Marlene Dietrich

Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions

July 10, 2015 by Robert J. Avrech 7 Comments

“There are many things in your heart you can never tell to another person. They are you, your private joys and sorrows, and you can never tell them. You cheapen yourself, the inside of yourself, when you tell them.” —Greta Garbo, 1931 — “There are many things in your heart you can never tell to another person. They are you, your private joys and sorrows, and you can never tell them. You cheapen yourself, the inside of yourself, when you tell them.”
—Greta Garbo, 1931

Friday Photos: Everything But the Kitchen Sink

May 8, 2015 by Robert J. Avrech 8 Comments

“I’VE WORKED WITH A LOT OF GREAT GLAMOROUS GIRLS IN MOVIES AND THE THEATER. AND I’LL ADMIT, I’VE OFTEN THOUGHT IT WOULD BE WONDERFUL TO BE A FEMME FATALE. BUT THEN I’D ALWAYS COME BACK TO THINKING THAT IF THEY ONLY HAD WHAT I’VE HAD - A FAMILY, REAL LOVE, AN ANCHOR - THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH HAPPIER DURING ALL THE HOURS WHEN THE MARQUEES AND THE FLOODLIGHTS ARE DARK.” Eve Arden — “I’ve worked with a lot of great glamorous girls in movies and the theater. And I’ll admit, I’ve often thought it would be wonderful to be a femme fatale. But then I’d always come back to thinking that if they only had what I’ve had — a family, real love, an anchor — they would have been so much happier during all the hours when the marquees and the floodlights are dark.”
— Eve Arden

Baltimore. Garland, Texas. Iran. Yemen. ObamaCare. Iraq. Syria. Shia. Sunni. Clinton Cash. IslamoNazis. IRS. Benghazi. Lois Lerner. Thug. Federal Deficit. Islamic State. Hillary. Server. Delete 30,000 emails. War on police. Minimum wage. Mohammed cartoons. Racist. Transgender. Income inequality. BDS. Beheadings. Chemical weapons. Iranian nukes…

How about some pictures to help set aside—at least for a few precious minutes—the age of Obama.

Hollywood: I Drive Therefore I am Free

March 6, 2014 by Robert J. Avrech 22 Comments

Shirley Temple with Baby LeRoy cruising in a Fire Chief car, early 1930s.

The automobile represents freedom.

You climb into a car and go, go, go, whenever and wherever you want. The car is modern man’s path to liberty.

Contrast cars with trains.

Railroads are an expression of the collective. Individual identity is erased. You are at the mercy of a government-controlled system that turns citizens into passive cogs, at the mercy of by-the-book bureaucrats.

That’s why democrats/progressives/liberals/ (what are they calling themselves this week?) are obsessed with high-speed rail. The freedom of the road is repellent to big government fanatics. The ruling elite seek to regulate and control tobacco, food, calories, soda, education, light bulbs, toilets, health care, reproduction, cow flatulence, oxygen — every cell of your body.

In short: liberty is constricted by any and all means.

And all in the name of an amorphous, pre-adolescent concept: Fairness.

And you better believe that the chattering elite are the ones who get to define what’s fair and what’s unfair. Funny how that always works out in their favor.

Nazis just adored trains. And hey, the Italian fascists boasted that Mussolini made the trains run on time. Though Italian trains were about as effective and efficient as the Italian army. Which is to say: Not.

At a certain point, one must acknowledge the convergent philosophies of post-modern liberals and iron-fist fascists. Both ideologies assert the power of the state as the final arbiter of human affairs. Hence, the government replaces G-d and family as the center of man’s universe. It’s no surprise that the formal title of the Nazi party was “The National Socialist German Workers’ Party.”

Anyhoo.

Today, Hollywood celebrities make sure to be seen driving a Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf, or any of the dopey but politically correct green cars. It is something of an open secret here among my Hollywood colleagues that the garage is fully stocked with BMW, Mercedes, Bentley, and for sure, a few Jags—for real driving.

But once upon a time Hollywood produced great stars who proudly posed with their autos, symbols of glamor, affluence, and freedom.

Hollywood: I Drive Therefore I am Free

January 3, 2013 by Robert J. Avrech 8 Comments

“My father is Abraham Lincoln. I mean, I think of Lincoln as my father. He was wise and kind and good. He is my ideal, Lincoln. I love him.”-Marilyn Monroe (1954) photo by Milton Greene. — MM said: “My father is Abraham Lincoln. I mean, I think of Lincoln as my father. He was wise and kind and good. He is my ideal, Lincoln. I love him.” 1954.

The automobile represents freedom.

You climb into a car and go, go, go, whenever and wherever you want. The car is modern man’s path to liberty.

Contrast cars with trains.

Railroads are an expression of the collective. Individual identity is erased. You are at the mercy of a state-controlled system that turns citizens into passive cogs, manipulated and at the mercy of government bureaucrats.

That’s why democrats/progressives/liberals/ (what are they calling themselves this week?) are obsessed with high-speed rail. The freedom of the road is repellent to big government fanatics. The ruling elite seek to regulate and control tobacco, food, calories, soda, education, light bulbs, toilets, health care, reproduction — your every cell. In short: liberty is constricted by any and all means.

And all in the name of an amorphous, preadolescent concept: Fairness.

Friday Fashion: The Female Animal

June 15, 2012 by Robert J. Avrech 7 Comments

automotivator(100) — George Hurrell's legendary photo of Jean Harlow on a bearskin rug is the iconic image of the female animal.

In last week’s Friday Fashion post we observed that designers frequently clothe women utilizing fur, feathers and animal patterns.

For as long as fashion has existed, animal metaphors have been an indispensible part of the designer’s lexicon. Hollywood, during its golden age, a leading arbiter of taste, heightened and refined the animal analogy with brilliant costume designers turning ravishing movie stars into expressions of animal desire.