News, Politics, Religion, Entertainment, Gossip and Opinion for Thinking Folks
From the category archives:
They scared the bejeezus outta me in “The Shining” as the Grady twins.
It’s Lisa and Louise Burns, who made their first and last film appearance in the unforgettable 1980 horror flick.
Today, Lisa has a degree in Literature and Language, and Louise is a microbiologist, and they’re today’s Friday Faces.
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in Friday Face, cinema, horror, little known facts, lookalikes, sorry -- had to
In-your-face French terrorist Mohammed Merah, shot dead this morning in Toulouse, France (left) and terrifying character actress Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West in “The Wizard of Oz” (right).
Both liquidated.
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in cinema, gone, haters, lookalikes, terror
“Places for the Dream number, everybody!” (Watch for Hedy Lamarr!) Tony Martin sings.
Jellyfish… fascinating. Music by Koop.
Send in the clowns.
And some more clowns.
for you
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in chexy's saturday matinee, cinema, music, remembering, stuff I like
The superviral Kony video, about the child-killing Ugandan warlord (why are they always from Uganda?) and…
Eddie Murphy in “A Thousand Words.”
Here are some reviews… can you guess for which film?
“You start to see the strain and desperation.” –L.A. Times
“Sadly, it only seems like a sign of what’s ahead.” –NOLA.com
“Particularly galling.” –The Wrap
“Is it weird that there is suddenly interest in him?” –Int’l Business Times
“Atrocities.” –WDIV
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in cinema, movies
Let’s go with Hazel Scott…
It’s amazing this even exists… Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle. 1923. The sound and film quality improves after the first minute or so.
Chubby Checker, the sensation.
The Supremes, live.
In memory of Olivette Miller
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in chexy's saturday matinee, cinema, legends, music, remembering
Marjorie Main, unlikely movie star, was born on this day in 1890, gaining fame as an MGM company player of crusty old gals, best remembered as Ma Kettle in a series of films with Percy Kilbride.
A Hoosier from Acton, Indiana, born Mary Tomlinson, she took her stage name to avoid embarrassing her minister father — and into Vaudeville she went, making it to Broadway in 1916 where she worked with W.C. Fields, and hit it in pictures by 1937, with especially good notice in “Stella Dallas.”
She would appear in over 100 films in the next 20 years, playing salty dames, housekeepers and other no-nonsense, hard-bitten women. She stole nearly every scene in which she appeared.
She married Dr. Stanley Krebs, 25 years her senior, in 1921, and was widowed in 1934. She would often converse with her late husband, in public, asking him questions and getting answers. She developed OCD, leading to a pathological fear of germs. She would often wear white gloves and a surgical mask.
Director George Sidney claimed that Main donated most of her salary to support a school.
Marjorie was nominated for Best Supporting Actress of 1947 for her work as Ma Kettle. She lost to Celeste Holm in “Gentleman’s Agreement.” Holm is now 94.
Marjorie Main built a house in Palm Desert which is for sale here.
Biographer Keith Stern claims Main had a long-term relationship with actress Spring Byington, who also starred in dozens of Golden Era films as a lovely and concerned mom. They are listed in many sources as “longtime companions.”
Main’s last appearance was in 1974 at the L.A. premiere of “That’s Entertainment,” where she was greeted with wild cheering. She had not been seen since her retirement from films in 1957. She died of lung cancer at age 85 on April 10, 1975.
Marjorie Main is today’s Friday Face.
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in Friday Face, cinema, girls will be girls, sensations
The great Josephine Baker, 1927.
Billie Holiday, 1947.
Lena Horne, 1956.
Marian Anderson was denied the right to perform at Constitution Hall by the DAR because of her color. Instead, at the urging of Eleanor Roosevelt, Interior Secy. Harold Ickes permitted Anderson to perform at the Lincoln Memorial. April 9, 1939, a seminal day in the Civil Rights movement.
In memory of Whitney Houston
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in chexy's saturday matinee, cinema, legends, memorials, music, remembering
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in cinema, oddities, stuff I like, the internets
Imagine that you are born in 1924, in the tiny town of Mysore, India, where your father is an elephant driver for the Maharajah… then your father dies when you are just 9, and a location crew discovers you at 12, and they take you to England to star in 1937′s “Elephant Boy,” and by the early 1940s, you are one of the highest-paid stars in Hollywood! That’s how it was for Sabu!
He was placed under contract by filmmaker Alexander Korda, with whom he made numerous pictures. He was nearly 20 by the time he became a US citizen, and he enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1944, becoming a tail gunner. He earned a Distinguished Service Cross and other medals.
Sabu married his co-star from “Song of India,” actress Marilyn Cooper, and had two children, Paul and Jasmine. Below is a comic book that is now quite valuable.
His real name was Selar Shaik Sabu. He starred in the memorable “Thief of Baghdad” with its dazzling special effects, and “Jungle Boy.”
Sabu dropped dead of a heart attack at age 39 at his home in Chatsworth, Calif. on December 2, 1963, 11 days after President Kennedy was killed. Sabu’s widow said he underwent a complete physical just a few days before he died. His doctor said, “If all my patients were as healthy as you, I’d be out of business.”
His son, Paul Sabu, became a successful songwriter. His daughter, Jasmine, became a noted horse trainer. She died at age 44 in 2001.
Sabu is resting at Forest Lawn.
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in cinema, kennedys, turban tuesday, wonders
This magnificent building was located at 16th and Curtis Streets in Denver, built in 1881 for a then unheard of $850,000 ($19 million in today’s dollars) by one Horace A.W. Tabor, who made a fortune in silver mines. Look at this interior!
Cherry wood was imported from Japan and mahogany from Honduras, with 1,500 mohair seats facing a 72-ft. stage that was 50-ft. deep, with a giant painted curtain… seen here in glorious black and white.
The inscription on the curtain prophetically states:
“So fleet the works of man, back to the earth again.
Ancient and holy things fade like a dream.”
Here’s another view of the building…
The Tabor was remodeled in 1921 for movies, and operated for nine years as the Colorado Theater, before once again becoming The Tabor. The great acts of Vaudeville played the stage. It was sold in ’49 for a million dollars. By the ’50s, it was facing the threat of demolition as the population departed for the suburbs.
It was torn down in 1964. Its giant curtain, too large to be displayed anywhere, was stored for years and disintegrated, and was later hauled to a dump. Today, the site is this:
…the Denver branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
Things fade like a dream.
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in Real Gone Places, architecture, art, cinema, stuff I like, white buildings
"If the phone doesn't ring, it's me.”
--Jimmy Buffett
