Dedications: My four late friends Rory, Stan, Bryan, Jeff - shine on you crazy diamonds, they would have blogged too. Then theres Garry from Brisbane, Franco in Milan, Mike now in S.F. / my '60s-'80s gang: Ned & Joseph in Ireland; in England: Frank, Des, Guy, Clive, Joe & Joe, Ian, Ivan, Nick, David, Les, Stewart, the 3 Michaels / Catriona, Sally, Monica, Jean, Ella, Anne, Candie / and now: Daryl in N.Y., Jerry, John, Colin, Martin and Donal.

Monday 25 August 2014

A cache of new old movie magazines !

I came across a fantastic website selling all kinds of vintage magazines, including lots of film mags, like "Films & Filming", "Sight & Sound", "Films Illustrated", "Film Comment" etc. As a magazine junkie from way back, this was too good to miss. My first consignment of 10 "Films & Filming" from the late '50s arrived a few days ago, in great condition, so its money well spent. I have the magazine's issues from 1960 onwards, but those '50s ones are marvellous too (it began in 1954, but of course all magazines have their day, and it  was finished by 1980 - I worked there for a year in the '70s and knew the owner and staff, and did some reviews for them myself, as per my other posts at F&F label).
I am getting another lot this week, a few more "F&F"s, two "Plays & Players" one with Bacall in APPLAUSE and the other with Jonathan Pryce as HAMLET in 1980, both of which I saw, on the covers), and 5 early "Sight & Sounds" also from the early 60s, with Belmondo, Christie, Lee Remick etc on the covers, .... so, lots of nostalgic catching up.

There is another Italian issue here too, with features by Fellini on his forthcoming LA DOLCE VITA, and by Antonioni also ...

Another fascinating feature is a three-page piece on Ingrid Bergman (back in big movies again in 1958) by no less than Kenneth Tynan.

It also ran a monthly feature 'Person of Promise' and these particular magazines feature Lee Remick, James Garner, Gena Rowlands and Renato Salvatori among other up and coming players. Other Persons of Promise I remember were Tony Perkins and Jane Fonda. Some of the Persons (Dolores Michaels, Patricia Owens) though did not last very long ...
This is their rather nice feature on Lee Remick, in August 1958:
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"Lee Remick looks like a nice girl, yet she has the most sex-appeal I've ever seen turned loose on the screen" says THE LONG HOT SUMMER's producer, Jerry Wald. Director of SUMMER, Martin Ritt, adds: "She is the most exciting new personality I've seen; she jumps at you from the screen". And to round off the quotes on the bright Miss Remick, Orson Welles quite simply says: "... she's the greatest".
Lee Remick made her film debut eighteen months ago as the drum-majorette bride of Lonesome Rhodes in Kazan's A FACE IN THE CROWD. Her second film THE LONG HOT SUMMER is at present making the rounds in Britain. Her work in Kazan's CROWD won her critical recognition, although she was seen for only ten minutes on screen. In SUMMER, after studio executives had seen the rushes, she was given star billing. Lee Remick is a name to conjure with.
Born in Boston, she and her brother, Bruce, were the two children of a successful department store owner, Frank Remick. When his only daughter decided on a stage career, papa did not object - in fact he went as far as financing her dramatic and dancing lessons. After schooling at Thayerland College, she went to Miss Hewitt's fashionable institute of learning. The plays that Miss Hewitt chose for her students to exercise their dramatic abilities on were also fashionable, but little else. Lee longed to have a stab at the real thing.
She graduated to Barnard College, and theatricals took on a more professional tone. After months of training she went into the American equivalent of repertory: summer stock. On tour, she appeared with Rudy Vallee in JENNY KISSES ME, with Art Carney in THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH, and singing and dancing in PAINT YOUR WAGON. 
On her sixteenth birthday, in December 1953, Lee arrived on Broadway as Lois, in BE YOUR AGE. To put it mildly, the play was a colossal flop. Then she went into TOP MAN, which also folded in double quick time. Forsaking the stage for television, she appeared in many of the top dramatic shows. 
20th Century Fox have ambitious plans for the new girl on the lot. Her name has been mentioned for the lead role in THE JEAN HARLOW STORY, which Fox plans to make later this year. And she is set for THESE THOUSAND HILLS, and for astute producer Wald in THE BEST OF EVERYTHING. 

Well, thank goodness Lee did not get tarnished with those Harlow films, and of course those big roles kept coming with ANATOMY OF A MURDER, WILD RIVER, DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES etc. - as per other posts here, at Remick labels. After her parents divorced, she became a Park Avenue girl, as her mother moved to New York. Another Remick interview I quoted from had her telling of her first meeting with Hepburn and Tracy, when she was up for a small part in DESK SET; 6 years later she and Hepburn were both competing for the Best Actress Oscar in 1962 (the year Anne Bancroft won), while a decade later they played mother and daughter in the 1973 A DELICATE BALANCE, also reviewed here.
And the magazine website: 
http://www.tilleysvintagemagazines.com/source/gallery.php?
gallery=FILMS%20AND%20FILMING&menuchoice=magazines&menuletter=F.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the 1958 text on Lee Remick.

    ReplyDelete