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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“Playing good girls in the 1930′s was difficult, when the fad was to play bad girls. Actually I think playing bad girls is a bore; I have always had more luck with good girl roles because they require more from an actress.”
—Olivia de Havilland

 

Life under quarantine. It’s a good time to clean your wrist watch. Photo by @watchcog

 

Babe Ruth and Shoeless Joe Jackson (with shoes), 1920.

 

1954 Jaguar XK120

 

Women wearing masks during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. World War I claimed an estimated 16 million lives. The influenza epidemic that swept the world in 1918 killed an estimated 50 million people.

 

Robert J. Avrech
Turquoise Strokes (detail) 2020
Acrylic on canvas
20 in. x 20 in

 

“I was certainly a well-trained dancer. And I’m a good actress; I have depth. I have feeling. But they don’t care. All they want is the image.”
—Rita Hayworth

 

James Tissot (1836 – 1902)
“Seaside”
1878
oil on fabric
87.5 X 61 cm
Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio

 

Lana Turner and John Garfield (b. Jacob Julius Garfinkle, 1913 – 1952) in The Postman Always Rings Twice, 1946
Screenplay by Harry Ruskin, Niven Busch
Based on “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” 1934 novel by James M. Cain

 

Keeping ourselves busy while under quarantine, Karen and I have been cleaning out our closets, throwing away old junk — and discovering forgotten treasures. This is a 1963 45 rpm recording of “Blue Velvet,” probably Bobby Vinton’s most famous song, originally a minor hit in 1951 for Tony Bennet. Today, Bobby Vinton is 85 years old and lives in Florida. His son, Robert, played Vinton in the 1990 film Goodfellas.

 

Victor Mature was Rita Hayworth’s date for the premiere of her film Tales of Manhattan, 1942. Mature had recently enlisted in the US Navy.

 

Edward Hopper (American, Nyack, New York 1882–1967 New York)
Office in a Small City
1953
Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 28 x 40 in. (71.1 x 101.6 cm)
A fitting image of isolation for all of us living through this pandemic.

 

“In the early films, I had no experience. I was just doing it. I think I had an innate talent and a relationship with the camera, and because of my sincerity and my honesty it read through, and that’s what got me through those movies. But then I don’t think I developed that much more with it, and part of it was the roles, but part of it was me. A lot of it was me.”
—Kim Novak

 

Caspar David Friedrich
Woman at Window, 1822
oil on canvas; w73.0 x h44.1 cm

 

Fans listen to the 1929 World Series outside Sturgis radio store, Los Angeles. That series featured the Philadelphia Athletics playing against the Chicago Cubs. The Athletics beat the Cubs in five games.

 

A 16th century Plague Mask, Germany. The beak was filled with herbs and flowers.

 

Fan Ho
Approaching Shadow, Hong Kong, 1954

 

Photo by Paolo Mangoni @paolomangoni

 

Ray K. Metzker, Philadelphia, 1962

 

Ariel and Pinchas wish all our friends and relatives a delicious and healthy Shabbat.

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Comments

  1. In 1954 my father owned a golf driving range south of Chicago. One of his regular customers was a man who owned a Jaguar XK 120. I think his father in law owned part or all of the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach that opened that year. That summer, he rolled it over on a curve just north of the golf range. I was really upset to see that beautiful car ruined by reckless driving.

    Around the same time, I was in school with a girl and her brother whose mother had been Victor Mature’s personal representative.

  2. Re. Rita Hayworth – imagine being at that level of fame & fortune and complaining that no one cares about what a good dancer you are – poor her.

    Did not realize Vinton was still alilve.

  3. That is a bittersweet picture of Ruth and Jackson. Jackson was kicked out of baseball after that season, and Ruth was headed for the top. I wonder if they were friends and had any contact over the years. As always, Robert, a great collection of photos. Thanks so much for this treat every Friday.

  4. Olivia de Havilland is 103 — I guess playing the “good girl” was better than all of those “bad girl” roles.

    I find Olivia’s comments interesting compared to those of Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak. Rita felt overlooked/under appreciated by Hollywood and Kim seemed to mostly play herself (which isn’t a bad thing, John Wayne made a quite a career out of playing the same character).

    I agree with you about the Hopper painting. The Fan Ho picture feels like the current situation too.

    In regard to the Mangoni photo — 3 months ago you would have guessed she was a nurse (or some other health professional) checking the weather. Now it could be a stay at home mom expecting Door Dash or Grub Hub.

    I can picture you and Karen tooling along Highway 1 in that XK120.

    Stay well and be safe.

  5. Nice pictures, Robert. If I had the plague in the 1500s and saw a Dr over me with that mask, I’d figure I was done.

    I need to clean out my house too. I have so many clothes – good clothes – and boxes of new ones received last Christmas. Too much stuff. Too much clutter. Clutters the mind. And I should alphabetize my DvD collection. Terrible having to go over 1 x 1 300x to find what I am looking for.

    I remember when Blue Velvet was playing on the radio.

    I think Kim Novak would be interesting. A reminder we are getting older: I was driving up Hwy 1 last year and stopped at a small rustic restaurant in Big Sur.

    I was making small talk with the waiter and mention that Kim Novak used to live here.

    “Kim Who”?

    I think she moved up to Oregon and a fire destroyed her house with all of her Hollywood memorabilia.

    When I was about 6 or 7, a family friend bought a BRG (that’s British Racing Green) XK-120. He gave me a ride down the street and what a memory. It had low doors like a Triumph TR-3. You could probably reach out and touch the pavement.

    Sir William Lyons – founder of Jaguar Cars, was known for really giving value to his cars. A 1963 E-Type was functionally the same as a DB-5 Aston Martin at over 2x the price. And even Enzo Ferrari proclaimed the E-Type as the most beautiful car in the world.

    Well, time to turn in.

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