—Katherine Hepburn (born Katharine Houghton Hepburn, 1907 – 2003)
Luna Park, 1919 , Melbourne
Oil on board
The Brothers, rue du Docteur Lecene Paris, 1934
Beneath the Hollywood sign, Los Angeles, Nov. 2016
—Paulette Goddard (born Marion Levy; 1910 – 1990)
Jewish street vendors, Warsaw, Poland
1938
International Center of Photography
© Mara Vishniac Kohn
—RIP Norman Lloyd (born Norman Perlmutter; 1914 – 2021)
Just leaving this here b/c what an article.
https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/the-new-furies-of-the-oldest-hatred
I have started to follow Bari and like you, subscribe to her email op-eds. She is the writer who worked for the WSJ, was hired by the NYT and left for the Times thinking they wanted an op-ed writer with a centrist attitude, only to discover a climate of harassment from her co-workers.
https://thelexicans.wordpress.com/2020/07/14/bari-weiss/
That’s right. She wrote a powerful resignation letter.
This article, though, is not by Weiss, but by Savodnik.
Another good email follow is Tablet magazine. They have some terrific articles, including this recent one by Bernard-Henri Levy:
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/eyeless-in-gaza
BTW I have always been a Michael Cain fan. Who else could pull off the varied roles he has done with a cockney accent?
Believe it or not there is a “Skinny house” about a mile from my house; I’ll send you a picture if you’d like. Sounds like that brother was pretty selfish; OTOH I can’t think of anything worse than leaving a piece of land to 2 siblings.
I had to look up Brenda Marshall to remember where I had seen her. “The Sea Hawk” was a favorite Errol Flynn movie that had nothing to do with the novel by the same name. I wonder if Holden’s alcoholism was a factor in their divorce after 30 years?
I lived in Boston in 1965 and did not see the tiny house but there was a house across the street on West Cedar Street that a young couple bought for a dollar that year. They gutted it and did a complete remodel of the interior. I assume that was a very good investment. Scollay Square was just down the street and looked like bombed city as the slums had just been cleared.
Loved the art nouveau store front in Paris. There was a childrens’ store in Paris called Au Nain Bleu that had an interesting stored front but the last time I was there I could not find it. It had moved.
Paulette Goddard certainly had an exciting career. She was considered for the role of Scarlett Ohara but her wild reputation, plus Vivien Leigh, ended that.
I heard (probably here) that another reason Vivien got the role Goddard was living with Charlie Chaplin across the street from David O (The “O” stands for nothing!) Selznick, and he wondered how the public would receive her. I believe the role of Scarlett was, before the selection, the subject of intense speculation in the movie tabloids.
re Paulette Goddard: the writer Erich Maria Remarque immigrated to the United States in 1939, and in the 1950s he came to a friend with a dilemma: two women were pursuing him.
“So I said, ‘Oh, really, Erich, that sounds terrible, who are they?’ ‘Well,’ he said, ‘one of them is Paulette Goddard and the other is Marlene Dietrich.’ So I said, ‘Well, Erich, my God, you’re in real trouble here.’ But he was deadly serious. ‘Which one do you think I should go for, Douglas? ‘That is a terrible dilemma, Erich, I mean, my God, this is something we have to think about very carefully.’ ‘You know,’ he said, ‘Marlene is very attractive, but Paulette is really good at the stock market. I think I should go for Paulette.’ So I said to him, ‘Well, Erich, the stock market is very important, no doubt about that.’
As a Remarque fan, I certainly hope he was kidding about this decision process. (Which would tend to belie the title of the autobiography from which the quote is taken: ‘Erich Maria Remarque: The Last Romantic.’
I have been by the “Skinny House,” as I live in Massachusetts. It is in Boston’s North End, on Hull Street. If you ever visit the city, the house is across the street from Copp’s Hill Burying Ground, where Cotton Mather and Phyllis Wheatley (America’s first black poetess) are buried.
As usual, I agree with Prophet Joe – that Parisian shop is beautiful!
Speaking of the Hollywood Sign – there’s a blog called “Under the Hollywood Sign” by filmmaker Hope Anderson, who actually lives in the old Hollywoodland development. She posts about film, historic Hollywood and the travails of living so near the Sign.
A lovely weekend to you and yours, Robert.
Robert, the Swatch looks perfect for a Miami Dolphins fan (or a grand daughter named Lielle).
The Art Nouveau business is beautiful and so Parisian (at least in my mind’s eye).
Norman Lloyd is another name I was not familiar with until today. What a fascinating life and such longevity — to be driving and playing tennis when you’re 100 years old is quite the feat! Did you ever have occasion to meet or work with him?
And finally, there is the photo by Roman Vishniac – a name I had heard of, but I looked up his biography to find out more. A talented photographer and a biologist as well. I look at the photo you posted and I can’t help but wonder about their future and their fate.
Have a meaningful Shabbat, Robert.
Prophet Joe:
I had the chance to spend an evening with Norman Lloyd but—and I could kick myself— I had to bow out due to… I don’t remember why. But I heard that he told amazing Hollywood stories for two hours straight! My loss.