Happy Birthday Joni

74 tomorrow, Happy Birthday to our icon (whom I met in 1972, when we were both in our twenties, as per previous reports at label), Joni Mitchell, we trust she  is improving and keeping well. 
Good to see her out and about, if in a wheelchair, at various music events, with her peers and people she knows. Wonder if she is still smoking. 

Grace for the weekend

It sounds like all my clubbing nights rolled into one!

"Life during wartime" ...

Given my penchant for  1940s British movies, both of the war years and that grim post-war era, its surprising I never saw WATERLOO ROAD before. Its a 1944 Gainsborough gem set around Waterloo Road in South London, just behind Waterloo railway station and there are lots of shots of the station then and those streets and back to back houses.

I felt at times I was watching an alternative THIS HAPPY BREED or IT ALWAYS RAINS ON SUNDAY, as we encounter squaddie John Mills, unfaithful wife Joy Shelton (who does not register at all - it needed a Kay Walsh) and the widest of wide boys Stewart Granger (before he decamped for Hollywood) as the spiv putting the make on Mills' wife. Mills goes AWOL to track him down and that very brutal fight follows. 

Add in Alistair Sim as the local doctor, Jean Kent as local good time girl, Beatrice Varley as the worried mother and the great Alison Legatt (above)as another nagging spinster aunt (as she was in THIS HAPPY BREED). She is as under-rated as Kathleen Byron)  I loved it, directed by Sidney  Gilliat. Play it with HOLIDAY CAMP or THE WAY TO THE STARS or 2,000 WOMEN, THE BLUE LAMP, POOL OF LONDON etc.

Vanishing London - an occasional series

Today: Sandwich bars

The evolution of London into the new metropolis continues with the rise of all those new eateries and trendy new restaurants and foodie destinations like Borough Market, as detailed in the (now free) weekly "Time Out".

But those of us who worked in the city or west end in the '80s and '90s and early 2000s fondly remember the proliferation of sandwich bars, where office workers queued up at lunchtime for sandwiches made to your specifications so it was all fresh and at a reasonable price.  Those windows with their stacked piles of cold meats, chicken, ham, cheeses and salads of every description - like a New York deli in fact.. The premises did not need to be large, just enough room for a couple of tables as it was mainly takeaway business.

But since then the unstoppable rise of chains like Pret A Manger, EAT and all the rest, and all those gourmet burgers means most of these earlier fast food outlets are on the way out. I am as much to blame as anyone else - I loved those early Pret sandwiches and baguettes, even if they got soggy if left too long. Then Marks & Spencer got in on the lunchtime trade, and their sandwiches were and are top notch. I might be having their chicken and avocado today. The humble sandwich may be on the way out though as they all now promote wraps, flatbreads, quinoa pots etc. 

When I first began working in London in the Sixties there were still some Kardomah cafes with their super strong coffee, and at the other end of the spectrum those Wimpy Bars, how we liked those burgers wrapped in a frankfurter with all the trimmings. Worker then too got Luncheon Vouchers as part of their salary, which were used as part of paying for lunch.

Here are a few places I particularly liked: 

In Brewer Street, across from where I worked in Regent Street was a terrific outlet, run by a very friendly mother and daughter, where it seemed most of the office went for their freshly made sandwiches, they seemed to have an endless supply of different fillings and salads.

Down in The Strand too, in a tiny space next to one of the Drury Lane theatres, the most perfect sandwiches or baps were treats, with  perfect ham and fillings.

There were still some sandwich bars (maybe they are still there) in the Marylebone area just up from Oxford Street - a particular favourite was our Friday morning treat of a hot sausage sandwich with mustard, it set one up for the day, as did their bacon butties, maybe with a fried egg.

Progress of course is inevitable but one wonders where the next trendy food revolution will lead, and of course it won't be cheap and cheerful.

The Crown

Slight reservations about the massive Netflix series THE CROWN, Series 1 is now a 4 dvd pack (10 one-hour long episodes), as they film Series 2.  One can see the quality and the interesting casting, but it moves at a slow pace and Buckingham Palace seems a very gloomy, dark place, with all those older ministers and courtiers - but I presume thats how the Fifties are perceived now.

Stealing the show four episodes in is the venerable Dame Eileen Atkins as Queen Mary, a role she has played a few times. Claire Foy and Matt Smith are growing into their roles, but will be replaced by older actors as the decades pass .... John Lithgow is a terrific Churchill, and there's Jeremy Northam (Anthony Eden), Greg Wise (Lord Mountbatten), Harriet Walter (Lady Churchill) and more, who capture the essence of their characters, without being lookalikes. Victoria Hamilton is a perfect Queen Mother, but Jared Harris seems all wrong as George VI (it begins with him coughing up blood, while drinking more whiskey and endlessly smoking, and shooting wildlife. The very busy Alex Jennings would be much better here, but he plays the brother who abdicated. Showing the coronation scene mainly through his eyes is genius. Vanessa Kirby looks like being an ideal Princess Margaret too.

Surely though Princess Elizabeth knew she would always be queen and was trained to step into her father's shoes, so why all the nervous stares and looking like a scared rabbit in the early scenes. The marriage in 1947 and the births of her first two children (surely important events for her) are glossed over too. Still, there will be a lot to cover ... television costume drama at its best then, these early episodes are directed by Stephen Daldry and its written by Peter Morgan (THE QUEEN). Its certainly better than the risible VICTORIA!

Series 2 starting next month continues from 1956 so we should see a lot more of Margaret once she meets Tony Armstrong Jones.

Above: the Royal Family at Windsor Royal Lodge, by Herbert James Gunn, 1950.

An Irish cottage for the weekend ...

Its a weekend with THE QUIET MAN - John Ford's immortal piece of Irish whimsy from 1952. No matter how many times I have seen it (quite a lot since I was a kid) it always comes up fresh. All those great characters to enjoy spending time with - that perfect cottage interior and were Wayne and O'Hara ever more lovable?  (above: the restored cottage for today's tourists)

RIP, continued

Danielle Darrieux (1917-2017), aged 100. Madame Darrieux, one of France's premier stars clocked up 140 credits, including several classics. I first saw her as Richard Burton's mother Olympias in ALEXNDER THE GREAT in 1956, when a kid, and she  did several other international films like THE GREENGAGE SUMMER, FIVE FINGERS, but will be always remembered for Max Ophuls' THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE ... , LA RONDE and more. She was delightful as the mother in Demy's YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT in 1967, and in her later years was one of Ozon's 8 WOMEN. She also replaced Katharine Hepburn in COCO on Broadway in the 1970s. 
She was tarnished with a Nazi smear during the war years, and one of her husbands was the "legendary" playboy Porfirio Rubirosa. 
See reviews at label.

Rosemary Leach (1935-2017) aged 81. Another venerable British actress it was always a pleasure to see, mainly in television roles as in THE  JEWEL IN THE CROWN and THE CHARMER, and as Mrs Honeychurch in A ROOM WITH A VIEW.

Walter Lassally (1926-2017) aged 90. Acclaimed cinematographer (I attended a lecture he gave at the BFI in the 70s), who was in at the birth of the English New Wave with his luminous work on A TASTE OF HONEY and THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER and TOM JONES. ZORBA THE GREEK in 1964 cemented his reputation and he also shot favourites like THE DAY THE FISH CAME OUT and SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE. He also shot several Merchan-Ivory films,including HEAT AND DUST and THE BOSTONIANS. He shot several filmsnin Greece and had moved there.

Fats Domino (928-2017), aged 89. Fats was one of the first rock'n'rollers I saw as a kid, probably in THE GIRL CANT HELP IT or the few other movies in appeared it. we preferred him to the somehow more sleazy Chuck Berry. Fats and Buddy Holly and of course Elvis were our new gods then in those great '55 and '56 years. One only has to hear "blueberry Hill" or "Ain't that a shame" to bring it all back - his jovial brand of New Orleans and Louisiana boogie woogie and rhythm and blues remain timeless and was hugely influential.

Gloria Grahame

Gloria Graham (1923-1981) is being celebrated by a two-part season at London's BFI. 

The season will tie in with the release of FILM STARS DON'T DIE IN LIVERPOOL (Paul McGuigan, 2017), about the passionate relationship between British actor Peter Turner and the Academy Award-Winning actress, starring Annette Bening and Jamie Bell. (Bening should be ideal here - I read the book some time ago, so looking forward to seeing it).

As the perceptive notes by programmer Jo Botting, say:

Although Grahame never reached the heights of major stardom, she excelled at playing complex, damaged women. Her innate ability to tap into the psyche of troubled characters imbued them with an emotional depth that hinted at a troubled past, and a doomed future. Crossfire (Edward Dmytryk, 1947) offered Grahame one of her earliest substantial roles; her portrayal of a dance-hall girl who witnesses a murder earned her an Oscar®-nomination and set the mould for her screen persona. Nicholas Ray’s beguiling blend of murder mystery and love story In a Lonely Place (1950) is one of the finest American movies of the early 50s, which sees a Hollywood scriptwriter (played by Humphrey Bogart) become the prime suspect in the murder of a young woman, that is, until his neighbour played by Grahame provides him with a false alibi. As the pair embark on a romance, his volatile temper makes her wonder whether he might have been guilty. In a Lonely Place is rereleased by Park Circus on Friday 24 November, and plays on extended run; also re-released on the same day is The Big Heat (1953), Fritz Lang’s stark thriller about a cop fighting city-wide corruption. Lang’s film is pacy, unsentimental and to the point in exploring the thin line between the law and rough justice. The robust direction, terse script and unfussy performances ensure the movie feels strangely modern. Grahame read Macbeth in preparation for the role of Irene Neves in Sudden Fear (David Miller, 1952) – looking to Lady Macbeth to locate the emotional drive to manipulate a man to murder, as she does with actor-cum-fraudster Lester Blaine. Joan Crawford is at the film’s core and plays the melodramatic angle to perfection, but Grahame is compelling as the driving force behind the murderous plot. 

Alongside the noir titles, part one of the season in November will also include Vincente Minnelli’s classic Hollywood take on the movie business The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), which tells the tale of a ruthless producer and the effect his dealings have on his friends and colleagues. Grahame received the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for the role despite being on screen for only nine minutes.

Part two of the season in December further explores Grahame’s femme fatale finesse, but also showcases some of her lighter roles including Vincente’s Minnelli’s lush melodrama The Cobweb (1955) in which she plays the neglected wife of a doctor, frustrated by his dedication to his work and stifled by the small-town mentality of those around her.  Although she was not a natural singer (her singing was dubbed in Naked Alibi) Grahame’s naïve, endearing vocal style in the classic Rogers and Hammerstein musical western Oklahoma! (Fred Zinnemann, 1955) brings genuine charm to her portrayal of the flirtatious The selection of films screening in the season illustrates Gloria Grahame’s great acting talent and reveals a scintillating screen presence and effortless glamour. Her scandalous and turbulent private life has intensified her legendary status, but this shouldn’t distract viewers from her most important legacy: her uniquely compelling performances.

"100 thrillers to see before you die"

Here's a doozy for lovers of lists and thrillers. The British Film Institute has come up with 100 listed alphabetically. See them all at the link:

 http://www.bfi.org.uk/thriller/100-thrillers-see-before-you-die?

But what really is a thriller? Is CHINATOWN a thriller or a deep romantic drama with thrills added? 

I am happy with 90% of this list, most of the obvious choices are here - from Chabrol's LE BOUCHER (right) to THE BIG HEAT (below), and pleased to see Moll's HARRY, HE'S HERE TO HELP included, but would have to fit in :

• OBSESSION - DePalma, 1976
• THE PARALLAX VIEW - Pakula, 1974
• LE SAMOURAI - Melville, 1967
• CHAIR DE POULE - Duvivier, 1963
• COMA - Crichton, 1978
• THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR - Pollock, 1975
• LES MAUDITS - Clement, 1948
• THE BIG COMBO - Lewis, 1955.

Next: Gloria Graham ...

Marilyn by Milton

She really was the most photographed woman ever, and this stunning new tome THE ESSENTIAL MARILYN MONROE with 280 full page photographs covers only 1953 to early 1957.

There have been other great Monroe picture books, but nothing tops this. Milton H. Greene was MM's friend, confidant and business partner - they produced two films; BUS STOP and THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL as he helped her break out of her 20th Century Fox contract, and did at least 50 photograph sessions with her.

A lot, in fact most, of these are new to me - only a few have been published before  - like the iconic "ballerina" shot which even my teenage niece had on her bedroom wall - mainly in Norman Mailer's 1973 biography which brought all the main photographs together, including Greene's stunning "black session" shots never published during her lifetime. Greene was one of the ace photographers of the era and his son Joshua has curated this massive tome, and its a reasonable price too. The restored images just don't look 60 years old.

It shows Greene as up there with the other key Monroe photographers like Eve Arnold, George Barris, Bert Stern, Jack Cardiff, Lawrence Schiller (the 1962 pool pictures), Sam Shaw, Cecil Beaton etc, each capturing a different Marilyn. 
By 1957 Marilyn had moved on to marrying Arthur Miller and the Greene pictures were shelved. 

Massively recommended. Just don't drop it on your foot, like I did yesterday! 

Milton H. Greene (1922-1985), famous for his fashion photography and celebrity portraits from the golden age of Hollywood, met Marilyn Monroe on a photo shoot for Look magazine in 1953. The pair developed an instant rapport, quickly becoming close friends and ultimately business partners. In 1954, after helping her get out of her studio contract with 20th Century Fox, they created Marilyn Monroe Productions, Inc. Milton and Marilyn were much more then business partners, Marilyn became a part of the Greene family. By the time their relationship had ended in 1957, the pair had produced two feature films, in addition to more than 5,000 photographs of the iconic beauty. There was magic in Milton and Marilyn's working relationship. The trust and confidence they had in each other's capabilities was on full display in each photo.

Greene passed in 1985, thinking his life's work was succumbing to the ravages of time. His eldest son, Joshua, began a journey to meticulously restore his father's legacy. A photographer himself, Joshua spent years researching ways to restore his father's photographs as well as cataloging and promoting Milton's vast body of work all over the world. As a result, Joshua established "The Archives," a company committed to the restoration and preservation of photography. After spending nearly two decades restoring his father's archive, Joshua Greene and his company are widely regarded as one of the leaders in photographic restoration and have been at the forefront of the digital imaging and large-format printing revolution.

Now Joshua Greene, in conjunction with Iconic Images, presents The Essential Marilyn Monroe: Milton H. Greene, 50 Sessions. With 280 photographs, including many never-before published and unseen images, newly scanned and restored classics, as well as images that have appeared only once in publication, Greene's Marilyn Monroe archive can finally be viewed as it was originally intended when these pictures were first produced more than 60 years ago. These classic sessions - 50 in all - cover Monroe at the height of her astonishing beauty and meteoric fame. From film-sets to the bedroom, at home and at play, Joshua has curated a lasting tribute to the work of a great photographer and his greatest muse.

Poignant and powerful, joyful and stunning - these breathtaking images of an icon stand above all the rest. The Essential Marilyn Monroe: Milton H. Greene, 50 Sessions is sure to be a book that will become the platinum standard in photography monographs.

Strictly 2017

Another year, another BBC dance  marathon for  winter weekends: STRICTLY COME DANCING. Of course  after 15 years with 15 contestants each year the pool of 'celeberities' diminishes, as, like last year, one wonders who most of these celebs are - but again one is pleasantly surprised as they take to the floor for some terrific dance entertainment. (I really only knew 5 of this current  crop.) Already, in the third week, the top half dozen are rising to the top. Here are some of the best so far .... (see Dance label for previous years)

Its the professional dancers who fascinate me, coming up with these routines each week - Janette and Katya are fearless (well she took on Ed Balls last year), Oti is a delight, and is there anything camper than Aljaz ....

RIP, continued

Suzan Farmer (1942-2017) aged 75. During my absence some big hitters have departed the  scene,  who have been praised enough (Sir Bruce Forsyth, Jerry Lewis - I would have nothing good to say about him), so we focus on those lesser mortals who get overlooked.

Suzan was one of those 60s girls who carved a niche on television and mainly Hammer films and who worked until 1980. A nice pleasant blonde - not one of the swinging IT girls (though she did marry Ian McShane), I particularly liked her in DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS in 1966 where she and Barbara Shelley make the mistake of staying overnight at that odd castle ... other roles include RASPUTIN THE MAD MONK, 633 SQUADRON, DANGER MAN, THE SAINT, and more.

More than a Hammer Scream Queen then, she was part of that bevy of attractive 60s actressses it was a pleasure to see, like Isobel Black, Suzanne Neve, Mary Peach, Anne Bell, Ann Lynn, Celia Bannerman and the ubiquitious Gwen Watford, Vivian Pickles and imperious Margaret Courtenay.

Sabrina (1936-2016) aged 80. Too young to  Srememberabrina? (me too)  - ask your dad. The glamour model was a 1950s British TV fixture, in those Arthur Askey comedy shows where she had nothing to do much apart from showing off those stupendous 41" bosoms. A less talented Belinda Lee or Shirley Eaton, Sabrina kept in the public eye, moved to America and married a doctor in Hollywood and rather enjoyed the high life- quite good for Norma Sykes from Stockport. She died last November but her obituary has just been published. 

Follies concert, 1985

A group of showgirls from the Weismann Follies in the 1940s reunite in the 1970s. Originally produced in 1971 where it was a critical success but not a financial one, Stephen Sondheim's musical may well be his masterpiece. In 1985, a staged concert of his musical directed by Herbert Ross has taken on near legendary proportions - purely for that cast.

Lee Remick and Barbara Cook are the two leads  and both are sensational. Lee, sleek and gorgeous, does a marvellous "Could I leave You", and that delicious "The Story of Lucy and Jessie", while Cook, who died last week but at her peak here, does that amazing "Losing My Mind".

Add in Carol Burnett, and a rather irritating Elaine Stritch, who rather murders "Broadway Baby", plus veterans like Betty Comden and Adolph Green.

The first half is rather bitty but its interesting seeing the players rehearse and mingle, and then do the actual Concert. It took 4 days in all for a cast recording. 

I saw FOLLIES last a decade or more ago, it will be great seeing the new National Theatre production next month.  It is being broadcast live to cinemas on November 16.  

Odd man out?

Thanks once again to Colin for finding this rarity: Alain, Marianne and a rather put-out Mick Jagger, for once not the centre of attention  - presumably to launch GIRL ON A MOTORCYCLE in 1968 - if only the film had been better .....

Summer re-views: Payroll - 1961

PAYROLL. A tough, tense thriller which I had enjoyed as a young teen in 1961, PAYROLL is a real treat now. Sidney Hayers film shows the exciting robbery and its aftermath as thieves fall out.

Ever since THE ASPHALT JUNGLE and RIFIFI this is the standard gangster robbery drama and it works again here. Nicely set around Newcastle, Johnny Mellor’s band of ruthless criminals plot and carry out a payroll robbery, with the help of crooked company employee Pearson (William Lucas) whose dissatisfied French wife Francoise Prevost soon realises what he is up to. She and Mellor (Michael Craig) are soon plotting to escape together, but had not reckoned on the grieving wife (Billie Whitelaw, excellent as ever) of the van driver who got killed in the robbery. She begins to track them down herself …. 

With Tom Bell and Kenneth Griffith as other gang members who soon fall out over the money and come to sticky ends. As the police close in, the gang begins to fall apart, with each desperately seeking a way out, and in their panic no one realises there is one adversary they have all overlooked. Pearson’s wife thinks she has the money, but is in for a surprise …. Mellor escapes to his boat but nemesis in the shape of Whitelaw waits for him.

Like 1960's THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN where Jack Hawkins' gang of gentlemen thieves also fall foul of a robbery gone wrong, PAYROLL is now a delicious time capsule of that long vanished British crime caper. Craig and Whitelaw are favourites of ours here and both excel in different roles for them.

Start the revolution without me - 1970

Here's a forgotten, over-looked treat for a dull afternoon - I saw it in 1970 but it seems we all forgot about it. 

START THE REVOLUTION WITHOUT ME is a mostly hilarious farce sending up the French Revolution, as directed by Bud Yorkin, starring Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland (before their 70s peaks) as the mixed up twins - one rather dim (thats Gene) and the other terribly snooty. 

A great cast of farceurs are lined up: Hugh Griffith as Louis XVI, Jack McGowran, Murray Melvin, Victor Spinetti (as Count D'Escargot), Helen Fraser, Rosalind Knight, and best of all Billie Whitelaw as Marie Antoinette! AND Orson Welles narrates. Its  all a weird mix of Monty Python, A Tale of Two Cities etc. 

RIP, continued ....

Barbara Cook (1927-2017),  aged 89.  Barbara was one of the legendary Broadway divas and remained much-loved to the end. She starred in several musicals (starting with Bernstein's CANDIDE and as Marian the librarian in the original THE MUSIC MAN ("Till there was you"), and later re-invented herself as a top solo artist, after weight and alcohol problems, filling out Carnegie Hall, and also did several appearances in London. Sondheim insisted on her for that 1986 Concert version of FOLLIES, where in an all-star cast (Lee Remick, Elaine Stritch, Carol Burnett) her versions of "Losing My Mind" and "In Buddy's Eyes" are standouts. Thank goodness its on dvd. I must now check out her available recordings. 

Elsa Martinelli (1935-2017), aged 82. Italian actress, Eurobabe and model. Elsa was one of our Italian favourites, the slim fashion model stood out from the usual statuesque beauties. She was a top model by the mid-fifties and was spotted for the Kirk Douglas western THE INDIAN FIGHTER, where she certainly looked the part. She alternated between American and Italian films (such as my favorite, LA NOTTE BRAVA in 1959), and Vadim's dreamy vampire film BLOOD AND ROSES. Her best known role is probably that of Dallas in Howard Hawks' 1962 African saga HATARI! where she has that delightful sequence with the baby elephants "Baby Elephant Walk" as scored by Henry Mancini. She also squared up nicely to John Wayne. There was also a little seen Charlton Heston comedy, and we like her in the swinging London spy saga MAROC 7 in 1967, and slinky euro-thrillers like THE 10TH VICTIM. She was also in Welles' THE TRIAL and his bored companion in THE VIPs. Also in FOUR GIRLS IN TOWN in 1957, MANUELA, RAMPAGE and more.  

Robert Hardy (1925-2017), aged 91. The splendid Robert Hardy was another long-standing veteran of British theatre, film and television. I seem to have been watching him almost all my life .... his most famous role must be of the country vet in James Herriot's ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL, a long runner in the 1970s and 80s. He also played Churchill several times. Other tv roles included THE TROUBLESHOOTERS, Sir Tobt Belch and other assorted Shakespeare roles, and he did CORIOLANUS with Olivier in 1959. I remember him as the Earl of Leicester in a 1967 BBc series KENILWORTH, and of course he was also in the HARRY POTTER films,

My employers engaged him to host a prestigious evening event at the Tower of London in the 90s, and he was a great success, despite it raining.

Sam Shepherd (1943-2017) aged 73. The acclaimed Pulitzer-prizewinning American playwright and actor, who captured aspects of American life perfectly with plays like FOOL FOR LOVE. His film career began with DAYS OF HEAVEN, and THE RIGHT STUFF and more routine fare with BABY BOOM, STEEL MAGNOLIAS etc. 

Hywel Bennett (1944-2017), aged 73. Popular British actor of his era, who later found success on television as SHELLEY and of in EASTENDERS etc. His film career though in the late 60s and early 70s was typical of the tatty fare the British cinema descended into then: that dreadful film of LOOT (review at Orton label) , PERCY, PERCY'S PROGRESS (about penis transplants), THE BUTTERCUP CHAIN, etc THE VIRGIN SOLDIERS was fitfully amusing in 1969. I never liked THE FAMILY WAY with that grotesque role of the father as played by John Mills, and his other two with Hayley Mills, TWISTED NERVE and ENDLESS NIGHT were rather unpleasant too. At least he progressed to Dennis Potter plays like PENNIES FROM HEAVEN.

Ty Hardin (1930-2017), aged 87. Ty was quite a busy guy what with 8 wives and 10 children, and fitting in playing BRONCO on tv and assorted movie roles in tough guy movies like BATTLE OF THE BULGE, CUSTER OF THE WEST, MERRILL'S MARAUDERS etc, but we have fond memories of him here in THE CHAPMAN REPORT in 1962 in those spray-on shorts, getting Glynis Johns all in a tizzy, or in BERSERK!, a circus cheapo made in England in 1967 where he is Joan Crawford's love interest.

Glen Campbell (1936-2017), aged 81. Another titan of American popular country music, The Rhinestone Cowboy's work with Jim Webb will endure, also in movies since TRUE GRIT in 1969

5th August 1962

I suppose we should mention that Marilyn Monroe departed on this date 55 years ago, in 1962. I remember it well, being 16 at the time, and we had seen her BUS STOP that Saturday night, 4th August, at our small town cinema in Ireland - while events must have been unfolding in Los Angeles.

Sunday the 5th I was sitting in a deck chair in the garden with the radio on, when a newsflash came on air ... it was hard to believe at the time, and course there were no rolling news channels or internet then, so we had to wait for the papers next day.

The first of the Marilyn features began unrolling that year - I loved (and still have) this late 1962 magazine, the swish upmarket London magazine TOWN, the first to feature those beach pictures by George Barris and a nice appreciation by David Robinson. This issue fetches quite a price now, as per my previous posts on it - MM labels.  

As with James Dean, one wonders what might have been - both Doris Day and Jeanne Moreau turned down Mrs Robinson in THE GRADUATE - could Marilyn have done it? or those 70s Ellen Burstyn roles in THE LAST PICTURE SHOW or ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE ... she might have been ideal if she could face getting older and being in her forties. THE MISFITS shows she was moving into black and white dramas, away from the fluff Fox was still casting her in ...

Next: Marlon in ONE-EYED JACKS - brilliant or bizarre?

Gina & her photos ...

My friend Martin came up with one of his cheap typical cracks on reading my piece on Gina at 90 - he had to wonder what she looked like now.

Well surprise surprise Martin, she looks fine. Here she is with some of her photos, including that one with Marilyn back in 1955. MM has been gone 55 years today, but I think Gina is going on for a while yet ....

I hope Martin's picture will be fit to be published when he hits 90 - just saying!

Imelda rehearsing Follies

She never stops!

Imelda played Mama Rose in GYPSY all last year ("Sing out, Louise"), and played Martha in the recent London revival of WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? ("I do not bray") until recently - now she leads the cast of the new FOLLIES at the National Theatre this autumn - thankfully I have got my tickets for September ..... she's just a Broadway Baby. 
I dare say having Carson The Butler at home to run things helps.

Jeanne Moreau, RIP

We are sad indeed to read that French icon Jeanne Moreau has passed away at age 89. Moreau (1928-2017) also sang, directed and wrote screenplays and worked with an impressive roster of directors from her early days through the New Wave to the glory days of the 1960s: Malle, Truffaut, Demy, Antonioni, Losey, Bunuel, Duras, several collaberations with Orson Welles (THE TRIAL, CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT, THE IMMORTAL STORY), and Tony Richardson, and in popular films like THE YELLOW ROLLS ROYCE, THE TRAIN, etc,

 We particularly like her in Demy's BAY OF ANGELS in 1963, and Malle's LIFT TO THE SCAFFOLD in  '58 and VIVA MARIA in 1965 with Bardot,
 theres also of course LA NOTTE, LES AMANTS, EVE, THE VICTORS, Ozon's TIME TO LEAVE, and many more in a long,illustrious career., as well as JULES ET JIM and THE BRIDE WOREO BLACK with Truffaut, and LES LIAISONS DANGEROUSES with  Vadim in 1959. Reviews at Moreau label.
 She was also a rather glum MATA HARI in '64. 

Often referred to as "the  French Bette Davis" she could  look beautiful or ravaged at will, her mother was English but after her parents separated she could have grown up in Hove rather than Paris ...

More on these at label, including Fassbinder's QUERELLE - Jeanne was nothing if not adventerous! - not to mention LES VALSEUSES, while Marguerite Duras's 1972 NATHALIE GRANGER is mesmerising. We will remember her long walks around Paris and Milan in those Malle and Antonioni classics, and saw her 1976 director debut LUMIERE at the Film Festival that year, its a surprising charmer.

actors and actresses again ...

Perhaps only another list obsessive would get my compulsion for compiling lists, particularly of favourite actresses and stars - the kind of thing one does in the middle of the night when trying t get back to sleep ... here are my top 30 actresses, and maybe 100 in all, and a lesser amount of actors, but I am not listing everybody - there are some major omissions!

Sophia Loren / Monica Vitti / Lee Remick / Romy Schneider / Marilyn Monroe / Katharine Hepburn / Bette Davis / Judy Garland / Garbo / Dietrich / Ingrid Bergman / Susan Hayward / Audrey Hepburn / Anouk Aimee / Julie Christie / Faye Dunaway / Deborah Kerr / Jean Simmons / Elizabeth Taylor / Ava Gardner / Janet Leigh / Kim Novak / Anne Baxter / Ruth Roman / Joan Fontaine / Olivia De Havilland / Catharine Deneuve / Francoise Dorleac / Kay Kendall / Maggie Smith.

I could do A LOT more …

Barbara Stanwyck / Julie Harris / Wendy Hiller / Cate Blanchett / Tilda Swinton / Sarah Miles / Lauren Bacall / Ida Lupino / Mary Astor / Kathleen Turner / Genevieve Bujold /  Jeanne Moreau / Simone Signoret / Maureen O’Hara / Lilli Palmer / Joan Greenwood / Jane Fonda / Vivien Leigh / Uma Thurman / Julianne Moore / Annette Bening / Capucine / Cyd Charisse / Linda Darnell / Gene Tierney / Loretta Young / Irene Dunne / Margaret Sullavan / Gladys Cooper / Celia Johnson / Edith Evans / Flora Robson / Peggy Ashcroft / Angela Lansbury / Natalie Wood / Doris Day / Debbie Reynolds / Ingrid Thulin / Stephane Audran / Marie Laforet / Claudia Cardinale / Silvana Mangano / Gina Lollobrigida / Brigitte Bardot / Isabelle Adjani / Elsa Martinelli / Lana Turner / Vera Miles / Jan Sterling / Jo Van Fleet / Patricia Neal / Anne Bancroft / Dorothy Malone / Shirley Knight / Kay Walsh / Pamela Brown / Glynis Johns / Susannah York / Billie Whitelaw / Vanessa Redgrave /  Lynn Redgrave / Claire Bloom / Ann Todd / Rosamund John / Dinah Sheridan / Virginia McKenna / Anna Magnani  / Fanny Ardant / Isabelle Huppert / Delphine Seyrig / Alida Valli / Gena Rowlands / Genevieve Page / Geraldine Page / Jessica Tandy / Shelley Winters / Gloria Graham / Eleanor Parker / Ann-Margret / Glenda Jackson / Jean Seberg / Thelma Ritter/ Eve Arden / Agnes Moorehead / Belinda Lee / Rosanna Podesta / Paula Prentiss / Melina Mercouri / Suzanne Pleshette / Tippi Hedren / Eva Marie Saint / Lauren Hutton / Margaret Leighton / Charlotte Rampling / Jane Asher / Jane Merrow / Eileen Atkins / Vivien Pickles / Ruth Gordon.

Better stop there ….

Omissions? Where are Meryl, Glenn, Shirley, Joan, Joanne, Judi, Nicole, Julia, Diane, Kate, Barbra, Liza, Julie etc? Don't look for Leo, Al, Jack, Dustin, Daniel, or any of the current popular names either ...

Actors:

My Top 10:  Dirk Bogarde / James Mason / James Stewart / Cary Grant / Gary Cooper / Humphrey Bogart / Montgomery Clift / Robert De Niro / Ralph Fiennes / Peter Finch.

The heavyweights:  Olivier / Alec Guinness / Marlon Brando / Rod Steiger / Burt Lancaster / Gregory Peck / Robert Mitchum / Heath Ledger / Mark Ruffalo / Charlton Heston / Robert Redford / Warren Beatty / Donald Sutherland / George Segal / Farley Granger / Robert Walker / James Garner / Rod Taylor / Colin Farrell / Lee Marvin / Charles Laughton / George Sanders / Claude Rains / Clifton Webb / Vincent Price / Charles Bickford / Jack Carson / and Jack Lemmon for SOME LIKE IT HOT.

The Europeans:  Alain Delon / Jean-Paul Belmondo / Jean-Claude Brialy / Jean-Louis Trintignant / Maurice Ronet / Jacques Perrin / Robert Hossein / Buno Ganz / Raf Vallone / Renato Salvatori / Marcello Mastroianni / Gerard Blain / Gerard Philipe / Jean Gabin / Max Von Sydow.

The British:  Albert Finney / Peter O’Toole / Alan Bates / Tom Courtenay / Ralph Richardson / John Gielgud / Trevor Howard / Harry Andrews / David Hemmings / David Warner / John Hurt / Michael York / Terence Stamp / Michael Craig / Stanley Baker / Stephen Boyd / Jack Hawkins / Nigel Patrick / James Fox / Peter McEnery / Tom Hardy / Tom Hollander / Alfred Molina / Ben Whishaw / Andrew Scott / Alan Cumming / Stewart Granger.

The lookers:  Jeffrey Hunter / Tab Hunter / Guy Madison / Fabian / Jean Sorel / Henri Vidal / Richard (AMERICAN GIGOLO) Gere /  Keanu (SPEED) Reeves / John Gavin / Channing Tatum.

Summer chillout

Its that time when we plan our summer chillout,  with chilled drinks and snacks on the balcony (we are ten floors up in a new apartment block, with some great views).  
Despite the massive popularity of Drake, Ed Sheeran etc, I find myself reaching back to my chillout cds from a decade ago, particularly this A Man Called Adam one recorded at Space, Ibiza - this disk has it all, super beats and fab tracks. I never tire of it. Also this magazine freebie mixed by Adam and Groove Armada. 

In fact anything by A Man Called Adam and Groove Armada would be fine, and for deeper funk, those Global Underground compilations by Danny Tenaglia, and the Murk crew (Funky Green Dogs) from Miami. Bliss guaranteed. Had some great club nights at Heaven with them too.

Nineties Nu-Soul Queens ...

For the weekend: a look back at those new '90s music divas  with their funky grooves that got us going then - line them up:
Des'Ree, Macy Gray (we wore out her first album), Erykah Badu, Angie Stone, Adeva (I met her up close at Crash club on millennium night and she really is that fierce), Ultra Nate, Rosie Gaines, Donna Allen and Joyce Sims (love that "All'N'All" megamix), and Regina Belle ("You got the love") from the late 80s ....  they still sound terrific now. 

Gina - 90 !

We quite like Gina Lollobrigida here and she turned 90 yesterday! (Sophia is a mere 82, Jeanne Moreau almost 90 as well ...). We grew up on Gina movies like HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (she was a dazzling Esmerelda for us young kids), SOLOMON AND SHEBA, COME SEPTEMBER, WOMAN OF STRAW, NEVER SO FEW, TRAPEZE, etc. and she did some interesting choices in the 60s and 70s too (like Skolimowski's KING QUEEN KNAVE in '72), as she got more interested in sculpting and photography. 
We like this photo with her and Marilyn Monroe - presumably taken on the set of THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH in 1955. Gina goes on and on, as per other posts on her.