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- 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
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- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
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- 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
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- 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
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- sheila on “For I am of the seed of the WELCH WOMAN and speak the truth from my heart.” — Christopher Smart
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- Bryce on The Books: “Nine Stories”- ‘The Laughing Man’ (J.D. Salinger)
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Tag Archives: Rosalind Russell
Seen Recently: A Free Soul (1931), Whirlpool (1949), The Women (1939)
A Free Soul directed by Clarence Brown A daring (to say the least) pre-Code film, starring Norma Shearer (very good, for the most part, here), a ferocious and sexy Clark Gable, a sympathetic and noble Leslie Howard, and a masterful … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged Clark Gable, film noir, George Cukor, Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Otto Preminger, Pre-Code, reviews, Rosalind Russell, screwball comedy
15 Comments
Seen Recently: The Train Robbers (1973), Dark City (1998), Easy A (2010), His Girl Friday (1940), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
The Train Robbers directed by Burt Kennedy Somehow I missed this totally entertaining film, despite my love for John Wayne, Ann-Margret (and Ben Johnson)! An absolutely gorgeous LOOKING film (it was cinematographer William H. Clothier’s final film), it stars John … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged Ann-Margret, Cary Grant, His Girl Friday, Howard Hawks, John Wayne, Ralph Bellamy, reviews, Rosalind Russell, sci-fi, screwball comedy, westerns
26 Comments
“… my histrionic ability”
He was not only dear, he was cool. If an actor thought he could get any place by having tantrums, watching Bill Powell would have altered his opinion. I remember a story conference during which he objected to a scene … Continue reading
Happy Birthday, Archie Leach
I first saw the light of day — or rather the dark of night — around 1:00 a.m. on a cold January morning, in a suburban stone house which, lacking modern heating conveniences, kept only one step ahead of freezing … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, On This Day
Tagged Cary Grant, Gene Wilder, Howard Hawks, Irene Dunne, Katharine Hepburn, Peter Bogdanovich, Rosalind Russell
23 Comments
Brooksie Remembers
Phyllis Brooks and Cary Grant, 1938 (photo from the personal collection of Phyllis Brooks) Katharine Hepburn recalled: Cary was linked with many women in those days. He knew all the girls and introduced many of them to Howard Hughes, whom … Continue reading
Movie Marathon on Block Island
While I had tons of time to read, and walk, and have visitors, and write, and dream, I also had an orgy of movie-watching out on the Island. I brought some movies with me, but for the most part, I … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged A Place in the Sun, Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Cyd Charisse, Deborah Kerr, Elizabeth Taylor, Fred Astaire, Fredric March, George Sanders, Gloria Grahame, Hedy Lamarr, Henry Fonda, Humphrey Bogart, In a Lonely Place, Ingrid Bergman, Jimmy Stewart, Joan Crawford, John Ford, Johnny Guitar, Josef von Sternberg, Karl Malden, Katharine Hepburn, Kay Francis, Loretta Young, Marlene Dietrich, mirrors, Montgomery Clift, Philadelphia Story, Robert Duvall, Robert Mitchum, Rosalind Russell, Shelley Winters, Tennessee Williams, The Darjeeling Limited, The Double Life of Veronique, Wes Anderson
1 Comment
Related links
This … is related to this … is related to this gorgeousness. Hilarious! I love him. (Thank you, Luisa, for sending me that link. I adore him, and I adore how cranky he is about everyone else’s perpetual crankiness!) I … Continue reading
The Books: “Life Is a Banquet” (Rosalind Russell)
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: Life Is a Banquet, by Rosalind Russell (and Chris Chase) Marvelous book. Laugh-out-loud funny, touching inspiring, serious – with awesome character sketches (her sister Duchess will live on in my memory FOREVER) and just a … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books
Tagged Cary Grant, entertainment biography, His Girl Friday, Howard Hawks, Rosalind Russell
6 Comments
Happy birthday, Howard Hawks!
He’s my favorite director. Not only has he directed some of my favorite films of all time, but you look at his run of hits in the 30s and 40s (and beyond – but that was his real heyday) – … Continue reading