—Kay Francis
In the mid-1930’s Kay Francis was Warner Brothers’ biggest star and one of the highest paid people in the US.
”The form of my painting is the content. My work is made of single or multiple panels: rectangle, curved or square. I am less interested in marks on the panels than the presence of the panels themselves.”
—Ellsworth Kelly
— Alfred Hitchcock
—Romy Schneider
My favorite is your hinge picture because of the story it tells.
Cost of new steel door: $300-400 plus installation
As opposed to:
$20 for new hinge
$50-75 for a local guy (friend…friend of friend) who does welding on the side.
A little grinding / welding / grinding and the owner saves a few hundred bucks
As for aesthetics, it doesn’t appear that the owner or welder were concerned as they didn’t even bother to spray a little Rust-Oleum over the area exposed from grinding … and I’m kinda glad they didn’t because it made for a cool pic 🙂
Thanks so much. And to think, I thought the story was texture:-)
A full view of the statues of Count Ekkehard & Countess Uta is available at http://www.wga.hu/html_m/zgothic/gothic/2/10g_1250.html — and be sure to click on the picture to get the larger size (608×846).
Robert, your “Hinge, Rain, Rust” photo is admirable. Eying it from left to right shows textures with the look of a painting spreading across to a clarifying reality in the raindrops. A striking image. Wish it were larger.
Thanks so much for the kind words.
You have quite the eye for color, composition and framing Robert! I am going to see about getting a Blu-Ray of The Birds. I don’t know if you have been through that area but filming was actually done in 2 towns, Bodega which is maybe 2-3 miles inland and Bodega Bay.
There is a little church or school house in Bodega used for the filming that still stands. He had lunch at The Tides , which was in the movie.
Hitch sure had a thing for blondes, didn’t he?
The Birds is an amazing movie. Enjoy.
My Friday Observations:
1) I hope Countess Uta was nicer than the Evil Queen from Snow White! I’m not at all familiar with her historical context and Wikipedia seems to be “light” on content about her life. 🙂
2) Audrey Hepburn is always a classic beauty. I don’t think I ever recall seeing a bad photo of her.
3) I’ve not seen One Way Passage, but as a William Powell fan, I think I will try to find it online. It sounds like an interesting story.
4) Love the vibrant colors of the Matisse!
5) The Ellsworth Kelly piece is very interesting (and large!)
6) Grace Kelly and Rear Window are two of my favorites. I also love Jimmy Stewart. He had such range as an actor and was a dedicated patriot as well. Grace is another classic beauty.
7) Brigitte Bardot — it must have been difficult to sit there and study her every curve. Poor Kees…
8) I love the composition of the Eiffel Tower photo, but I must confess that it leaves me with a slightly queasy feeling when I look at it.
9) As a boy, I fell in love with Tippi Hedren when I first saw The Birds. When my wife and I were dating, I insisted she watch it
with me (“It’s a classic, honey, I can’t believe you’ve never seen it”). I remember her commenting on a scene with Tippi Hedren driving in a convertible with her 2 love birds. They sway back and forth on their perch with each corner and my wife loved the scenery. By the end of the movie, she was not so thrilled. “Why would you make me watch that? I don’t ever want to be around any birds ever again!” Apparently, she likes Hitchcock films like North by Northwest and Rear Window more than The Birds or Psycho. 🙂
10) I love the Romy Schneider quote. I only vaguely knew her name, so I googled her. She made quite a lot of movies and (as with many of the stars in Hollywood) suffered in her personal life. Her 14 year old son died while trying to climb over a fence — he fell and punctured his femoral artery. She died at the age of 43 from cardiac arrest…
11) Ezra Reads the Law is beautiful.
12) I like “Albuquerque No. 77“, but I prefer “Hinge, Rain, Rust” Would you care to describe the context of the photo? Do you have a photo showing a wider field of view?
13) The photo of Mayan Ariel reminds me of a famous movie quote — “Made it, Ma! Top of the World!”
As always, Robert, I hope you and Karen have a wonderful Sabbath.
Horror movies definitely called to Hitchcock. With “Psycho” he (unwittingly) invented the slasher flick. “Birds” crescendos to the attic scene, and basically diminuendos from there to the resigned-to-their-fate ending. Totally different movies from which Hitchcock never really recovered.
“Made it, Ma! Top of the world!” From “White Heat,” my favorite gangster movie.
Prophet Joe:
Thanks so much, as always, for your excellent commentary. Karen and I had a very peaceful Shabbat.
Hinge, Rain, Rust was shot on a rainy afternoon here in LA. I was buying light bulbs in a local store and as I stepped out I noticed the hinge. It struck me as quite textured and beautiful. I took two pictures, both close-ups. I’ll probably publish the second photo because even though it’s the same, it’s different.
The Allori, whether Isabella or Maria, the dress and jewelry says Medici. Boy, if this is how they dressed for casual drinks and mixing, formal occasions must have been something.