SCANDALOUS FILMS A number of years ago I wrote a proposal for a book about films whose production and or release were engulfed in scandal. Included was a sample chapter as well as 10 thumbnail descriptions of some of the films I wanted to write about. I discarded the proposal long ago but kept the sample chapter and […]
ACTOR ANTHONY HOPKINS: AN INTERVIEW ANTHONY HOPKINS IN 1975 At the time of this interview Anthony Hopkins was on tour promoting a TV movie about the Lindberg kidnapping. He portrayed Bruno Hauptmann, the convicted kidnapper; a performance that would earn the actor an Emmy. This interview–one of my first–was conducted 15 years before […]
GIANT, RED BADGE OF COURAGE AND THE THING: An Interview with Robert Nichols. Recently in response to one of my Facebook posts a woman who had played a small part in the legendary film Giant wrote me and briefly discussed the part she played in the film. This immediately brought to mind […]
THIRTYSOMETHING ANGST: A FORCE OF NATURE What is thirtysomething angst? I didn’t know it at the time but a number of years ago I found myself in the midst of it. Recently, I was going through some trunked writing and I came across this piece. It’s from an auto biographical book dealing with my high school years in which […]
JOHN BARRYMORE AND ALL MY CHILDREN Early on it was suggested—for the blog at least— that I post sections from The Purple Diaries which had been deleted during the editing process. Presumably this would add up to a sort of “deleted scenes” kind of thing you see on DVDs and Blu-rays for fillm directors […]
THE MUSE THE MUSE IN THE MOVIES: RITA HAYWORTH AND SHARON STONE What is a Muse? Someone asked me recently to explain what a muse was. As I was babbling on it occurred to me that several years ago I had written about me and my muse in an introduction to a book. So, I searched through my […]
PORTRAIT OF EDWARD SOREL AT WORK BY STEPHAN ALCOVE Edward Sorel, the award winning caricaturist has also written a book about the 1936 Mary Astor Custody Battle—Mary Astor’s Purple Diary. I am fortunate in having just read an advance review copy and can tell you that Mr. Sorel has illustrated and written a hilarious […]
High School and Yearbooks As I have been writing 24/7 I haven’t had time to sit down and write another one of my brilliant posts. Nevertheless, in recent conversation with a friend somehow we got on the topic of High School. We had differing views–she enjoyed it. I detested it and told her […]
SMOTHERS BROTHERS : A FREE FORM INTERVIEW At the time of this interview (1975) the Smothers brothers were one of the biggest comedy acts in the country. A few years earlier they had had an extremely popular but politically controversial TV show that, through the use of satire, took on Nixon, the Vietnam War […]
CATCHY TITLE AND STEPDAUGHTER TIME I spoke with a friend whose opinion I respect about this blog—as I didn’t know what the hell I was doing—and asked for suggestions. That is what he told me. 1-Keep the posts short 2-Use Catchy titles 3-And whatever I do don’t talk about myself because no one […]
