Categories
Archives
-

-
Recent Posts
- 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- “I don’t represent anything.” — Liz Phair
- “I don’t really know why, but danger has always been an important thing in my life – to see how far I could lean without falling, how fast I could go without cracking up.” — William Holden
- “Some syllables are swords.” — Metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan
- “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- “All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.” — Charlie Chaplin
- “As a cinematographer, I was always attracted to stories that have the potential to be told with as few words as possible.” — Reed Morano
- “Even though I’m writing about very dark material, it still feels like an escape hatch.” — Olivia Laing
- “It’s just one of the mysteries of filmmaking that sometimes you do something that you don’t even think it’s important, then it turns out to be.” — Lili Horvát
- “Ballet taught me to stay close to style and tone. Literature taught me to be concerned about the moral life.” — Joan Acocella
Recent Comments
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- Mike Molloy on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- Scott Abraham on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- Scott Abraham on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- Mike Molloy on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- sheila on March 2026 Snapshots
- sheila on “I don’t really know why, but danger has always been an important thing in my life – to see how far I could lean without falling, how fast I could go without cracking up.” — William Holden
- Jessie on March 2026 Snapshots
- Helen Erwin Schinske on “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- Maddy on “I don’t really know why, but danger has always been an important thing in my life – to see how far I could lean without falling, how fast I could go without cracking up.” — William Holden
- sheila on “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- Helen Erwin Schinske on “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- Joseph Pedulla on Susan Hayward Sleeps Raw
- sheila on “For I am of the seed of the WELCH WOMAN and speak the truth from my heart.” — Christopher Smart
- P Nickel on “The realization of ignorance is the first act of knowing.” — Jean Toomer
- Melissa Sutherland on “For I am of the seed of the WELCH WOMAN and speak the truth from my heart.” — Christopher Smart
- Bryce on The Books: “Nine Stories”- ‘The Laughing Man’ (J.D. Salinger)
-
Tag Archives: John Huston
John Garfield in We Were Strangers (1949)
John Huston’s gripping (and very sweaty) drama We Were Strangers tells of the fight of Cuban revolutionaries to take back their country, aided by an American (born in Cuba, forced to go into exile), played by John Garfield. Jennifer Jones … Continue reading
“What a swell party this is”
(Title of this post stolen from a comment to this awesome photo – and the quote is, of course, already borrowed from another source – perfect!) There is so much about that photo that I absolutely love I am finding … Continue reading
The Books: “John Huston: A Biography” (Axel Madsen)
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: John Huston, by Axel Madsen Axel Madsen (who died last year) is one of those writers I envy. I would love that kind of career. He wrote in-depth biographies of John Jacob Astor, the Marshall … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Directors, James Joyce
Tagged entertainment biography, Humphrey Bogart, John Huston, Peter Lorre, The Dead, Truman Capote
10 Comments
The Books: “The Making of the African Queen: Or How I Went to Africa With Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind” (Katharine Hepburn)
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: The Making of the African Queen: Or How I Went to Africa With Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind, by Katharine Hepburn This isn’t strictly a biography and really should be catalogued … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books
Tagged entertainment biography, Humphrey Bogart, John Huston, Katharine Hepburn, Lauren Bacall
8 Comments
Happy Birthday, Herman Melville
Herman Melville was born on this day in 1819. Moby-Dick is one of my all-time favorite books (my essays and excerpts are linked at the bottom of this post) – so I figured I wouldn’t just re-hash that old territory … Continue reading
Posted in On This Day, writers
Tagged E.M. Forster, Hart Crane, Herman Melville, John Huston, Michael Schmidt, Moby Dick, Nathaniel Hawthorne
3 Comments
The Books: “Now” (Lauren Bacall)
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: Now, by Lauren Bacall Published in 1994, Now is the second of Lauren Bacall’s three autobiographies. By Myself (excerpt here) was published in 1978, and Now came out in 1994. For the most part, it … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books
Tagged entertainment biography, Humphrey Bogart, John Huston, Lauren Bacall
1 Comment
Michael Caine: John Huston’s direction
Excerpt from Michael Caine’s awesome book Michael Caine – Acting in Film: An Actor’s Take on Movie Making. Great observation here from John Huston – from when he directed Caine in “The Man Who Would Be King” John Huston managed … Continue reading
Bogart’s First Screen Kiss
Bogart, after doing film after film after film where he played a villain in the early 30s, where he always seemed to get shot by Edward G. Robinson, finally got a chance to show another side to his character in … Continue reading
Posted in Actors
Tagged Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, John Huston, Mary Astor, The Maltese Falcon
10 Comments
George Raft’s Shortsightedness
Letter to Jack Warner, from George Raft turning down the role in The Maltese Falcon: “As you know, I strongly feel that The Maltese Falcon is not an important picture.”
Robert Blake in Treasure of the Sierra Madre
In Treasure of the Sierra Madrea little Hispanic kid runs up to Bogart and tries to sell him a lottery ticket? He bugs him and bugs him until finally Bogart throws a glass of water in his face. The little … Continue reading

