Seraphic Secret

Robert J. Avrech: Emmy Award winning screenwriter. Movie fanatic. Helplessly and hopelessly in love with my wife since age nine.

Friday Photos: The No Men Edition

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In one of our favorite movies, Gun Crazy ('50) John Dahl strives to please the femme fatale Peggy Cummins.
In one of our favorite movies, “Gun Crazy” (’50) John Dahl strives to please the femme fatale Peggy Cummins.

In Pierke Avot (Ethic of the Fathers) Hillel teaches: “In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man.”

Bibi Netanyahu won a resounding victory over the Israeli left and Barack Obama by paying heed to the great sage Hillel’s teaching. Bibi is a man in a world that is awash in eunuchs.

In saying that he does not support the creation of a Palestinian state, Bibi is stating what all Israelis have known ever since the disastrous surrender of Gaza to the IslamoNazis who call themselves Palestinians. Yes, there are some who cling to the fantasy of a two-state solution, but 12% of Americans believe that Elvis is still alive. We should treat this marginal group of two-state fantasists with the compassion we reserve for the mentally ill Elvis clingers.

Besides, there is a Pal state: Gaza is the ultimate Palstate; a terrorist reichlet dedicated to the eradication of the Jewish state and the Jewish people. This goal is enshrined in the Hamas charter of 1968.

When, a few years ago, Bibi said that he believed in a two-state solution, he was trying to garner political favor with President Barack Obama. But since then, Bibi has come to understand that Obama is a functional anti-Semite who views the Jewish state as a neocolonial outpost oppressing the poor folks of Palestine.

It should also be pointed out that the PalNazis also gave lip service to a two-state solution when it served their interests. In truth, they have no interest in a two-state solution. They are only interested in a Final Solution for the Jewish State.

Obama will now count on the Jew-haters of the UN to slash and burn at the borders and the heart of the Jewish State. But Israel is filled with courageous men and women who have internalized Hillel’s teaching.

Now, let’s turn to some still photos that should enliven our weekend.

 

Jewish girls standing in the shape of a menorah, Jerusalem, 1930s.
Jewish girls standing in the shape of a menorah, Jerusalem, 1930s.

 

Issur Danielovich AKA Kirk Douglas shows Marilyn Maxwell just what it means to be kissed by a real man in “Champion” ('49).
Issur Danielovich AKA Kirk Douglas shows Marilyn Maxwell just what it means to be kissed by a real man in “Champion” (’49).

 

Republic pictures was a low-budget operation run by Herbert Yates. Though the 30s, 40's and 50's they cranked out one B picture after another. Most of them are pretty terrible. But some of their posters are really brilliant.
Republic Picture was a low-budget operation run by Herbert Yates. Though the 30s, 40s and 50s they cranked out one B picture after another. Most of them are pretty terrible. But some of their posters are brilliant. This one is from 1950. H/T Where Danger Lives.

 

In Flesh and the Devil ('26), I think Greta Garbo is showing John Gilbert that she's the man in the kiss. I believe this might be the first time in a Hollywood movie that the woman assumes the dominant position for the lip clench.
In “Flesh and the Devil” (’26), Greta Garbo shows John Gilbert that she’s the man in the relationship. I believe this might be the first time in a Hollywood movie that the woman assumes the dominant position for a lip clench.

 

Another wonderful Republic poster from 1941. H/T Where Danger Lives.
Another wonderful Republic poster from 1941. H/T Where Danger Lives.

 

Jerome “Dizzy” Dean was best known for leading the 1934 "Gashouse Gang" St. Louis team. He had a 30–7 record with a 2.66 ERA during the regular season.
Pitcher Jerome “Dizzy” Dean was best known for leading the 1934 “Gashouse Gang” St. Louis team. He had a 30–7 record with a 2.66 ERA during the regular season.

 

Republic Picture married fantastic titles with eye grabbing graphics. The films rarely live up to the posters. This poster is form 1946 and is one of the best. H/T Where Danger Lives.
Republic Picture married fantastic titles with eye grabbing graphics. The films rarely live up to the posters. This poster is from 1946 and is one of their best. H/T Where Danger Lives.

 

Have you ever noticed that movie kisses are sometimes staged in such a manner that if done in real life would result in severe cramps if not a life time of orthopedic problems. Here's Glenn Ford improbably kissing Rita Hayworth in “Gilda.”
Have you ever noticed that movie kisses are frequently staged in such a manner that if done in real life would result in a world of orthopedic problems. Here’s Glenn Ford improbably kissing Rita Hayworth in “Gilda” (’46).

 

Graphically, this promo for Fox's scenario writers gets no prizes. But gee, there was a time when studios promoted their screenwriters. Notice that director John Ford is just one of many.
Graphically, this promo for Fox’s scenario writers gets no prizes. But gee, there was a time when studios promoted their screenwriters. Notice that director John Ford is just one of many, 1920s.

 

In North by Northwest, Eva Marie Saint sends mixed signals as she and Cary Grant get romantic.
In “North by Northwest” (’59) Eva Marie Saint sends mixed signals as she and Cary Grant get romantic.

 

Before Tippi Hedrin was tapped by Alfred Hitchcock to play the lead in The Birds, she was a hard-working model and single mother in NY City. This ad is for Gleem toothpaste.
Before Tippi Hedrin was tapped by Alfred Hitchcock to play the lead in “The Birds” she was a hard-working model and single mother in NY City. This ad is for Gleem toothpaste.

 

The newspaper headline says it all.
The newspaper headline says it all.

 

Alfred Hitchcock did not know how to drive.
Alfred Hitchcock did not know how to drive.

 

Anthony Perkins and his '57 Ford Thunderbird.
Anthony Perkins and his ’57 Ford Thunderbird.

 

Albert Pinkham Ryder, Seacoast in Moonlight, 1890. Tragically, most of Ryder's paintings are decomposing because he used unconventional material like shoe polish along with his oils. His work is dark, brooding, brilliant and borders on the abstract.
Albert Pinkham Ryder, Seacoast in Moonlight, 1890. Tragically, many of Ryder’s paintings are decomposing because he applied fast-drying paint over slow-drying paint over layers of wet varnish. His work is seen as a step towards modern abstraction.

 

My friend Toby Kahn told me that Albert Pinkham Ryder has been a huge influence on his work. “Natah,” acrylic on canvas over wood panel, 1987
My friend Toby Kahn told me that Albert Pinkham Ryder has been a huge influence on his work. “Natah,” acrylic on canvas over wood panel, 1987

 

Photographer Peter Stackpole snapped this picture of Ann Sheridan (1915 - 1967) in 1939. At the time, she was being promoted as The Oomph Girl, a sobriquet which she loathed. This deeply unglamorous photo is painfully honest and direct. Sheridan, was a down to earth woman who once said that if she didn't make it in Hollywood, she could always be a school teacher.
Photographer Peter Stackpole snapped this picture of Ann Sheridan b. Clara Lou Sheridan (1915 – 1967) in 1939. At the time, she was being promoted as “The Oomph Girl,” a sobriquet she loathed. This deeply unglamorous photo is painfully honest and direct. Sheridan, was a down to earth woman who once said that if she didn’t make it in Hollywood, she could always be a school teacher. She made quite a few fine films, but my favorite is “I Was a Male War Bride” (’49) in which she co-starred with Cary Grant.

 

In 1992 the Los Angeles Times did a story about Jewish children baking their own matzoh for Passover. The photo featured Offspring #2 preparing the dough for her matzo.
In 1992 the Los Angeles Times did a story about Jewish children visiting a matzoh factory where they learned to bake their own matzoh for Passover. The article featured Offspring #2 preparing dough for the oven.

 

Livia Yarden wishes all our friends and relatives a lovely and inspirational Shabbat.
Livia Yarden wishes all our friends and relatives a lovely and inspirational Shabbat.

 

The End

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Comments

  1. “World’s foremost scenario writers” — Slim Summerville! Really? I know he directed during the 20s, but don’t know how many scenarios he wrote.

    My favorite appearance of Ann Sheridan was her role in “The Man Who Came to Dinner.” The Epstein brothers adapted the play. (Julius’s son was a friend of mine in high school.) As I recall, her character was a spoof of Gertrude Lawrence. Sheridan was great in that marvelous, hilarious film.

    As for Herbert J Yates and Republic Pictures, I was going to mention “The Quiet Man” and several others, but Barry beat me to it. That’s what comes of getting a new job: falling behind in my reading.

  2. Next time you see Tobi, please send him best wishes and condolences from Eliezer in Chicago.
    Robert, if you’re worried about orthopedics, you need to think back on those days of wine and roses when orthopedics were totally irrelevant.

  4. Dear Robert:
    When I see your new born grandchild I think of my Mother. My Mother Lilo Rochel bas Naftali OBM (whose jahrzeit was 26 Adar) Born Munich 1923 Died St Louis 2004 would smile all the time. Her grandchildren would ask, “Omi, why do you smile all the time?”. She would answer, “Oh sweetheart Hitler is dead and I have seven grandchildren”. And now five great grandchildren. Am Yisroel Hai and my you have a blessed Shabbos HaChodesh.
    Very Best Wishes and Regards,
    Dovid Fauman

  5. Republic Pictures had a lot of top talent working, before , during and after their best days. Here are a few, directors and stars, in no special order: John Wayne, John Ford, Maureen O’Hara, Ray Milland, Raoul Walsh, Walter Pidgeon, Orson Welles, Victor McLaglen, Richard Dix, Joan Fontaine, Louis Hayward, Fritz Lang, George Brent, Constance Bennett, Myrna Loy, Robert Mitchum, Lewis Milestone, Joan Crawford, Nicholas Ray, Sterling Hayden, Adolphe Menjou, Frank Lloyd, Edmond O’Brien, Ruth Roman, and oh so many others. Not to be dismissed or defined by their bread and butter product.

    As for Elvis, I believe he was the entirely fictional creation of two guys called Walter, Lantz and Disney.

    • From that Bloomberg article:

      ““We’ve now seen 15 to 20 percent of those chemical weapons on their way out of Syria with a very concrete schedule to get rid of the rest,” Obama told me. “That would not have happened had the Iranians said, ‘Obama’s bluffing, he’s not actually really willing to take a strike.’ ”

      Assad used chlorine gas on his enemies in Syria this week. The Iranians are saying, “He’s bluffing” and they are correct.

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