Seraphic Secret

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

Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions

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“The first time you buy a house, you think how pretty it is and sign the check. The second time, you look to see if the basement has termites. It’s the same with men.” -Lupe Velez
“The first time you buy a house, you think how pretty it is and sign the check. The second time, you look to see if the basement has termites. It’s the same with men.”
-Lupe Velez

 

Belgian poster for Rear Window, 1954.
Poster for Rear Window from Belgium, 1954.

 

“The only good reason to have money is this: so that you can tell any SOB in the world to go to hell.” -Humphrey Bogart
“The only good reason to have money is this: so that you can tell any SOB in the world to go to hell.”
-Humphrey Bogart

 

Sacrifice of Isaac by Caravaggio, 1603.
Sacrifice of Isaac by Caravaggio, 1603.

 

“Let’s face it: I want it all– just like you and everybody else. It may not be in the cards, but the prospect is so dazzling that I have to try.” -Lauren Bacall
“Let’s face it: I want it all– just like you and everybody else. It may not be in the cards, but the prospect is so dazzling that I have to try.”
-Lauren Bacall

 

The Jews Gathering the Manna in the Desert by Nicholas Poussin, 1637.
The Jews Gathering Manna in the Desert by Nicholas Poussin, 1637.

 

I was just a cheap little starlet hardly acting at all in a very mediocre film. -Brigitte Bardot
“I was just a cheap little starlet hardly acting at all in a very mediocre film.”
-Brigitte Bardot

 

 

Yael Slaying Sisera by Jacopo Amigoni, oil on canvas,1739.
Yael Slaying Sisera by Jacopo Amigoni, oil on canvas,1739.

 

Wonderful poster for an early Carole Lombard film.
Wonderful poster for a 1932 Carole Lombard film.

 

Joseph Cornell, Untitled (Penny Arcade Portrait of Lauren Bacall) (1945-46).
Joseph Cornell, Untitled (Penny Arcade Portrait of Lauren Bacall) (1945-46).

 

“Most of the sex I've seen onscreen looks like an expression of hostility towards sex.” —Myrna Loy
“Most of the sex I’ve seen onscreen looks like an expression of hostility towards sex.”
—Myrna Loy

 

Hollywood Tantrum by Edward Ruscha, 1979. pastel on paper, support 584 x 737 mm.
Hollywood Tantrum by Edward Ruscha, 1979. pastel on paper, support 584 x 737 mm.

 

“I have been taking stock of my 50 years since I left Wichita. How I have existed fills me with horror for I failed in everything. Spelling, arithmetic, writing, swimming, tennis, golf, dancing, singing, acting, wife, mistress, whore, friend, even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of not trying. I tried with all my heart.” -Louise Brooks, Looking for Lulu
“I have been taking stock of my 50 years since I left Wichita. How I have existed fills me with horror for I failed in everything. Spelling, arithmetic, writing, swimming, tennis, golf, dancing, singing, acting, wife, mistress, whore, friend, even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of not trying. I tried with all my heart.”
-Louise Brooks, Looking for Lulu

 

Helen Frankenthaler, Canyon, 1965.
Helen Frankenthaler, Canyon, acrylic on canvas, 44 x 52 in., 1965.

 

“I think a great many men are looking for a mature woman of 20, or a young woman of 40.” -Audrey Hepburn
“I think a great many men are looking for a mature woman of 20, or a young woman of 40.”
-Audrey Hepburn

 

I Confess, Belgian poster, 1953.
I Confess, Belgian poster, 1953.

 

[On the positive reviews she received for her performance in Carnal Knowledge] “I’ve been rapped so many times. I stopped reading my reviews long ago. The critics had an image of me, and they wouldn’t accept any other. To them I was an exploited object, someone with no feelings, no emotions, no depth. I was a cartoon character. A joke…after ten years of working my head off, people now say I have talent. All along they’ve said the only thing I could do was shake my seat.” -Ann-Margret
On the positive reviews she received for her performance in Carnal Knowledge: “I’ve been rapped so many times. I stopped reading my reviews long ago. The critics had an image of me, and they wouldn’t accept any other. To them I was an exploited object, someone with no feelings, no emotions, no depth. I was a cartoon character. A joke…after ten years of working my head off, people now say I have talent. All along they’ve said the only thing I could do was shake my seat.”
-Ann-Margret

 

A Goldsmith in His Shop, by Petrus Christus, 1449. Note the mirrored reflection on the right side.
A Goldsmith in His Shop, by Petrus Christus, 1449. Note the mirrored reflection on the bottom right.

 

“You get tough in this business, until you get big enough to hire people to get tough for you. Then you can sit back and be a lady.” -Natalie Wood
“You get tough in this business, until you get big enough to hire people to get tough for you. Then you can sit back and be a lady.”
-Natalie Wood

 

Detail of the reflection in the Goldsmith painting.
Detail of the reflection in the Goldsmith painting.

 

“I will have one of the cleanest obituaries of any actress. I never did cheesecake like Ann Sheridan or Betty Grable. I just used my hair.” -Veronica Lake
“I will have one of the cleanest obituaries of any actress. I never did cheesecake like Ann Sheridan or Betty Grable. I just used my hair.”
-Veronica Lake

 

Clyfford Still PH-247, 1951 Oil on canvas 117 x 192 in
Clyfford Still
PH-247, 1951
Oil on canvas
117 x 192 in

 

“Absorption in things other than self is the secret of a happy life.” -James Cagney
“Absorption in things other than self is the secret of a happy life.”
-James Cagney

 

Marilyn (Vanitas) by Audrey Flack, 1977. Oil over acrylic on canvas. Flack was a pioneer of the photo realism movement.
Marilyn (Vanitas) by Audrey Flack, 1977. Oil over acrylic on canvas. Flack was a pioneer of the photo realism movement.

 

“Deep down, I’m pretty superficial.” -Ava Gardner
“Deep down, I’m pretty superficial.”
-Ava Gardner

 

Marilyn by Grace Hartigan, 1962.
Marilyn by Grace Hartigan, 1962.

 

“Why do actors think they’re so goddamn important? They’re not. Acting is not an important job in the scheme of things. Plumbing is. The physical labor actors have to do wouldn’t tax an embryo.” -Spencer Tracy
“Why do actors think they’re so goddamn important? They’re not. Acting is not an important job in the scheme of things. Plumbing is. The physical labor actors have to do wouldn’t tax an embryo.”
-Spencer Tracy

 

Andy Warhol Gold Marilyn Monroe 1962 Silkscreen ink on synthetic polymer paint on canvas 6' 11 1/4" x 57" (211.4 x 144.7 cm) Gift of Philip Johnson © 2004 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Andy Warhol
Gold Marilyn Monroe
1962
Silkscreen ink on synthetic polymer paint on canvas
6′ 11 1/4″ x 57″ (211.4 x 144.7 cm)
Gift of Philip Johnson
© 2004 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

 

“I learned at a very early age that life is a battle. My family was poor, my neighborhood was poor. The only way that I could get away from the awfulness of life, at that time, was at the movies. There I decided that my big aim was to make money. And it was there that I became a very determined woman.” -Susan Hayward (1949, photo by Ed Clark for LIFE)
“I learned at a very early age that life is a battle. My family was poor, my neighborhood was poor. The only way that I could get away from the awfulness of life, at that time, was at the movies. There I decided that my big aim was to make money. And it was there that I became a very determined woman.”
-Susan Hayward (1949, photo by Ed Clark for LIFE)

 

Japanese poster for North by Northwest, 1965.
Poster for North by Northwest from Japan, 1959.

 

Maybe I just didn’t have the temperament for stardom. I’ll never forget seeing Bette Davis at the Hilton in Madrid. I went up to her and said, “Miss Davis, I’m Ava Gardner and I’m a great fan of yours.” And do you know, she behaved exactly as I wanted her to behave. “Of course you are, my dear,” she said. “Of course you are.” And she swept on. Now that’s a star. -Ava Gardner
Maybe I just didn’t have the temperament for stardom. I’ll never forget seeing Bette Davis at the Hilton in Madrid. I went up to her and said, “Miss Davis, I’m Ava Gardner and I’m a great fan of yours.” And do you know, she behaved exactly as I wanted her to behave. “Of course you are, my dear,” she said. “Of course you are.” And she swept on. Now that’s a star.
-Ava Gardner

 

Argentinian poster for Spellbound, 1945.
Poster for Spellbound from Argentina, 1945.

 

Freud asked: “What do women want?” Poor clueless Siggy. Women want shoes. And we really like the Manhattan Liberty Sandal by Charlotte Olympia.
Freud asked: “What do women want?” Poor clueless Siggy. Women want shoes. And we really like the Manhattan Liberty Sandal by Charlotte Olympia.

 

I don't know who invented high heels, but all women owe him a lot. —Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe Sculpture in Chicago: "A 26-foot-tall (8 m) sculpture of Marilyn Monroe in her most famous pose was unveiled on Chicago's Magnificent Mile. It is made ​​of stainless steel and aluminum, and weighs 15.5 tons, 2011.
“I don’t know who invented high heels, but all women owe him a lot.”
—Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe Sculpture in Chicago: “A 26-foot-tall (8 m) sculpture of Marilyn Monroe in her famous Seven Year Itch pose was unveiled on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. It is made ​​of stainless steel and aluminum, and weighs 15.5 tons, 2011.

 

mmsculpture

 

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.

 

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Comments

  3. The bit about Veronica Lake prompted me to look her bio up. I knew she was short, under 5 feet and that’s why she did those films with Alan Ladd. I didn’t knew she was schizophrenic. What a shame. I liked her looks and her movies a lot.

  4. Wonderful pictures and quotes! Cagney’s is to me the most profound. Tracey has his head on straight. Lupe Velez” the funniest…..That book about Ava was wonderful wasn’t it?

    Thank you!

    • Bill:

      Glad you enjoyed the photos.

      Lupe had a history of tempestuous relationships with men. While she was with Johnny Weissmuller their arguments were notoriously physical and loud. Ultimately, Lupe committed suicide while unmarried and pregnant. Raised Catholic I think she was unable to endure the shame.

      Spencer Tracy always belittled the craft of acting, as if he did not consider it a manly occupation. He was a violent drunk who would disappear for days at a time going from bar to bar and picking fights with strangers.

      And yes, the book about Ava was revealing in its honesty.

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