
—Joan Crawford


Written by Dudley Nichols, Hagar Wilde
Based on Bringing Up Baby, 1937 short story in Collier’s by Hagar Wilde

Mrs. Edward Cross’ Address Book



“I never approved of talkies. Silent movies were well on their way to developing an entirely new art form. It was not just pantomime, but something wonderfully expressive… It was our privilege for a little while to serve that beautiful thing, the film, and we never doubted for a moment that it was the most powerful thing, the mind and heartbeat of our technical century.”
—Lillian Gish
1934, photo by Edward Steichen

The Lace-Maker
Date: 1662
oil on canvas
Height: 33 cm (12.9 in); Width: 27 cm (10.6 in)

Natalie Wood, 1956, Life Magazine




“Maayan’s Bat Mitzvah Stroke of Purple”
acrylic on canvas
20 in. X 20 in.
2020

—Lana Turner

The Bedroom
Date: 1658/1660
oil on canvas
Height: 51 mm (2 in); Width: 60 mm (2.36 in)





Until I saw that Morgan, I had forgotten that they are making those 3-wheeled Morgans again (or did recently). They were initially made in the 30s as a way of getting around the car tax, IIRC. I hope that you do get your Morgan someday Robert – life is short.
My late father grew up in an idyllic Los Angeles – in the 1930s and was classmates with Lana Turner at Hollywood High.
I was reading a bit about the Spanish Flu – it killed an estimated 50-100 million people world wide – and IIRC it started appearing in the trenches in 1918, but the allies covered it up. It did not start in Spain but the Spanish were at the time the only ones upfront about it so it got tagged with their moniker.
It killed far more people than WW1.
These are strange times aren’t they Robert?
I can understand social distancing but in one of the more bizarre incidents a surfer by himself in the ocean at Malibu was arrested for violating his “stay at home” order.
And what’s with that? We don’t have that up here and apparently either you and Karen are now “outlaws” taking that walk or there is no “house arrest” in Los Angeles.
The “Spanish Flu” probably began in Kansas in an army base. At least that is the theory in the book, The Great Influenza,” by John Barry. Measles was a common epidemic in the Civil War and meningococcal meningitis was common in the Vietnam War era. Fortunately, the meningococcus is susceptible to penicillin. I’ve been reading the book but it is so depressing it’s hard to keep going. I had the same trouble with “Bonfire of the Vanities.” No sympathetic character.
That Lana Turner photo looks like her in “The Bad and the Beautiful,” another favorite movie.
I went through Ft Ord in 1972 – a few years after that spinal meningitis outbreak. I had heard that the initial symptoms were like a cold – sore throat. And when it first broke, medics were prescribing aspirin with the “patient” being dead within 24 hours.
And at Ft Ord, being right on the Monterey Coast with cool ocean air, half the time you’d start the morning with a sore throat.
Interesting times.
That’s interesting about the Spanish Flu.
How do new strains appear?
I dont think so. She would have been in her thirties for The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), and this shot makes me think late 1930’s or early forties.
Micheal, Barry:
The still of Lana Turner is from The Postman Always Rings Twice, 1946.
As this is my eighty – first birthday, and I came fairly close, I accept it as a, more or less, right answer, and a gift. Merci.
Barry:
Happy birthday!
Lots of theories about the source of the Spanish Flu, Kansas being one possibility, China another.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu#United_Kingdom
I looked up Jean Shrimpton today. She and her husband own the The Abbey hotel in Penzance, and it is managed by their son.
She had a romance with Terence Stamp. One of my favorite movies is his “The Limey.” Stamp, apparently, quit films for years after she left him.
Love the three wheeled Morgan.
I might add at 555 pages that would be a slog.
I feel like Joan Crawford typically looks like she wants to kill someone… and Munch’s subjects are always screaming. My Lord! I had no idea Lillian Gish was actively acting until 1987! I also did not realize Natalie Wood had… (how do I put this delicately)… such a pronounced profile.
Does the 3-wheel Morgan have doors? It looks really cool, but I feel like it is a young man’s car! What year is it, and did you make plans to photograph his 4 wheel next week?
I LOVE that watch. The scroll work on is an added touch to the beautiful numerals!
Jean Shrimpton has what my parents’ called “doe eyes”.
Lana… the poster child for Hollywood’s elite: beautiful, disillusioned, and always making excuses for their actions.
Prophet Joe:
The three-wheeled Morgan does not have doors. It is a 2012 model.