May 17, 2008

They Were Collaborators #456


David Lean and Katharine Hepburn

Friends and Family #29


The funeral of Arnold Rothstein (1928)

Artists in Action #361


Louise Brooks crosses her legs alluringly

When Legends Gather #391


Robert Bolt, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire and Claude Lelouch

The Children of Lewis Hine #9


A raveler and a looper in a hosiery mill
(Loudon, Tennessee; 1910)

May 16, 2008

John Phillip Law dies at 70


John Phillip Law takes aim in Mario Bava's delirious Danger: Diabolik.

A dependable and charismatic staple of Europop cinema in the '60s and '70s, and a busy actor up until he was recently sidelined by an undisclosed illness, John Phillip Law passed away in Los Angeles this week.

Read the AP obituary here.

And as you might expect, Tim Lucas's Video Watchblog has some fond parting words for Pygar here.

This Week's Munch #13


Separation (1896)

American Dry Spell #13


An anti-Prohibition parade float (1925)

Women of the Stage #9


Tempest Storm

Before and After #124: Robert Evans

Before


After

They Were Collaborators #455


David Tudor, John Cage, Yoko Ono and Mayuzumi Toshiro

(titanic thanks to David Manning for this image of avant-garde reserve)

May 15, 2008

When Legends Gather #390


Samuel Fuller and Claude Chabrol

Jesters of the Republic #2


Shelley Berman

Joints #9


Studio 54

Seminal Image #812


Spione
(Spies)
(Fritz Lang; 1928)

Men of God #7


Jerry Falwell

May 14, 2008

Robert Rauschenberg Dead at 82


As this blog undergoes a semi-drastic change in design, we pause to remember Robert Rauschenberg, the Texas-born radical colorist, master of form and good friend of Jasper Johns who passed from this mortal sphere on Monday evening at the age of 82.

Here, as usual, are three accounts of both life and work:

The Los Angeles Times

The Guardian

Dallas Morning News

An Illustrated History of Vice #7


A woman consumes Cocaine (1920)

American Mouthpieces #19


Marvin Mitchelson (with a client)

The Heretofore Unmentioned #12


Lesley Gore

Annals of Crime #19


Original Caption:

Los Angeles -- The body of singer Sam Cooke lies slumped in the doorway of a Motel manager's apartment. According to police, he kicked in the manager's door looking for another woman when he was shot (1964)

S is for Steichen #4


Katharine Cornell

May 13, 2008

Sex Education #100


Marilyn Monroe

The Friends of Milt Hinton #13


Dizzy Gillespie dozes (circa 1940).

Jesters of the Empire #7


Flanders & Swann

Cinema Indigo #7


Temptation
(Oscar Micheaux; 1935)

A is for Arbus #47


Please Don't Feed Us (1968)
A camper at Camp Lakecrest for overweight girls in Dutchess Country, NY.

May 12, 2008

Jesters of the Republic #1


Milton Berle

Before and After #123: Ezra Pound

Before


After

The Present Day Composer #61


Shel Silverstein (1930-1999)

This Week's Weegee #37

They Were Collaborators #454


Mickey Rooney and Rod Serling

May 11, 2008

Politicians in Action #19


Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson cuts Cattle

Friends and Family #28


Santo Trafficante greets the Press outside Kew Gardens Criminal Court in Queens (1966)

Broadcasters #37


Murray Kaufman (aka Murray the K)

Sex Education #99


Sharon Tate

They Were Collaborators #453


John Ford and Victor McLaglen

May 10, 2008

Poets are both clean and warm
And most are far above the norm
Whether here or on the roam
Have a poet in every home! #29


Robert Frost

Artists in Action #360


Yves Montand looks out from a closed set

Jesters of the Empire #6


Frankie Howerd

The Art of Jazz #57


Tenderly
(Oscar Peterson)
(Verve Records; 1950)

Adventures in the Fight Racket #15


Today's Adventure: Before a murderous throng in Reno, Jack Johnson beats the once-mighty Jim Jeffries like a redheaded stepchild; securing, at long last, the undisputed Heavyweight title (1910)

May 09, 2008

The Cool Hall of Fame #122


Conrad Veidt

B is for Beaton #9


Robert and Ethel Kennedy

An Illustrated History of American Labor #7


Massachusetts State Police troopers march into Boston to replace striking city Police (1919)

When Legends Gather #389


Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and Jerry Lewis

They Were Collaborators #452


The Drifters (circa 1955)

May 08, 2008

Seminal Image #811


Das Wachsfigurenkabinett
(Waxworks)
(Paul Leni, Leo Birinsky; 1924)

Tricky: Scenes from a Life #52


Tricky gloats (1950)

The Heretofore Unmentioned #11


Percy Faith

The Art of Cinema #304


Paths of Glory
(Stanley Kubrick; 1957)

The Golden Age of Publicity #12


Original Caption:

Joan Crawford, the lovely Metro Goldwyn Mayer player, has at last found a very handy device for carrying one's lipstick and perfume vial without losing or breaking them. The handle of her purse is a hollow tube into one end of which the lipstick is held and in the other the perfume vial. (1929)

May 07, 2008

The New Yorkers #6
Great Madmen of the 21st Century #2


Elliot Offen

May 06, 2008

Woodbridge Brown Dead at 96

Photobucket
Woodbridge Brown aka Woody 'Spider' Brown
Obituary here.

A Short Series of Rousseau #6

Photobucket
Liberty inviting the artists to exhibit at the 22nd Salon Des Independants; 1906

In the Art Deco Style #6

Photobucket
Willy Herzig, Zum 5 Uhr Tee, band 12

Through the Lens of Cyril Arapoff #17

Photobucket
This tenament, situated near Poplar High Street, was one of the worst slums in East London. It had previously been derelict, but was 'tarted-up' and relet without proper repairs being made, a fact which the new tenants soon became all too aware of.

Cinema in the Shadow of History #1


London (1941)

C is for Cunningham #13


Boy Selling Newspapers (San Francisco; 1950)

Friends and Family #27


Original Caption:

Chicago -- Salvatore 'Momo' Giancana, alleged Chicago underworld boss, leaves the Federal Building after appearing before a Federal Grand Jury. The government is seeking to indict Giancana for crossing state lines while engaging in underworld activities, a violation of Federal law. (1965)

They Were Collaborators #451


The Miracles

The Art of Cinema #303


The Naked Spur
(Anthony Mann; 1952)

May 05, 2008

The Golden Age of Publicity #11


John Huston is distracted by a model in this incredibly strange publicity still
for Otto Preminger's The Cardinal (1963)

The Cool Hall of Fame #121


Rahsaan Roland Kirk

The Art of Pop #19


Jackie Gleason Presents Velvet Brass
(The Jackie Gleason Orchestra)
(Capitol Records; 1957)

When Legends Gather #388


Walter Winchell, J. Edgar Hoover and Al Jolson