 2013 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter




Josh Hartnett attending Vanity Fair Campaign Hollywood 2013 - In Support Of The United Nations International Labour Organization and the Green Jobs Programme







Josh Hartnett attends the Hollywood Domino and Bovet 1822 Gala Benefiting Artists For Peace And Justice on February 21

Jake Gyllenhaal & Hugh Jackman filming "Prisoners" in Georgia

Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway (co-stars in "Les Miserables) in Time magazine ("Great Performances" feature), 2013

Principal photography is underway on location in Georgia for Alcon Entertainment’s PRISONERS, a Warner Bros. Pictures’ release starring Oscar® nominees Hugh Jackman (“Les Misérables”)


and Jake Gyllenhaal (“Brokeback Mountain”), under the direction of Denis Villeneuve, who helmed the Oscar®-nominated foreign language film “Incendies.” Led by Jackman and Gyllenhaal, the dramatic thriller PRISONERS features an all-star cast, including Maria Bello (“Beautiful Boy”) as Keller’s distraught wife, Grace; Oscar® nominees Terrence Howard (“Hustle & Flow”) and Viola Davis (“The Help,” “Doubt”) as Franklin and Nancy Birch, whose daughter Joy went missing with the Dovers’; Academy Award® winner Melissa Leo (“The Fighter”) as Alex Jones’ Aunt Holly; and Paul Dano (“Looper”) as Alex Jones.


Jake Gyllenhaal hangs out on the set of his upcoming film Prisoners on January 20 in Conyers, Georgia

Denis Villeneuve directs the film from an original screenplay by Aaron Guzikowski (“Contraband”). Villeneuve is supported by a top-flight creative team that includes 10-time Oscar®-nominated cinematographer Roger Deakins (“Skyfall”), Oscar®-nominated production designer Patrice Vermette (“The Young Victoria”), Oscar®-winning editor Joel Cox (“Unforgiven”), editor Gary Roach (“J. Edgar”), and costume designer Renée April (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”).


Alcon Entertainment’s PRISONERS is scheduled for release on September 20, 2013, and will be distributed domestically by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. Source: www.wearemoviegeeks.com

Happy Anniversary, Ann Savage!

Happy Anniversary, Ann Savage!


Ann Savage and Tom Neal in "Detour" (1945)
directed by Edgar G. Ulmer

The lead actors selected for the film were all relatively unknown players from the American B-movie circuit. Ulmer had already worked together with Tom Neal, ‘a poor man’s Clark Gable’, on Club Havana (1945), one of his fly-by-night melodramas for PRC. With the handsome looks of an ex-boxer and a preternatural capacity for sulking, Neal was cast in the role of sad sack Al Roberts, a talented New York pianist who, in his desperate attempt to reach his fiancée in Los Angeles, gets dealt a bad hand a couple of times over.


In the more critical role of Vera, Al’s acid-tongued nemesis, a thoroughly downand-out dame who fiendishly drops into the picture midway and keeps things in a headlock until her unceremonious exit, a feisty actress with a curiously apt nom de guerre, Ann Savage (née Bernice Maxine Lyon), was cast. Savage and Neal had previously played opposite each other in a few Bs for Columbia – William Castle’s Klondike Kate (1943), Lew Landers’s Two-Man Submarine (1944) and Herman Rotsten’s The Unwritten Code (1944) – and the two had an established screen chemistry and a bit of history, both on and off screen. (While shooting their first film together in 1943, Neal purportedly wasted no time overstepping the boundaries of professionalism, making an untoward pass at Savage by burying his tongue deep in her ear; she is said to have rewarded him with a prompt grazing of her knuckles across his face.


Ann Savage was brought in to see Ulmer on the set of Club Havana, with just over a week left before the shooting of Detour began; after a quick once-over, she immediately fell into favour with the director.


In a considerable departure from Goldsmith’s novel, the tale is told exclusively from Al Roberts’s perspective. Roberts serves as the film’s narrator – delivering half his lines in a pained, edgy voice-over whose primary task, beyond recounting his life as a cursed nightclub pianist and a cursed hitchhiker, is explaining the inexplicable, proving to himself, as well as to the audience, that he is essentially powerless in his losing battle against fate. The story of Al Roberts begins where it ends: on the open highway. Seated at the counter of a Nevada diner, in a tableau that evokes the canvas of Edward Hopper’s iconic 1942 painting Nighthawks, Roberts cries into his coffee mug. The tale he tells, whittled down from Goldsmith’s oversized script, is one of loss, with a tragic core that intensifies as the human wreckage piles up all around him until he is no longer able to find a way out. Source: www.palgrave.com