Classic Ladies & Noir Atmosphere

Gloria Grahame (Queen of noir atmospheres)


Classic Ladies & Noir Atmosphere video featuring stills of Golden Hollywood actresses, actors and 1940's noir aesthetic: Audrey Totter, Alice Faye, Dana Andrews, John Garfield, Eleanor Parker, Robert Ryan, Ida Lupino, Hazel Brooks, Lana Turner, Jennifer Jones, Shelley Winters, Orson Welles, Rita Hayworth, William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Humphrey Bogart, Virginia Bruce, Dick Powell, Ann Shirley, Jan Sterling, Henry Fonda, Barbara Bel-Geddes, Veronica Lake, Patricia Neal, Carole Landis, Ann Sothern, Donna Drake, Ann Savage, Anne Francis, Florence Marly, Joan Bennett, Virginia Mayo, Linda Darnell, Betty Grable, June Duprez, Hazel Court, Alida Valli, Paulette Godard, Carole Lombard, Gene Tierney, Marsha Hunt, Louise Carletti, Marlon Brando, Barbara Stanwyck, Fred McMurray, Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, James Cagney, Margaret Lindsay, Gary Cooper, Anna Sten, Leslie Howard, Lilli Palmer, Burt Lancaster, Ruth Warrick, George Raft, Rosalind Russell, Joan Leslie, Joan Crawford, Ella Raines, Jeanne Cagney, Cornel Wilde, Ann Blyth, Larwence Tierney, Anne Jeffreys, Sterling Hayden, Jean Hagen, Nancy Coleman, Dolores Moran, Marie Windsor, Mary Pickford, Kim Novak, Lauren Bacall, Claire Trevor, Kirk Douglas, Hedy Lamarr, Ava Gardner, Lizabeth Scott, Lenore Aubert, Vivien Leigh, Betty Lou Gerson, Sylvia Sidney, Sally Blane, Lee Patrick, Joy Barlow, Ann Dvorak, Dorothy Malone, Martha Vickers, Barbara Nichols, Toby Wing, Loretta Young, Una Merkel, Gloria Stuart, Mayo Methot, Joan Blondell, Priscilla Lane, Ingrid Bergman, Greer Garson, Anne Baxter, Madeleine Carroll, Joan Fontaine, Susan Hayward, Fay Wray, Mary Beth Hughes, Barbara Bates, Janis Carter, Charlton Heston, Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Tallulah Bankhead, Jean Harlow, Jane Greer, Gloria Grahame, Gloria Dickson, Greta Garbo, Myrna Loy, Irene Dunne, Anita Page, Joi Lansing, Maureen O'Hara, Dorothy Lamour, Ginger Rogers, Alan Ladd, Marion Davis, Corinne Calvet, Jean Seberg, Jean Arthur, Steve Cochran, Mamie van Doren, Joanne Woodward, Barbara Laage, Lew Ayres, Mae Clarke, Ray Milland, Sheila Bromley, Marlene Dietrich, Lynn Bari, Maria Montez, Norma Shearer, Olivia de Havilland, Simone Simon, Corine Griffith, Laraine Day, Constance Bennett, etc.

Soundtrack: "'Cause Cheap is How I Feel" by Cowboy Junkies, and Glenn Miller Orchestra: "I'm Old Fashioned", "Boogie Woogie" and "Sunrise Serenade"

Jake Gyllenhaal rejected by Minka Kelly

Jake Gyllenhaal hops into his Audi SUV after stopping by the doctor’s office on Thursday (January 12) in Los Angeles.

Minka Kelly was chosen by Esquire magazine as the Sexiest Woman Alive 2010

The 31-year-old actor reportedly asked Minka Kelly out on a date last fall but she declined.

Why, you ask? At the time, Minka was trying to patch things up with her on-and-off boyfriend, New York Yankees slugger Derek Jeter. Source: justjared.buzznet.com

"The Artist", "Humoresque", "The Big Knife", "Sunset Boulevard", "Singing in the Rain"

Bérénice Bejo as Peppy Miller in "The Artist" (2011) directed by Michel Hazanavicius

"The Artist"´plot borrows not just from "A Star Is Born" but also "Singin' in the Rain" and several other Hollywood classics.

"The Artist" is a delightful and unique experience because it cares about things most movies no longer do. "The Artist" is a terrific showcase for Dujardin not only because the lack of dialogue gives his expressive face a workout but also because the film goes out with an exhilarating 1930s-appropriate finale" Source: www.twincities.com

John Garfield and Joan Crawford in "Humoresque" (1946) directed by Jean Negulesco

"Humoresque" is a remake of the 1920 film of the same name. The original title of this 1946 version was, "Rhapsody In Blue."

In the suds-drenched ''Humoresque'' whose walk-into-the-sea ending wrings a twist on ''A Star Is Born'', John Garfield is a self-absorbed genius violinist involved with Joan Crawford, playing an unhappily married alcoholic society woman. The lather reaches a mountainous peak in the scene where Crawford's Minnie Mouse eyes brim with tears as she listens to a radio performance of Wagner's ''Liebestod'' alone in her lavish beach house, and drinks herself into a suicidal mood. Source: www.nytimes.com

Janet Gaynor and Fredric March in "A Star is Born" (1937) directed by William A. Wellman

Judy Garland and James Mason in "A Star Is Born" (1954) directed by George Cukor

Jack Palance and Ida Lupino in "The Big Knife" (1955) directed by Robert Aldrich

"Hollywood, the mythical land of dreams. Though it's often glamorized on the screen, occasionally an industry insider dares to bite the hand that feeds him by showing us the flip side of fame and fortune in tinseltown; 'What Price Hollywood?' (1932), both versions of 'A Star is Born' (1937 & 1954), 'The Bad and the Beautiful' (1952) and 'The Player' (1992) are just a few examples. Yet, none of these films can match the negative depiction of the movie business and its power brokers offered in 'The Big Knife' (1955), directed by Robert Aldrich and based on Clifford Odets' 1949 Broadway play.

On the Broadway stage, John Garfield played Charlie Castle, which was ironic considering that Odets modeled his protagonist on Garfield. For the film version, Aldrich wanted Burt Lancaster for the lead role but when he declined the offer, the part went to Jack Palance.

Jack Palance and Shelley Winters in "The Big Knife" (1955)

Shelley Winters: "The Big Knife was my personal salute to the angry and gifted, great, sad and sweet John Garfield. It was also my personal tribute to my many friends who had been so brave, facing that truly un-American HUAC Committee."

It was actually the casting of Palance, however, that Aldrich identified as the major flaw. Most viewers refused to accept him as "a guy who could or could not decide to take $5,000 per week. We failed to communicate to the mass audience... that it was not primarily a monetary problem; it was a problem of internal integrity." Source: www.tcm.com


William Holden and Gloria Swanson in "Sunset Boulevard" (1950) directed by Billy Wilder

In 1949 Hollywood, down-on-his-luck screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) tries to hustle up some work at Paramount Studios. He meets with a producer who shoots down his proposed script as well as a request for a loan to bring his car payments up to date.

“Fame was thrilling only until it became grueling. Money was fun only until you ran out of things to buy.” —Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard

“You see, this is my life. It always will be. There’s nothing else. Just us and the cameras. And those wonderful people out there in the dark.” -Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond

Who better to play a once glamorous and popular silent screen actress than a real former silent screen actress than Gloria Swanson? Gloria Swanson was hugely popular in the 1920s staring in many silent films. Her life was splashed all over magazines with millions of adoring fans. By the time sound came her career ground to a slow halt. She made some sound movies in the 1930s such as 'Tonight or Never' but she accepted the end of her major career. Apparently Norma Shearer, Mae West, Mary Pickford, Pola Negri, and Greta Garbo were considered and asked to play the part of Norma Desmond.

Gloria Swanson is so perfectly eccentric and wonderful that to imagine someone like Norma Shearer (who would have been awful) or Mae West would not have made as much of an impact. Gloria Swanson just had what it took to play an old star who was stuck in the past.


There is no movie musical more fun than "Singin' in the Rain,'' and few that remain as fresh over the years. Its originality is all the more startling if you reflect that only one of its songs was written new for the film, that the producers plundered MGM's storage vaults for sets and props, and that the movie was originally ranked below "An American in Paris", which won a best picture Oscar.

The verdict of the years knows better than Oscar: "Singin' in the Rain" is a transcendent experience, and no one who loves movies can afford to miss it. One of this movie's pleasures is that it's really about something. Of course it's about romance, as most musicals are, but it's also about the film industry in a period of dangerous transition. The movie simplifies the changeover from silents to talkies, but doesn't falsify it. Yes, cameras were housed in soundproof booths, and microphones were hidden almost in plain view. Source: rogerebert.suntimes.com

"And there’s that fade-out kiss between 40-year-old Kelly and 19-year-old newcomer Debbie Reynolds beneath a movie billboard. The kiss that many moviegoers saw but few know about. The one that Kelly put extra effort into.

The French kiss was such a shocker to Reynolds that she had to leave the set to gain her composure. “Filming was held up for about an hour while I drank Coca-Cola and gargled,” Reynolds says. She was eventually persuaded to return and reshoot the scene. This time around, an embarrassed Kelly promised that it would be a “simple kiss.” “I don’t know why he wasn’t aware that I had never had a French kiss. I was such a young girl. I was really upset". Source: articles.orlandosentinel.com

"Debbie Reynolds was 17 when she made 'Singing in the Rain'. In many ways, she says, she was surprised as much as anyone by her own stardom.

She was smaller and lacking in sex appeal compared with the Lana Turners and the Lauren Bacalls, the icons of the era who became her close friends. She had never danced before 'Singing in the Rain', and she had never kissed, either.

“I was taking ballet and acting,” she recalled. “I had no interest in boys, and I certainly didn’t want to be taking a class in kissing.” She says that if you take a look at the last scene of the film, you’ll see a mightily annoyed Gene Kelly giving her the tiniest of unromantic, closed-mouth smooches at what should have been the happy triumph of a couple over all manner of Hollywood adversity". Source: businessghost.com

Jake Gyllenhaal spotted by Twitterers slurping at the farmers' market

"A bearded Jake Gyllenhaal, hiding behind some sunglasses, was spotted by various Twitterers Saturday slurping up a bowl of miso ramen from Hapa Ramen at the Ferry Plaza farmers' market. No word on whether he was in town at Alice's behest, or what". [Twitter via Tablehopper] Source: sanfrancisco.grubstreet.com

"Sean Murphy has been promoted to director of development at John Lesher's Le Grisbi Prods. Murphy, who came to Le Grisbi in 2010 after working as an assistant at UTA, will develop movies as well as service the company's first-look deal for original series at HBO.

Le Grisbi is in post-production on David Ayer's "End of Watch," starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Pena, Anna Kendrick, and America Ferrera. Lesher has set up two projects at Warner Bros.: "Cicero," with David Yates attached to direct and Tom Hardy to star; and "Satori," written by Shane Salerno and Don Winslow for Leonardo DiCaprio to star. He's also producing Guillaume Canet's "Blood Ties." Source: www.variety.com

Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan, co-stars in "Source Code"

"When Nicole Kidman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Clive Owen, and Natalie Portman take the stage for the Hollywood Foreign Press' Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, Jan. 15, many eyes will be on what they are wearing, and most will look out for the crazy moments that make awards shows a highlight of the winter months — and the perfect excuse to throw a party. If you haven't already, send out e-invitations that look like e-tickets — "Admit One: 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards. Then roll out the red carpet down your front hall. As it's sure to be a star-studded night, lots of gold, silver, and sparkles will ensure that the environment matches those in attendance". Source: www.thedailymeal.com


Jake Gyllenhaal and Selma Blair at Movieline Young Hollywood Awards on 5th May, 2002 in Hollywood, CA

Anne Shirley and John Garfield in "Saturday's Children" (1940) by Vincent Sherman

Anne Shirley and John Garfield in "Saturday's Children" (1940) directed by Vincent Sherman, screenplay by Julius J. & Philip G. Epstein.

"Saturday's Children", Warner's latest remake of the Pulitzer Prize winning author Maxwell Anderson's play of the '20s, still is good as human drama with comedy sidelights. Basic plot varies from Anderson's play, but still retains essential ingredients of youthful romance and young couple's tour through financial straits and marital difficulties which sends them to the verge of separation.

John Garfield delivers impressively as Rims Rosson. Anne Shirley is excellent as Bobby Halevy, the romantic girl and wife. This is the role, originally assigned to Jane Bryant, who reneged and retired when married, which was responsible for contract suspension of Olivia de Havilland by Warners on refusal to assume it, and resulted in an undisclosed newcomer being replaced by Shirley after an unsatisfactory two reels were shot. Claude Rains is strong in the support as girl's plodding and sympathetically understanding father.

Story tells romance of Garfield and Shirley, with latter forcing the marriage proposal on eve of his departure for a big opportunity in the Philippines. Script by the Epstein brothers develops story at a fast pace. -Extract of a review from 1940. Source: stage.variety.com


Great clip of Anne Shirley and John Garfield as young lovers in the movie "Saturday's Children".

Jake Gyllenhaal will present the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards

The countdown is on to the first huge awards show of the season -- only 6 days until the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards!

Hottie Jake Gyllenhaal will take the stage to hand out a trophy, as will last year’s Best Actress in a Drama winner Natalie Portman (though much less pregnant than the last time she hit the Beverly Hilton stage). Also making an appearance is one of our biggest Globe nominee snubs of the year -- the hilarious Melissa McCarthy will be on hand to dole out an award.

You can also expect a big international presence in the presenter pool, with Nicole Kidman, Salma Hayek, Antonio Banderas, Clive Owen and “Immortals” stunner Freida Pinto all slated to dish out trophies.

The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards air Sunday on NBC. Source: www.toofab.com

New (old) outtakes with Jake Gyllenhaal in Rolling Stone (Italy) magazine, February 2006

EXCLUSIVE: Not long after leaving his longtime manager, actor Jake Gyllenhaal has left his longtime agency. He grew up, so to speak, at CAA as one of Kim Hodgert’s first clients. I’m assured his departure is not because of anything she has done. “He needed to make a change after 15 years. He has enormous respect for CAA.” He will now be repped by WME’s Patrick Whitesell. Source: www.deadline.com

Kim Novak vs 'The Artist', Film Industry & Technology Progress, Optimization

Still of Bérénice Bejo and Jean Dujardin in "The Artist" (2011) directed by Michel Hazanavicius

"Kim Novak has gone public, with a press release and a trade ad, to express her ire over The Artist‘s use of Bernard Hermann’s music from 'Vertigo' as backdrop for the silent film. I just spoke with Novak’s longtime manager Sue Cameron, and she told me that the actress is an Oscar voter.

“She was sitting in her living room, she put the DVD in, and then went into an absolute state of shock and devastation,” Cameron said. “When you sit in a theater and familiar music comes on that engenders ready made emotion from a past film, and they use that music to evoke those same emotions, it’s quite hurtful. We know that they had the legal right to use the music, but it’s the music that was the backdrop for classic scenes, like Kim and Jimmy Stewart kissing by the tree, driving along the coast in the car. She is very, very upset.”

Kim Novak in "Vertigo" (1958) directed by Alfred Hitchcock

One looming question is whether Novak has jeopardized her status as a voter, and violated the rules by publicly maligning a movie that is a frontrunner for Best Picture. I will provide updates as I get some clarity, and reaction from The Weinstein Company, which released The Artist. Here is Novak’s reaction, in her own words: “I want to report a rape,” said Kim Novak, the legendary star of “Vertigo,” “Picnic,” and many other revered classics. “My body of work has been violated by ‘The Artist.’

This film took the Love Theme music from “Vertigo” and used the emotions it engenders as its own. Alfred Hitchcock and Jimmy Stewart can’t speak for themselves, but I can. It was our work that unconsciously or consciously evoked the memories and feelings to the audience that were used for the climax of ‘The Artist.’”

Novak went on to say that “The Artist” could and should have been able to stand on its own. “There was no reason for them to depend on Bernard Herrmann’s score from ‘Vertigo’ to provide more drama. ‘Vertigo’s’ music was written during the filming.

Hitchcock wanted the theme woven musically in the puzzle pieces of the storyline. Even though they did given Bernard Herrmann a small credit at the end, I believe this kind of filmmaking trick to be cheating. Shame on them!” Source: www.deadline.com


The Movie Industry and Technology Progress:

The music and movie business has been consistently wrong in its claims that new platforms and channels would be the end of its businesses. In each case, the new technology produced a new market far larger than the impact it had on the existing market.

1920’s – the record business complained about radio. The argument was because radio is free, you can’t compete with free. No one was ever going to buy music again.

1940’s – movie studios had to divest their distribution channel – they owned over 50% of the movie theaters in the U.S. “It’s all over,” complained the studios. In fact, the number of screens went from 17,000 in 1948 to 38,000 today.

1950’s – broadcast television was free; the threat was cable television. Studios argued that their free TV content couldn’t compete with paid.

1970’s – Video Cassette Recorders (VCR’s) were going to be the end of the movie business. The movie businesses and its lobbying arm MPAA fought it with “end of the world” hyperbole. The reality? After the VCR was introduced, studio revenues took off like a rocket. With a new channel of distribution, home movie rentals surpassed movie theater tickets.

1998 – the MPAA got congress to pass the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), making it illegal for you to make a digital copy of a DVD that you actually purchased.

2000 – Digital Video Recorders (DVR) like TiVo allowing consumer to skip commercials was going to be the end of the TV business. DVR’s reignite interest in TV.

2006 - broadcasters sued Cablevision (and lost) to prevent the launch of a cloud-based DVR to its customers.

Today it’s the Internet that’s going to put the studios out of business. Sound familiar? Source: steveblank.com

If you look for some critical e-marketing tools in order to enhance your website there are numerous tools available, mainly SEO services: Search Engine Optimization that help your site or business be popular and perceptible in the Internet, endowing with several strategies to improve your site's good ranking and increasing its traffic.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a web page in search engines via "algorithmic" search results. Optimizing a website may involve editing its content and HTML. In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search results page) a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive. With the growth in popularity of social media sites and blogs the leading engines made changes to their algorithms to allow fresh content to rank quickly within the search results.