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 suppose you would like to know how actresses of my day differ from actresses of today. Well, the actresses of today are richer.”
—Olivia de Havilland

 

John Frederick Peto
American painter (b. 1854, Philadelphia, d. 1907, New York City)
Tom’s River
1905
Oil on canvas, 59 x 41 cm
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

 

Howard Edgerton
Football Kick, 1938

 

Polish poster for Black Narcissus, 1947

 

Irwin Blumenfeld
New York City, for “Vogue” 1949

 

Jackson Pollock
Number, 34, 1949
Oil and enamel on white paperboard mounted on Masonite
22 × 30 1/2 in
55.9 × 77.5 cm

 

Rick McGinnis
Kristin Scott Thomas, Toronto, Sept. 1996

 

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in a scene from Swing Time, 1936.
“What do dancers think of Fred Astaire? It’s no secret. We hate him. He gives us a complex because he’s too perfect. His perfection is an absurdity. It’s too hard to face. No dancer can watch Fred Astaire and not know that we all should have been in another business.”
– Mikhail Baryshnikov

 

Henri Rousseau(1844-1910)
Artillerymen, ca. 1893–95 Les artilleurs, ca. 1893–95
Oil on canvas
31 1/8 x 39 inches (79.1 x 98.9 cm)

 

Bruce Davidson
Iran, 1964

 

1929 Packard 640 Custom Eight roadster

 

John Haberle
American painter and lithographer (b. 1856, New Haven, d. 1933, New Haven)
The Slate
c. 1895
Oil on canvas, 31 x 24 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

 

George Hurrell
Joan Crawford, 1930s

 

Jackson Pollock
Blue Poles, 1952
Enamel and aluminium paint with glass on canvas
212.1 cm × 488.9 cm (83.5 in × 192.5 in)
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

 

“I did ‘War and Peace’ in velvets and furs in August. In the hunting scene when I’m in the velvet and a high hat, the family was plodding across a big field in the blazing Roman sunshine, and, all of a sudden, the horse fainted out from under me. They quickly got me out of the saddle so I didn’t end up being rolled over. So when they say I’m as strong as a horse, I am. I’m stronger! I didn’t faint. The horse did.”
—Audrey Hepburn on her experiences shooting ‘War and Peace’ (1956)

 

Berenice Abbott (American, 1898-1991)
Gunsmith, 6 Centre Market Place, Manhattan
February 4, 1937
Gelatin silver print 9 5/8 x 7 9/16″ (24.4 x 19.1 cm)

 

Gold and silver inlaid Colt New Line 30 pocket revolver, late 19th century.

 

William Michael Harnett,
American painter (b. 1848, Clonakilty, d. 1892, New York)
Old Models
1892
Oil on canvas, 138 x 72 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

 

Erwin Blumenfeld
New York City, 1952

 

William Holden, Nancy Olson, Sunset Boulevard, 1950
Written by Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, D. M. Marshman, Jr.

 

Jackson Pollock
One: Number 31, 1950
1950
Oil and enamel paint on canvas
8′ 10″ x 17′ 5 5/8″ (269.5 x 530.8 cm)

 

A mother-of-pearl tablet inscribed with a menorah found in Caesarea, Israel, April 2017. (Ilan Ben Zion/Times of Israel)

 

Ariel wishes all our friends and relatives a lovely and inspirational Shabbat.

 

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Comments

  1. Olivia is telling you something — when these stars historically break away from their home studios, Bette Davis, Olivia herself, Bogart, and claim to be looking for better projects, what they are looking for is more, and more, money. nothing wrong with that, but it should not be romanticized since quite obviously, the home studio has significantly aided in their fame and success. We should have heard some thanks along the way. All of these people today are chiefly remembered for the work done under contract.

  2. Astair was also an excellent golfer and loved race horses.

    Debbie Reynolds had a similar experience with Gene Kelly in “Singin’ in the Rain.”

    • Agreed. That quotation was quite the compliment. Of course, it noticeably ignores the amount of practice & rehearsal he put in to get so blithely perfect. As you recall, Swing Time is my favorite of the Astaire/Rogers movies.

  5. What’s not to love about your lineup this week? Nothing.

    I can’t even complain about the Mets jersey Ariel is wearing because he’s so darned cute — and this is coming from a die-hard Cardinals fan!

    Have a wonderful Sabbath everyone.

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