Seraphic Secret

Robert J. Avrech: Emmy Award winning screenwriter. Movie fanatic. Helplessly and hopelessly in love with my wife since age nine.

Vertigo

Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions

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“I adore not being me. I'm not very good at being me. That's why I adore acting so much.” ―Deborah Kerr
“I adore not being me. I’m not very good at being me. That’s why I adore acting so much.”
―Deborah Kerr

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Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions

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“The mixed reviews and poor box office for Vertigo lessened my self-confidence. I always have this feeling that I’m supposed to do something, to mean something. My sense of that started to weaken, as if, ‘Oh, I thought this was a medium that I was supposed to touch people in and I’m not having an impact.’ As time went by, I thought, ‘This is not the right medium.’ It’s a wonderful medium and I enjoyed working in it but I started to think that this must have been a detour. This must not be my medium for doing something important and to touch people. I loved acting, which was never about money, the fame. It was about a search for meaning. It was painful.” —Kim Novak, The MacGuffin interview, 2004
“The mixed reviews and poor box office for Vertigo lessened my self-confidence. I always have this feeling that I’m supposed to do something, to mean something. My sense of that started to weaken, as if, ‘Oh, I thought this was a medium that I was supposed to touch people in and I’m not having an impact.’ As time went by, I thought, ‘This is not the right medium.’ It’s a wonderful medium and I enjoyed working in it but I started to think that this must have been a detour. This must not be my medium for doing something important and to touch people.
I loved acting, which was never about money, the fame. It was about a search for meaning. It was painful.”
-Kim Novak, The MacGuffin interview, 2004

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Talking About Carly Talking

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[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWQY1aJ8JjU[/youtube]

 

A major, but frequently overlooked ingredient that contributed to the glamorous image of Hollywood’s greatest stars were their voices.

Under the studio system, actors were given rigorous voice training. They were taught to enunciate clearly, and how to emphasize certain words in order to give better line readings. They were drilled on how to breathe in order to speak their dialogue with confidence and ease.

Director Howard Hawks did not hesitate to make Lauren Bacall stand on a Malibu cliff and scream at the waves until her voice was raw and hoarse. He felt, correctly, that a deep, smoky voice on a female was, well, sexy.

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Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions

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“Always be a first rate version of yourself.” -Audrey Hepburn Photo by Yousuf Karsh, 1959
“Always be a first rate version of yourself.”
-Audrey Hepburn
Photo by Yousuf Karsh, 1959

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Friday Photos: Everything But the Kitchen Sink

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“I’VE WORKED WITH A LOT OF GREAT GLAMOROUS GIRLS IN MOVIES AND THE THEATER. AND I’LL ADMIT, I’VE OFTEN THOUGHT IT WOULD BE WONDERFUL TO BE A FEMME FATALE. BUT THEN I’D ALWAYS COME BACK TO THINKING THAT IF THEY ONLY HAD WHAT I’VE HAD - A FAMILY, REAL LOVE, AN ANCHOR - THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH HAPPIER DURING ALL THE HOURS WHEN THE MARQUEES AND THE FLOODLIGHTS ARE DARK.” Eve Arden
“I’ve worked with a lot of great glamorous girls in movies and the theater. And I’ll admit, I’ve often thought it would be wonderful to be a femme fatale. But then I’d always come back to thinking that if they only had what I’ve had — a family, real love, an anchor — they would have been so much happier during all the hours when the marquees and the floodlights are dark.”
— Eve Arden

Baltimore. Garland, Texas. Iran. Yemen. ObamaCare. Iraq. Syria. Shia. Sunni. Clinton Cash. IslamoNazis. IRS. Benghazi. Lois Lerner. Thug. Federal Deficit. Islamic State. Hillary. Server. Delete 30,000 emails. War on police. Minimum wage.  Mohammed cartoons. Racist. Transgender. Income inequality. BDS. Beheadings. Chemical weapons. Iranian nukes…

How about some pictures to help set aside—at least for a few precious minutes—the age of Obama.

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