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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“I’d like people to remember me for a diligent expert workman. I think a poet is a workman. I think Shakespeare was a workman. And God’s a workman. I don’t think there’s anything better than a workman.” —Laurence Olivier
“I’d like people to remember me for a diligent expert workman. I think a poet is a workman. I think Shakespeare was a workman. And God’s a workman. I don’t think there’s anything better than a workman.”
—Laurence Olivier

Diego Velazquez, Self Portrait
Diego Velazquez, Self Portrait

 

Marilyn Monroe photographed by Milton Greene, 1956.
Marilyn Monroe photographed by Milton Greene, 1956.

 

Marlene Dietrich by Milton H. Greene, 1952.
Marlene Dietrich photographed by by Milton Greene, 1952.

 

John Wayne and John Ford
John Wayne and John Ford

 

Elizabeth Taylor watching then-husband Richard Burton on the set of The Night of the Iguana. The two martini glasses behind Taylor were probably for her and Burton during a break in filming.
Elizabeth Taylor watching then-husband Richard Burton on the set of “The Night of the Iguana.” The two martini glasses behind Taylor were probably for her and Burton during a break in filming.

 

Matisse, The Red Room (Harmony in Red) (1908)
Matisse, The Red Room (Harmony in Red) (1908)

 

Sean Scully, “Uriel” 1997, oil on linen, 96 x 144.
Sean Scully, “Uriel” 1997, oil on linen, 96 x 144.

 

“Sometimes when I find myself getting impatient, I just remember the times I cried my eyes out because nobody wanted to take my picture at the Trocadero.” —Rita Hayworth
“Sometimes when I find myself getting impatient, I just remember the times I cried my eyes out because nobody wanted to take my picture at the Trocadero.”
—Rita Hayworth

 

Lucas Cranach the Elder, Duchess Katharina von Mecklenburg, 1514, oil on canvas, 185 x 82.5 cm
Lucas Cranach the Elder, Duchess Katharina von Mecklenburg, 1514, oil on canvas, 185 x 82.5 cm

 

Pablo Picasso, Olga, 1923, oil on canvas, 130 x 97 cm
Pablo Picasso, Olga, 1923,
oil on canvas, 130 x 97 cm

 

Allan Grant, San Francisco Drive-In Movie, 1948.
Allan Grant, San Francisco Drive-In Movie, 1948.

 

French poster, Touch of Evil, starring Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh, 1958. This is my favorite Orson Welles movie.
French poster, Touch of Evil, starring Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh, 1958. This is my favorite Orson Welles movie.

 

skylark1
skylark2

Binnie Barnes and Claudette Colbert - Skylark 1941
Binnie Barnes and Claudette Colbert, “Skylark” 1941, Screenplay by Zion Myers, Allan Scott, Samson Raphaelson (play and novel).

 

Ellsworth Kelly “Red, Blue, Yellow” Ink on paper and gouache on paper, 7 1/2 x 8", 1951
Ellsworth Kelly
“Red, Blue, Yellow”
Ink on paper and gouache on paper, 7 1/2 x 8″, 1951

(stills 15365) Audrey Hepburn in the 1950's

“That awful moment when you enter a room full of people! Everyone looks at you. I always think that they are talking about me, that they don’t like me, that perhaps they are making fun of me! I spend hours before I go to a party, nerving myself for that ordeal of entering the room. I suffer horribly afterwards. I am sure then, that they didn’t like me. They didn’t like my frock. They thought that what I said was stupid… It’s awful.” —Joan Crawford, Silver Screen Magazine
“That awful moment when you enter a room full of people! Everyone looks at you. I always think that they are talking about me, that they don’t like me, that perhaps they are making fun of me! I spend hours before I go to a party, nerving myself for that ordeal of entering the room. I suffer horribly afterwards. I am sure then, that they didn’t like me. They didn’t like my frock. They thought that what I said was stupid… It’s awful.”
—Joan Crawford, Silver Screen Magazine

 

Sofonisba Anguissola (1532-1625) Self Portrait at Easel
Sofonisba Anguissola (1532-1625) Self Portrait at Easel

 

Grace Kelly, Portrait by Howell Conant, Jamaica, 1955.
Grace Kelly, Portrait by Howell Conant, Jamaica, 1955.

 

Edward Hopper, Hotel Lobby, 1943, Oil on canvas 32 1⁄4 in × 40 3⁄4 in.
Edward Hopper, Hotel Lobby, 1943, Oil on canvas
32 1⁄4 in × 40 3⁄4 in.

 

Matisse, Woman With a Hat (1905)
Matisse, Woman With a Hat (1905)

 

Ancient Menorah: Hebrew inscription, Shalom al Yisrael, "Peace upon Israel." This synagogue in Jericho, was in use from the 6th to the 8th centuries C.E.
Ancient Menorah: The Hebrew inscription reads, Shalom al Yisrael, “Peace upon Israel.” This synagogue in Jericho was in use from the 6th to the 8th centuries C.E.

 

Mayan Ariel wishes all our friends and relatives an inspirational and peaceful Shabbat.
Maayan Ariel wishes all our friends and relatives an inspirational and peaceful Shabbat.

 

Ed Ruscha, END 1983 oil on canvas 36 x 40 inches
Ed Ruscha, END
1983
oil on canvas
36 x 40 inches

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Comments

  1. I find the photograph of Grace Kelly very striking, but I can’t articulate why.

    Is the Picasso an early work, or was Picasso subtly playing against his own reputation?

  2. Robert,
    The is O/T, but what is your favorite type of movie, not favorite movie?

    PS My favorite movie is “A Man for all Seasons” with Scofield. I have noticed you stopped your best movies by decade juuuuust at the 60’s. I think you did this on purpose to drive this Irishman into talking to the faeries!

  5. Loved your use of the gate scroll in your granddaughter’s picture.

    Apparently, Mr. Conant took a number of pictures of Grace Kelley in Jamaica. I find the one above to be a bit unsettling, as it appears at fist glance to be the head of a mannequin (albeit a very pretty mannequin) popping out of the water 🙂

    I was looking for the speaker posts in the Drive-In picture, but can only see a couple. It appears they used scissor extender arms for the speakers, as a few of those are seen (lower left-hand corner of the picture and also the middle right-hand side). I wonder if they pumped audio through large outdoor speakers as well?

  6. Robert you have a talent for picking famous stars of the past and showing their human angle. Never seen either MM or Elizabeth Taylor from that angle before.

    Or John Wayne & John Ford.

    I suspect without his friend Wayne would have been known as Marion Morrison today.
    I’d consider Olivier to be one of the 20th century’s great actors.

    No swelled head, that man.

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