POOR LITTLE RICH GIRL By Boudoir Queen

STONED the life of Brian Jones re-post

I've blogged about this favorite movie of mine awhile back but thought I'd give it another mention. I'm obsessed with the decore' and styling in this movie. I want my house like this minus the fur. Plus I love the Stones. Maybe someday I'll tell my Mick Story.

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THE PINK PANTHER

FLORADORA GIRL MARION DAVIES

PERFORMANCE and Anita Pallenberg

So, where were you in 67? I was living all over the place, sometimes in hotels with Keith, but I was hardly in London, because I was working a lot. That was my big year as an actress. I was making Barbarella in Rome, and then my German film (Volker Schlondorff’s A Degree Of Murder, for which Pallenberg’s former partner Brian Jones contributed the score).

Where did you shop for clothes? We’d go to places like Emmerton & Lambert in the Antiques Market, Hung On You and Granny’s. I wasn’t into Mary Quant; she was too middle of the road, and that mod, op-art thing wasn’t really for me. And Biba was too big. I wasn’t so into that very English look. In Italy we’d always had salsa, the mamba, all those Latin dances which gave me a different feel for things, so my style was fedoras, belts, little 20s jackets, lace that I’d collected. If I wore mini-skirts I’d have them made by Granny’s. We’d try on clothes and have a joint in the back. Granny’s was very small, just two rooms, so everyone knew each other.

You didn’t mind wearing fur? I had a ratty fake mink coat I wore to a gig by Hendrix somewhere on Chelsea Embankment. I went with (art dealer and member of the Stones inner circle) Robert Fraser. I couldn’t tell Keith; he wouldn’t have liked it at all. As we left Robert, gentleman that he was, picked up my coat from the cloakroom. I wore it for a couple of days and thought it was a bit tight before I realised he’d picked up the wrong coat, a real mink!

What was it like going back to college (Pallenberg studied textiles at Central Saint Martins in the early 90s)? I loved it. One of my favourite fabrics is devore (printed velvet and satin) and so I did my collection for my finals in that. It’s really hard work because the process is so intense but I loved it. There’s a Michael Cooper photograph of Marianne (Faithfull) in a devore dress, which she probably nicked from me! We used to nick from each other all the time because they were all one-off pieces.

So what didn’t you like about the scene? I remember walking down the Kings Road one time and everybody seemed to be on acid. There were kids running around with no shoes on their feet. I’m Italian; the last thing you’d do is go barefoot. Shoes are a status symbol, the first thing you get. Everybody in Rome walks around discussing shoes. I had my boots made for me back home, so I thought it was very weird.

So you weren’t really a hippie then? No. Definitely not. Even though I was away in America for much of the 70s, when punk came along and Vivienne (Westwood) and Malcolm (McLaren) were making those wonderful rubber clothes I felt much more in tune with them.

Tallulah and the Gazing Ball- I think she's seen a glimpse of her future

I think Tallulah looked into the gazing ball and found a little blue Aby kitten and she's pissed!! The lady from Houston contacted me this weekend and is bringing the kitten next Sunday for me to see. I get this strange feeling that the cats know. I've been thinking about names. I love the name Theodora. Mark isn't crazy about it. I was also liking the name Marchesa but I don't want it to sound like the clothing line. Any ideas?

FYI- the photo on the buffet is of my grandmother Alverna Bloodworth was her maiden name. I always thought that was an interesting last name.

OH HEATHCLIFF

I have a crying fit every time I watch this movie. Wuthering Heights is one of the greats!

Georgy Girl

Another BQ fav- Auntie Mame

I think I know every line in this movie! This character reminds me of a dear friend Barbara Groegor. She had the same taste and personality. That being said you will understand why she is greatly missed!

THE WOMEN

One of my all time favorite movies EVAH!

Up in Xanadu Where Diamonds fell like Rain

Several years ago I had a mad obsession with Marion Davies and Hearst Castle in San Simeon. I would go every few weeks and make the tour- Watching Citizen Kane the other day reminded me of the rooms in this gorgeous place. Boudoir Dolls can also be found in the movie. If you come to Boudoir Queen studio's in Austin we have displayed prominatley a huge photo from MGM of Marion Davies in our foyer. If you have time somewhere in my blog archives I have several blogs and books on the subject. For now-enjoy

THE HUNGER

With the recent Vampire craze THE HUNGER is a must see!

Inglourious Basterds

Dylan,Mark and I went to see this moving over the weekend. I loved the red dress scene. It was especially cool that our best friend and best man co-wrote the David Bowie song "putting out the fire with gasoline" That song was originally from the movie Cat People. The wardrobe design was great!

A most Beautiful Ending- THE LIBERTINE

I have this movie and I love to watch the ending . I actually have it memorized I've seen it so many times. It's quite a naughty movie . The true story about John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester. Not for the shy.

STONED the life of Brian Jones

I've blogged about this favorite movie of mine awhile back but thought I'd give it another mention. I'm obsessed with the decore' and styling in this movie. I want my house like this minus the fur. Plus I love the Stones. Maybe someday I'll tell my Mick Story.

"Nothing exceeds like excess"

Fasten your seat belts it's going to be a bumpy night!!

This Saturday Night!!

I can't wait for the new Grey Garden's premiere on HBO!!

Deliciously Decadent Flicks

The Brain That wouldn't Die....I watched this the other night. I know this is a horror classic but I haven't watched it since I was a child. It has some pretty seedy decadent scenes. I'm not usually into these types of movies but the pin-up stuff was faboo! I have to admit I laughed at the monster man at the end. I remember thinking it was so scary....not!

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant

More decadent movies we love........

1930s Costume Spectacle

The master showman Cecil B. DeMille's Cleopatra (1934) is a modernistic 1930s costume spectacle that reshapes the Cleopatra story - the kind of film for which DeMille was best known. Unarguably, the Paramount Studios film is campy, grandiose and unreal and ludicrous historically - filled with DeMille's usual mixture of sin and sex. Sexually-suggestive costumes adorn most of the female characters. The film's screenplay by Waldemar Young and Vincent Lawrence was based on an adaptation of historical material by Barlett Cormack. The 20th Century Fox extravagant, four-hour version of the same film, Cleopatra (1963) starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, nearly bankrupted the studio. Claudette Colbert had previously starred in DeMille's historical epic The Sign of the Cross (1932) as the depraved emperor Nero's lascivious, vixenish wife Poppaea. It was unusual that in the same year that Colbert starred as the legendary Egyptian love goddess, she also starred as the female lead in Frank Capra's romantic comedy It Happened One Night (1934) and in John Stahl's soapy drama Imitation of Life (1934). DeMille's film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Sound Recording, Best Assistant Director, and Best Film Editing (a new category) - it won a single Oscar for Best Cinematography (Victor Milner).

The legendary Egyptian Queen of the Nile princess/seductress, Cleopatra (Claudette Colbert) becomes the Queen and ruler of Egypt by her manipulative, wily, and seductive ways with the Roman men in her life: Julius Caesar (Warren William) (who is assassinated) and Marc Antony (Henry Wilcoxon).

This kitsch film is well-known for three scenes:

• In its infamous barge scene on a set with silky draperies, falling rose petals, and dancing girls, Cleopatra is reclining on a massive dias aboard her mammoth floating bordello on the sea. After Julius Caesar's death, vengeance-seeking Marc Antony confronts the temptress queen to meet him in the public square - she defuses the situation by admitting that she had hoped to seduce him with an exotic display of decadence by her handmaidens aboard her imperial barge:

Cleopatra: Well, I guess I must confess everything. I must tell you why I wanted to meet you here instead of the square...Do you see the way I'm dressed? Antony: What about it? Cleopatra: I'm dressed to lure you, Antony...You see all this? It was all a plan - and you know why? Because it was my only chance. Don't you think I know you're my enemy - you and your hungry Rome? But I suppose it was the most stupid thing I could have done. What do you know - I had show after show with which to dazzle you. But Antony is not a man to be dazzled if he doesn't please, no. What do you care for this, for instance? Watch! (She claps and a gong sounds) Near-naked dancing-girls lead a procession that brings a garlanded ox into view. Alcohol is offered to the host. The dancer who rides the ox strokes its sides. The scene cuts repeatedly to the visage of Antony as his entranced face softens. The girls writhe and spin during the display:

Cleopatra: I wish you could see your face. I'd have more chance with a stone wall. Will you forgive me for being such a fool? I should have known that Antony is not Antony for nothing. Antony: Well, uh, shall we go now? Cleopatra: (submissively) Yes, we'll go. My wits have failed and I'm in your hands. But what could I do? Now, what would you have done? Pretend you're me and I'm you. She humors him enough so that he laughs at her foolishness, as she admits her intentions to get him drunk:

Cleopatra: That was part of the plan too. I was going to get you so - irresponsible. Antony: You didn't think one goblet would do it, did you? Cleopatra: Yes, wouldn't it? Antony: (He bursts out laughing) Well, that does amuse me! (He drinks from the goblet) Cleopatra: But it's such a large goblet. Antony: Yes, isn't it. (He finishes the entire goblet's contents and pours a second one) A large tray of exotic foods is laid before them for dinner, with skewered reed birds from the Nile, roasted chickens and freshly-caught clams from the sea. The 'clams' that are hauled up in a net are revealed to be more dancing-girls wrapped in seaweed - they sprawl prostrate on the barge's deck, crawl to Antony's feet and offer him jewel-filled seashells:

Antony: Jewels! You are a good fisherman. Cleopatra: The golden streams of Egypt never run dry. (She tosses the jewels to her subjects) (To Antony) Throw them! Leopard-skinned animals/girls in a circus-like show are subdued by a whip-wielding slave master. Music is played on lyres and harps. The cat-women leap through burning hoops of flames. Later on, under a moonlit night as they are serenaded, Cleopatra proposes a union of forces:

Cleopatra: The sound to the stars. They must think we're funny people, scheming to destroy each other as if we had forever to live. They must wonder - why don't Egypt and Rome meet in the public square to plan union instead of conquest? Yes, it's very funny. Antony: I've said things to Caesar I wish I hadn't. There's beauty in the Egyptian Queen besides her face. Do you miss him? Cleopatra: No, he didn't love me. Antony: Is that really the reason? Cleopatra: No, not really. I admire men who don't love women. Antony: What do you mean by that? Cleopatra: Oh, I don't know. Women should be but toys for the great. It becomes them both. Antony: To you for that. (He toasts her) Cleopatra: (reciprocating) And to you for that. After more entertainment and drinks, Cleopatra develops the hiccups, which he eliminates by slapping her on the back. The scheming queen realizes she has him in her clutches and has saved her throne when he leans over her and confesses his affection:

Antony: You're charming. Cleopatra: All right. I'm ready to go now. Antony: Why? Oh, you don't find me charming. Cleopatra: Yes, I do. I could fall in love with you, but I don't intend to. What for? Antony: Do you mean that? Cleopatra: There's no one like you. (They embrace and kiss, reclined on her dias) She signals for her floating barge to move out to sea as she seduces him. Silk curtains are brought out by dancing-girls to cover their love-making. The camera tracks back, revealing dozens more dancing-girls, offering giant shells filled with burning incense. What orgasmic, carnal excess! Garlands are strung from above, as a writhing, slave girl dances in the center and rose petals fall from above. The enormous royal barge is being rowed by long ranks of enslaved oarsmen propelling the two lovers into the darkened sea (toward paradise?) to the suggestive, seductive, cadenced beat and rhythm of the drummer.

• Cleopatra's love for Antony is re-kindled when he assembles the troops to do battle with Octavian, Caesar's nephew and heir. Cleopatra falls dramatically at Antony's feet to pledge herself to him, and he vows to fight with her, disavowing his allegiance to Rome:

Cleopatra: I've seen a god come to life. I'm no longer a queen. I'm a woman. Antony: You choose me, Cleopatra, against the world. Cleopatra: Against the world. Antony: Then we'll meet it. We'll smash it to pieces, put it together again, and call it ours! War!... Cleopatra: So Rome would forgive and take you back. And all they demand is for us to part. Why don't they ask the sun to fall right out of the sky? Antony: Yes, we'll fight them. We'll fight them all, if we have to fight alone. Stock footage from DeMille's own The Ten Commandments (1923) comprises some of the montage's action of attacking chariots, footsoldiers with shields and swords, flames catapulted from one ship to another, and exciting hand-to-hand combat. The elaborately-staged sea battle, especially the Battle of Actium, the greatest sea battle ever up to that time, is fought between Octavian's legions in Rome and Egypt.

• Later, in the film's finale, after Cleopatra has unsuccessfully attempted to have Octavian spare Antony's life in exchange for Egypt's crown, she witnesses Antony's death (he has fallen on his own sword, believing that she has betrayed him): "I am dying Egypt, dying." Realizing that she will be quickly conquered, Cleopatra is attended to by her loyal handmaidens - she is dressed in black with a low-cut decolletage. She requests a basket to be extended to her on the throne: "It holds victory." She removes a real, one-foot long snake/asp and applies it to her breast in one of the most memorable suicidal death scenes in film history. She sits immobile and defeated on her throne as her kingdom is conquered.

Theda Bara as Cleopatra, 1917, a lost film

PRETTY PRETTY

boudoir kaleidoscope

May I Have This Dance?

Yes I'm rockin the Prada shoes. I only wear Boudoir Queen,vintage or my friends designs. The one thing I do splurge on is designer shoes and these are beauties.

ACTION SCENE 2

Shot of Me and my favorite girl Whitney. She is part of the now famous "BOUDOIR SOCIETY"

HOOKED ON TRUEBLOOD

This is the best show on HBO. I'm totally hooked!

Vanity Fair

We made a dress out of a vintage veil with stars just like the one in the photo. We also have the same gloves in pale green for sale at our store. The styling was great in this movie.

Sunset Boulevard

How many of you have noticed the Boudoir Doll's at the foot of Norma's bed?

The Birds

Here are a few more films that I love. The Birds (1963) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette (119 min).

Bodega Bay, California, is the epicenter of an avian revolution, where humans are attacked as an invasive species, in Alfred Hitchcock’s paranoid vision of nature gone berserk. Arguably the last of Hitchcock’s great films, The Birds is somewhat hampered by charisma-challenged leading actors Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor, but redeemed by bird attacks so horrifying they forever alter the way one views seagulls at the beach. Hitchcock and his writers intentionally failed to provide a motivation for the attacks. Perhaps, the birds attack because the audience wants them to.

Hitchcock was expected to top himself after the sensation of Psycho, and finally settled on filming a doom-laden story by Daphne du Maurier. He had previously adapted two of her novels, Jamaica Inn and Rebecca. But, Hitchcock was also inspired by various stories of bird attacks, including a news story of a fog-displaced migration wreaking havoc on the small town of Santa Rosa, CA, where he had filmed Shadow of a Doubt. Hitchcock adored the fact that the enemy consisted of innocent appearing sparrows and other harmless birds, and wanted the film to highlight “menace in the bright sunlight” (Taylor). And, he wanted the story to take unexpected turns, so the audience couldn't anticipate every development.

He collaborated on the script with Evan Hunter, a novelist whose Blackboard Jungle had been made into a successful film. Although their relationship did not end happily, Hunter said, “In truth, for a chance to work with Alfred Hitchcock, I would have agreed to do a screenplay based on the Bronx Telephone Book” (McGilligan). Although the original story concerned a farm family in Cornwall, England, the film was transposed to Bodega Bay, about 60 miles north of San Francisco. Central Bodega Bay was created by means of trick shots in the studio, but Hitchcock had his production team visit the community and document the exteriors and interiors in detail, and even photographed the inhabitants as a guide for costuming.

Hitchcock always prided himself on sticking to the script and storyboards when working, and often insisted the filming itself was anticlimactic to the planning of the film. In part, this was because he was always conscious of not wasting time on the set, so as not to exceed his budget. But, as he began The Birds, he felt some parts of his script weren’t working. His biographers describe him as particularly keyed up while shooting, and because of his anxiety about the film, there were several largely improvised scenes, like the attack on the children’s party. This also resulted in an uncharacteristic amount of extra film left on the cutting room floor.

Anne Bancroft was considered for the lead, but the director wanted to save on salary money to fund his special effects. Tippi Hedren (actress Melanie Griffith’s mother) was discovered in a tv commercial and would be the last actress/muse to inherit the director’s “icy blonde” mantle. At first, Hedren was under the impression he was interested in casting her in his popular tv series, Alfred Hitchcock Presents. She was under personal contract to him, but so were two other actresses he was considering for the lead in The Birds, Joanna Moore and Claire Griswold, who experienced the same hair and wardrobe tests, and the same lingering lunches with the director. He informed Hedren that she would be his lead actress during a dinner at Chasen’s Restaurant, where he gave her a little gold pin with flying birds on it. After the part was hers, he dictated her off-camera look as well as her hair and costume for the film. “That part I found surprising” she told biographer Donald Spoto. “He spent as much money on an outright gift of a personal wardrobe as he did on my year’s salary.” (Paglia). She spends the majority of the film in a pale green Edith Head suit, reminiscent of the sartorial taste of previous Hitchcock heroines. Her delicate beauty belied a feistiness which allowed her to withstand the strenuous and sometimes dangerous filming with real birds.

Australian actor Rod Taylor was a he-man of the day, oddly entangled here in his mother’s apron strings. He may have been a substitute for Cary Grant, but he was not Cary Grant.

The bird effects were hybrids of bird footage (like that filmed at the San Francisco garbage dump) sometimes superimposed several times, real trained birds and a few papier maché ones. The special effects shots are extraordinarily complex. For example, "downtown" Bodega Bay does not exist and was a painting, with a hole left for inserting footage of the gas station fire filmed on the Universal Studios parking lot. The work with live birds resulted in many injuries, since the birds did not enjoy being on the sound stage. The live gulls attacking Hedren in the climactic scene were used for one week, and yielded approximately one minute of footage. Hedren was injured when a gull gashed her lower eyelid, and she became distraught over the grueling process. Less charitable writers have suggested that an actress making her first film would not know that she was being submitted to unusually dangerous conditions. Some of the bird sequences have sustained their effectiveness more than others, as standards for special effects have changed. What has not aged is the psychological terror of which Hitchcock was the master.

There is no music, only Bernard Herrmann’s orchestration of electronically enhanced bird sounds, on an instrument called a Trautonium, creating a cacophony adding to the disquieting effect. On the set, a pounding drummer helped orchestrate the actors’ reaction to a threat yet to be added with special effects. Hitchcock wanted the film to conclude without a title card reading The End. The studio objected strenuously, saying the audience couldn’t possibly understand an ambiguous conclusion, especially lacking the planned final shot of the Golden Gate Bridge entirely blanketed in birds.

This film is one of the many for which, Hitchcock, who never won an Oscar, was lambasted by critics for his career long dedication to trivial genre films. François Truffaut was among the first to display an unlimited admiration for Hitchcock, a director as well known today as when he made his last film 35 years ago. In his review of The Birds, Truffaut bemoaned the praise heaped on films like Bridge on the River Kwai “scenes set inside offices alternating with discussions between old fogies and some action scenes usually filmed by another crew. Rubbish , traps for fools, Oscar machines….what an injustice there is in the generally bad reception. I am so disappointed that no critic admired the basic premise of the film ‘Birds attack people.’”

Note: Hitchcock leaves the pet shop as Tippi enters it near the beginning of the film, walking his own Highland terriers, Stanley and Geoffrey.

ALL ABOUT EVE

In the famous words of Margot Channing Fasten your seat belts it's going to be a bumpy night.

THE WOMEN

So Hollywood is doing a re-make of one of my favorite movies THE WOMEN. Frankly I'm a little concerned. Let's hope it's better than these very average photos.

I'm Not There

I've been meaning to mention this FABULOUS MOVIE movie for awhile now. I can't stop watching it! Being a Dylan fan I loved it. It you are not up on Dylan's bio you might have a hard time getting it . It's a must see with an amazing cast!!

I'm Not There I'm Not There one sheet. Directed by Todd Haynes Produced by Christine Vachon Jeff Rosen Written by Todd Haynes Oren Moverman Starring Christian Bale Cate Blanchett Ben Whishaw Marcus Carl Franklin Charlotte Gainsbourg Richard Gere Heath Ledger Julianne Moore Peter Friedman Music by Bob Dylan Cinematography Edward Lachman Distributed by United States: The Weinstein Company United Kingdom: Paramount Pictures Running time 135 min. Country USA Language English Budget $20 million Official website Allmovie profile IMDb profile I'm Not There is a 2007 biographical film directed by Todd Haynes and inspired by the life of iconic singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It depicts six distinct stages of Dylan's life and public persona portrayed by an ensemble cast of actors: Marcus Carl Franklin, Ben Whishaw, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Richard Gere, and Cate Blanchett, who play characters based on Dylan but with different names.[1] The film tells its story using non-traditional techniques, similar to the poetic narrative style of Dylan's songwriting. It takes its name from the Dylan outtake "I'm Not There", a song never officially released until its appearance on the film's official soundtrack album. Critically acclaimed, I'm Not There made many top ten film lists for 2007, topping the lists for The Village Voice, Entertainment Weekly, Salon and The Boston Globe. Contents [hide] 1 Synopsis 2 Cast 3 Soundtrack 4 Production and exhibition 5 Critical reception 5.1 Top ten lists 6 Awards and nominations 7 DVD release 8 References 9 External links [edit]Synopsis The film intercuts stories featuring different actors playing characters based on the life or the legend of Bob Dylan. Marcus Carl Franklin, a young black actor, plays a version of the 11-year old Dylan, who calls himself "Woody Guthrie" and escapes from a juvenile correction center by hitching a ride on a train, carrying a guitar case labeled "This Machine Kills Fascists" (as did the real Woody Guthrie's guitar). Christian Bale plays Jack Rollins, a version of Dylan as a young folk singer with a political conscience, and who later becomes "Pastor John," a version of Dylan the born again Christian, here singing gospel songs in a small town church. Cate Blanchett plays Jude Quinn, a version of Dylan at the height of his fame in the 1960s, when his original fan base was rejecting him as a sell-out. Ben Whishaw plays a version of Dylan as a young rebel who calls himself after the poet Arthur Rimbaud. Heath Ledger plays a character named Robbie Clark, a fictional Hollywood actor presented as best known for his performance in a film about Jack Rollins (the character played by Bale); he also represents Dylan the divorcé, estranged from his wife Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Richard Gere plays the elderly Dylan as an aging Billy the Kid in a surreal Wild West town, who defeats an even more elderly Pat Garrett (played by Bruce Greenwood). The storylines are shot in different film stocks and styles. The scenes featuring Woody Guthrie, Robbie Clark and Billy the Kid are in color. The scenes involving Jack Rollins/Pastor John are shot on 16mm color stock, and are framed as a documentary with interviews from people who knew him describing his transformation. Jude Quinn's scenes are in black and white, and use surreal imagery based on those in Federico Fellini's 8½ (1962).[2] Arthur Rimbaud's scenes are shot on very grainy black and white stock. [edit]Cast Christian Bale as Jack Rollins and Pastor John, two versions of Dylan Cate Blanchett as Jude Quinn, a version of Dylan Marcus Carl Franklin as "Woody Guthrie", a version of the young Dylan Richard Gere as "Billy the Kid", a version of Dylan Heath Ledger as Robbie Clark, an actor playing Jack Rollins whose life has similarities with Dylan's Ben Whishaw as "Arthur Rimbaud", a version of Dylan Charlotte Gainsbourg as Claire, wife of Robbie Clark, a character based on Dylan's wife Sara Dylan David Cross as Allen Ginsberg, the poet Eugene Brotto as Peter Orlovsky, Ginsberg's lover Bruce Greenwood as Keenan Jones, a fictional reporter who interrogates Jude Quinn, and as Pat Garrett, nemesis of Billy the Kid Julianne Moore as Alice Fabian, a version of Joan Baez) Michelle Williams as Coco Rivington, a version of Edie Sedgwick Kim Gordon as Carla Hendricks Alison Folland as Grace Mark Camacho as Norman, a version of Dylan's manager Albert Grossman Benz Antoine as Bobby Seale, the Black Panther leader, and as Rabbit Brown Craig Thomas as Huey Newton, the Black Panther leader Richie Havens as Old Man Arvin Kim Roberts as Mrs. Arvin Tyrone Bensin as Mr. Arvin Yolonda Ross as Angela Peter Friedman as Barker/Morris Bernstein Joe Cobden as Sonny Kristen Hager as Mona Fanny La Croix as Actress playing Alice Fabian Dennis St John as Captain Henry/The Admiral Kris Kristofferson as The Narrator

Salome Lobby Card

We tend to think of cinema as quintessentially 20th century and a modern medium. But the modern medium was born in the 19th century, of course, and the heyday of the Silent Age (the Twenties) was closer to the fin de siècle Decadence (mid-1880s to the late-1890s) than we are now to the 1970s. This is one reason why so much silent cinema seems infected with a Decadent or Symbolist spirit; that period wasn’t so remote and many of its notorious products cast a long shadow. Even an early science fiction film like Fritz Lang’s Metropolis has scenes redolent of late Victorian fever dreams: the vision of Moloch; Maria’s parable of the tower of Babel; the coming to life of statues of the Seven Deadly Sins and—most notably—the vision of the evil Maria as the Whore of Babylon. Woman as vamp or femme fatale was an idea that gripped the Decadent imagination and it found a living expression in the vamps of the silent era, beautiful women with exotic names such as Pola Negri, Musidora (Irma Vep in Feuillade’s Les Vampires) and the woman the studios and press named simply “the Vamp”, Theda Bara (real name Theodosia Burr Goodman).

Alla Nazimova was another of these exotic creatures, and rather more exotic than most since she was at least a genuine Russian, even if she also had to amend her given name (Mariam Edez Adelaida Leventon) to exaggerate the effect. Like an opera diva or a great ballerina she dropped her forename as her career progressed, and is billed as Nazimova only in her 1923 screen adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s play, Salomé. Nazimova inaugurated the project, produced it and even part-financed it since the studios, increasingly worried by pressure from moral campaigners, regarded it as a dangerously decadent work. Nazimova had a rather colourful off-screen life and the stories of orgiastic revels at her mansion, the Garden of Allah, probably didn’t help matters.

Salomé lobby card (1923).

Salomé: The Peacock Skirt by Aubrey Beardsley (1893).

It may seem bizarre to make a silent film of a stage play but silent adaptations of Shakespeare had been around since film’s earliest days. The task of adapting Wilde was given to Natacha Rambova, wife of Rudolph Valentino. If you’re going to cut down the available dialogue, however, it helps if the audience is familiar with the story. Nazimova’s audience in 1923 would have known of Salomé from their Bibles but Wilde’s play has rarely been considered a stage masterwork and remains largely unknown even today. The film’s intertitles were deemed too wordy and the production flopped as a result. This is a shame since the film is a curiosity, not least for the decision to base the production design on the Aubrey Beardsley illustrations that have accompanied (overshadowed, even) the printed edition of the play since its first publication.

Salomé: The Climax by Aubrey Beardsley (1893).

The film remains intriguing also for its distinctly gay aura. Nazimova was a lesbian and, in one of those rumours that persists around certain productions, was said to have demanded that most, if not all, the cast be gay or bisexual. The director certainly was. Charles Bryant (also an actor) lived with Nazimova in what was known at the time as a “lavender marriage”, a partnership between a gay man and a lesbian that enabled both to masquerade in a manner acceptable to contemporary mores. I haven’t read Gavin Lambert’s biography of Nazimova so details about the rest of the cast are sketchy but we know there was at least one other gay actor involved. Arthur Jasmine who played the page of Herodias was known in later life as Sampson (also Samson) de Brier and his house and person feature prominently in Kenneth Anger’s Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954).

Nazimova and Arthur Jasmine in a shot modelled on Beardsley’s Peacock Skirt.

Salomé is available in the US on DVD accompanied by another curious Biblical work with prurient interest, Lot in Sodom (1933).

On a final note, the associations between Salomé and silent cinema carry over to my own Salomé picture from 2002. This was a Photoshop collage which began life as a rather chaste still of silent star Norma Talmadge. I gave Norma a pair of bare breasts, a beaded necklace, bangles and a severed head to hold. I hope she forgives me.

LADY SINGS THE BLUES

I love Billie Holiday. My husband bought me the film Lady Sings The Blues I hadn't watched it in a few years. Diana Ross was great in it. I met Miss Ross a few times when I worked at Bruno and Soonie in Beverly Hills. Her daughter Tracey bought my Poor Little Rich Girl Line in the 90's. Tracey now has a fabulous boutique on Sunset Blvd.

Lady Sings the Blues is a 1972 film about jazz singer Billie Holiday based on her 1956 autobiography of the same name. It was produced by Motown Productions for Paramount Pictures. Diana Ross portrayed Holiday, alongside a cast including Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, James T. Callahan and Scatman Crothers.
The movie was adapted by Chris Clark, Suzanne De Passe and Terence McCloy from the book by William Dufty and Billie Holiday. It was directed by Sidney J. Furie.
It was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning none. The nominations were for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Diana Ross), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Music, Original Song Score and Adaptation (Gil Askey) and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced.[1]
The same year, Motown released a successful soundtrack double-album of Ross' recordings of Billie Holiday songs from the film, also titled Lady Sings the Blues. The album became one of the Number-one albums of 1973 (U.S.) in the Billboard Hot 200 Album Charts,[2] in the weeks of April 7 and 14, 1973.

Norma Shearer is my Favorite Marie Antoinette

For shear opulence many people feel the costumes of the 1938 version of Marie Antoinette have not been beaten. Seeing as how they were designed by the great Gilbert Adrian it is easy to understand why. These gowns, so well made and beautiful awed not only audiences in 1938, but continued to resurface from time to time in other movies, bringing a fabulous glamour to what might be a small time movie.

Never before, and most likely never again will such an enormous effort in costuming be undertaken. Gilbert Adrian visited France and Austria in 1937 researching the period. He purchased bushels of silks, embroidered velvets, and laces to help make this movie accurate. They ended up being the most lavish and sumptuous of his entire career.

He studied the paintings of Marie Antoinette, even using a microscope on them so that the embroidery and fabric could be identical. Fabrics were specially woven and embroidered with stitches sometimes to fine to be seen with the naked eye. The attention to detail was extreme, from the framework to hair. Some gowns became extremely heavy due to the embroidery, flounces and precious stones used. Ms. Shearer's gowns alone had the combined weight of over 1,768 pounds, the heaviest being the wedding dress. Originally slated to be shot in color many of the gowns were specially dyed. The fur trim on one of Ms. Shearer's capes was sent out to be dyed the exact shade of her eyes. Unfortunately due to the high cost of color shooting at the time it was ultimately shot in black and white, but was still breathtaking.

BONNIE AND CLYDE

My friend Pierre said that since I cut my hair he thinks I Look like this.......I will take that and run with it! I love this movie. I had the chance to meet Faye several times as she was a client at Doyle Wilson on Melrose where I worked for many years. Micheal J. Pollard who played CW Moss was also a regular at Doyle Wilson and he was always very sweet to me.

Estelle Parsons won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Blanche Barrow, Clyde's sister-in-law, and Burnett Guffey won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography. The film was also nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Warren Beatty), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Michael J. Pollard), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Gene Hackman), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Faye Dunaway), Best Costume Design (Theadora Van Runkle), Best Director (Arthur Penn), Best Picture (Warren Beatty) and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen (David Newman and Robert Benton)
In 1992, Bonnie and Clyde was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The film is #27 on the American Film Institute's "100 Years, 100 Movies", #13 on its list of 100 American thrillers, and #65 on its list of 100 American romances. The line "We rob banks" was also ranked at #41 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest Movie Quotes.
Some critics cite Joseph H. Lewis's Gun Crazy, a film noir about a bank-robbing couple, as a major influence. Forty years after its premiere, Bonnie and Clyde has been cited as a major influence in such disparate films as The Wild Bunch, The Godfather, Reservoir Dogs and The Departed.[13]

LOLITA I LOVE THIS MOVIE TO PIECES

I've seen this a hundred times and can still watch it over and over and never get bored. I love Shelly Winters in this movie!

CABARET

EDIE SEDGWICK CIAO MANHATTAN TAPES