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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 “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
“I had not directed anything before. In fact I hadn’t told anyone to do anything before.” — Dorothy Arzner
“I’d rather do a picture for a small company and have my own way than a B picture for Paramount.” — Dorothy Arzner It’s her birthday today. Here’s an excellent interview with her from 1974. I have written quite a … Continue reading
Posted in Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Clara Bow, Dorothy Arzner, Joan Crawford, Katharine Hepburn, Lucille Ball, Maureen O'Hara, Rosalind Russell, women directors
4 Comments
“I hope I’ll die on stage at the age at 105, playing Peter Pan.” — Joan Fontaine
A re-post of the tribute I wrote about Joan Fontaine when she died in December of 2013. She almost made it to her goal. She was 96 years old. It’s her birthday today. While filming “The Women”, in 1939, Joan … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Joan Crawford, Joan Fontaine, Laurence Olivier, Olivia de Havilland, Rosalind Russell
25 Comments
September/October 2023 Viewing Diary
I moved in late September. Again. I found a little cozy apartment, the second floor of a little house, with slanted ceilings, little cubbyhole-eaves everywhere, and a big yard. It’s a 10 minute walk to the beach. I found it … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies
Tagged Bette Davis, biopic, comedy, Costa-Gavras, Dana Andrews, documentary, drama, Eli Wallach, England, Ewan McGregor, film noir, France, Fritz Lang, George Cukor, George Sanders, Germany, Gloria Grahame, Hal Wallis, historical drama, Ireland, Joan Crawford, Joan Fontaine, Judy Blume, Kate Lyn Sheil, Lana Turner, Lee Marvin, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Miriam Hopkins, Norma Shearer, Otto Preminger, Paul Schrader, River Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Roman Polanski, Rosalind Russell, Sidney Lumet, Spain, Supernatural, Vincente Minnelli, women directors, WWII
29 Comments
Mirrors #10
Jean Harlow giving herself a pep talk in the wonderful Reckless, where she marries a deeply unhappy man (Franchot Tone), while being best buddies (and something more?) with William Powell. In this mirror moment, she feels herself getting hot and … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies
Tagged drama, Jean Harlow, mirrors, Rosalind Russell, William Powell
2 Comments
Recommended Books: Memoirs
More recommendations: Recommended Fiction Recommended Non-Fiction MEMOIRS The Fervent Years: The Group Theatre And The Thirties, by Harold Clurman Probably the most famous of all the Group Theatre-related books. Harold Clurman writes his memories of that time and what those … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books, Directors, Music, writers
Tagged Anjelica Huston, Austria, Baby Doll, Benjamin Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, Carroll Baker, Czechoslovakia, Diane Keaton, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Elia Kazan, Ellen Terry, Elvis Presley, Frank McCourt, Ginger Rogers, Goldie Hawn, Group Theatre, Harold Clurman, Ireland, James Salter, Jeanette Winterson, John Strasberg, Katharine Hepburn, Kathleen Turner, Lana Turner, Lauren Bacall, Lee Strasberg, Marlon Brando, Maud Gonne, Memoirs, Patricia Bosworth, Primo Levi, Robert Evans, Rosalind Russell, Russia, Shane Leslie, Shelley Winters, Shirley MacLaine, Stefan Zweig, Steve Martin, The Kid Stays In the Picture, Victor Serge, WWII
2 Comments
Supernatural: Season 2, Episode 6: “No Exit”
Directed by Kim Manners Written by Matt Witten “So this is hell. I’d never have believed it. You remember all we were told about the torture-chambers, the fire and brimstone, the “burning marl.” Old wives’ tales! There’s no need for … Continue reading
Posted in Television
Tagged Cary Grant, His Girl Friday, Howard Hawks, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Kim Manners, Rosalind Russell, SPN Season 2, Supernatural
102 Comments
The Books: Secret Ingredients: The New Yorker Book of Food and Drink; edited by David Remnick; ‘Enough’, by Alice McDermott
Next up on the essays shelf: Secret Ingredients: The New Yorker Book of Food and Drink, edited by David Remnick Secret Ingredients is a collection of food writing from The New Yorker. I love these collections. So far, we have … Continue reading
“Walter, you’re wonderful, in a loathsome sort of way.”
Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in “His Girl Friday” Bright Wall/Dark Room is a new monthly movie magazine created by the team at Bright Wall/Dark Room. The latest issue has journalism as its theme, and they asked me to write … Continue reading