Category: classic film

classic film events photography

Misadventures in Hollywood

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Last night, Cinespia kicked off their annual summer season of cemetery screenings by showing Victor Fleming’s beloved classic, The Wizard of Oz. A group of friends and I had planned to go up and make a night of it–we had our picnic baskets packed, blankets loaded up, etc. and got on the road early to beat LA traffic. Operation Wizard of Oz at Hollywood Forever turned out to be an epic failure! We got up there with plenty of time to spare. Gates opened at 7, movie started at 8:30. So we decided to check out this vegan taco place on Melrose—their tacos were amazing. Then we sat in traffic on Santa Monica for about 30 mins. Everyone and their mother was trying to go to the screening. People were turning back blocks from the gates. People walking along the street told us it was hopeless and that the line was around the block. They weren’t kidding. The standing line was literally about a 1/2 mile long. There was no way we’d make it in. I’ve been to Cinespia a few times and I’ve never seen the line that long. We determined that it was probably a combination of the film and the fact that it was opening night for the season.

So, we ditched it for plan B: Griffith Observatory. Then half-way there we ditched that for plan C: movie at the Arclight. But when we got there and saw there were no seats for Robin Hood and it was $16 a ticket, we said “screw this,” and drove back home to drink wine and watch Pan’s Labyrinth. FAIL, LA.

But we did pass by the Church of Scientology—not the recruitment center on Hollywood Blvd, the actual celebrity mecca on Sunset. It looks like a big indigo prison/fortress. I bet they torture their cult victims inside. Once you’re in, you never leave.

Our misadventure did provide some opportunities for photography, though.  I’m on a Photo 365 quest to take at least one photo every day for an entire year in order to improve my photography skills.  Luckily, LA is quite an interesting town to photograph.  Here are some of the shots I got last night.

Downtown LA

The Hollywood sign from atop the Arclight parking structure

“carnitas” from Pure Luck on Melrose

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classic film laurence olivier photography

Laurence Olivier In Focus (Part 1)

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May 22nd is Laurence Olivier’s 103rd birthday, so I thought it would be fun to do a sort of “ode to Larry” and post some of my favorite Olivier photos in a series called “Laurence Olivier in Focus.”

This particular photo was taken during Larry’s service with the Fleet Air Arm during the war.  You can see he’s got his Navy blues on, and frankly he looks like he’s modeling that uniform, what with the popped collar and everything.  Very nice.  My favorite part of this picture, however, is that it’s made out to Vivien Leigh’s mother.  The inscription says “Darling Gertrude, with love, Larry.”  I’m sure Gertrude Hartley appreciated a nice, handsome military photo of her son-in-law.  Or perhaps Vivien asked him to send one.  Who knows!

classic film collecta-belle general discussion the oliviers

Buried Treasures (Part 3)

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Some of my favorite collectibles are vintage film star scrapbooks. Not only do they provide a rich record of (in this case) other people’s lives or careers, but they give us a glimpse into the lives of the ordinary people who assembled them.

About 5 years ago, I purchased a scrapbook on ebay that was assembled from 1944-1946 by a young British lady named Joan Still. Joan was an avid theatre-goer and a big fan of Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier. She went to nearly every play they performed during this time, despite only being able to afford a standing place or stall seats (as shown in some of the ticket stubs). Along with playbills, Joan clipped stories featuring the Oliviers and other prominent British stars of the time out of newspapers and magazines. Like a lot of theatre fans today, Joan also waited by the stage door to see her favorite actors and have her playbills autographed. I found an extra Olivier signature when flipping through a Henry IV playbill!

What emerged from Joan’s hobby is a historical primary source documenting British popular culture and events that shaped the world during the 1940s. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane, shall we?

Laurence Olivier really came to prominence on the London stage during the 1944 Old Vic season when he rocked the West End with his performance as Richard III. Along with Shakespeare, he played Sergius in George Bernard Shaw’s Arms and the Man, and the Button Moulder in Henrick Ibson’s Peer Gynt. The clipping above shows Larry in another star turn as Oedipus in the 1945 season.

… Continue reading

books classic film vivien leigh

I Can Read!

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I love the library.  More specifically, I love the Newport Beach Public Library, because it’s got the best selection of photography and film books in Orange County.  Combine their books with the ones at Huntington Beach, and you’ve pretty much got every old movie book you can think of.  Okay, that’s not true.  To get every movie book you can think of, best head north to LA and check out the reading room at the Margaret Herrick Library.

Newport did good for me today, though.  I was surprised when I found out a couple years ago that they carried Vivien A Love Affair in Camera by Angus McBean.  I’ve always wanted to own a copy, but I can nver bring myself to spend $100+ on it on ebay or wherever, so the library works fine because, you know, it’s free!  I’m probably the only person who has checked it out in years and years.  This is such a fabulous book,  and the photos are of course gorgeous (you can see them in the gallery at vivandlarry.com).  What I love most is that it’s an intimate portrait of Vivien Leigh’s (primarily theatrical) career, but Angus McBean was also a fairly close personal friend of hers and Laurence Olivier’s, so the text is great, too.

I have so much love for photography books.

classic film events

Train Station Romance

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A lot of movies that I watch are quite forgettable. It’s not that I don’t enjoy them or think the acting was bad, but once they’re over, I’m not compelled to see them again, and they fall off my radar indefinitely. Then there are films that I can watch over and over again, and never get sick of them. These are the films I consider my favorites. It doesn’t always mean they’re the best films ever made, but they always compel me to return for more. David Lean’s 1945 film Brief Encounter is one such film.

Last night, Brief Encounter was screened at the Linwood Dunn Theatre in Hollywood (part of the Mary Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study) as part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ tribute to Noel Coward. I’ve mentioned a few times how fun it is to see one’s favorite old films on the big screen.  AMPAS screened the new BFI restoration, and it looked beautiful–very crisp and clear.  Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard were amazing as usual, and I found myself picking up on little things in the film that I never noticed when watching it at home on DVD.

Going to an AMPAS screening is interesting because there are all types of people there, and they’re all film nerds, like me!  It’s fun to people watch.  There were two elderly ladies sitting behind us–one of them was British–and they were talking about all kinds of movies that they love.  I really wanted to turn around and ask, “Do you like Vivien Leigh?” but then I got shy and reminded myself that probably not everyone is as big of a fan as I am.  But I do remember when I was in England the first time, old people loved talking to me about Vivien and Laurence Olivier, and a lot of them had stories of seeing one of them out and about.  So you never know…

Aside from the obnoxious woman sitting catty corner behind us who would not be quiet the entire time, it was quite an experience!  Brief Encounter is a film I think everyone who likes old movies should see because it’s a great example of top quality movie-making.  The performances (including the supporting ones by Stanley Holloway and Joyce Carrey), the camerawork, the music and especially the dialogue combine perfectly to make a wonderfully understated melodrama.