Review: Marilyn Monroe: The Complete Last Sitting

Marilyn Monroe: The Complete Last Sitting by Bert Stern
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



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Review: Marilyn

Marilyn by Gloria Steinem
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



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Review: Greenlights

Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Martin's Hollywood Journey

The Golden Age of Hollywood invokes images of sophisticated movie stars living a life of decadence and excess.  My mind pictures movie stars emerging from the latest automobiles and decked in furs and diamonds just to go to Schwab's.  This is a time of outrageous living created by this new job market.
 I am fascinated by old Hollywood and many times I have typed in "golden age of Hollywood" in my library's book search box in order to find an interesting read.  It was during one of these searches that I came across an author's name...Martin Turnbull.  I had never heard of him and my library didn't have a book written by him but Amazon told me that he had a book called the "Garden on Sunset".  Martin actually offered the digital book for free, so you know I got it.

The story is about three up and comers, Marcus Adler-a potential screenwriter, Kathryn Massey-who dreams of being a newspaper reporter and Gwendolyn Brick-a woman that longs to be a movie actress. It follows their Hollywood dreams and adventures.  Along the journey, the reader gets to meet HUGE stars.  Some in their decline, some in their heyday and a few in places where they didn't want to be caught.  Clark Gable, Rudy Valentino, Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall,  F Scott Fitzgerald, and HG Wells (there are so many more).

I recommend this Garden of Allah series for anyone that loves the Hollywood set and forgotten movie stars.  The series is now complete so start the first one, read straight through and say "wow, that was fantastic".

I want you to check out his website where as of today you can get the first two books in the series for free.  You might as well buy all of the others because you will be hooked.

Cards made this week

I have depleted my stash of cards, so this weekend was devoted to replenishing my stockpile.  I started with some photos of movie stars.  I called the first set "The Old Hollywood Collection".  They will be used to send to my movie buff friends.

I then made many generic type cards that could be sympathy, birthday, thank you or just because cards.

You can make cards without making a birthday card...























Last were a set of coffee cards for fun.

Loretta Young

I don't know if you are like me or not, but I got through phases with the actors I watch. Most recently I was watching Gene Kelly and Marilyn Monroe, but this week I started watching Loretta Young and Clark Gable.  Not everyone knows (especially not back when they were alive) that Clark and Loretta had a mad affair while filming Call of the Wild (if you have not seen this you should).  The result was a baby. Loretta went away to have the child and then she "adopted" the child.  That's right the child we all thought was not hers was really hers and the baby daddy was Gable.  

Call of the Wild was on TCM the other day, and I made all the kids watch it.  For one it was about Alaska, Two Clark Gable and three it is a wonderful story.  Today I was thinking of Loretta Young and I knew she had said something about God once and I wanted to remember so I googled it.  

That quote inspired my entries for the CR84FN color challenge and this week's Mojo Monday sketch challenge.  

The quote is "I'm grateful to God for his bountiful gifts...He gave me courage and faith in myself" (I featured it as the inside of the top card)

And while I was looking I found one more that was worthy of remembering.

"No one is ever too old, too rich too poor, to pray"

Then I painted my version of I perceive Loretta to look.  Both cards today feature what I think Loretta looked like as a Follies girl. 

Marilyn Monroe

It's been 50 years since Marilyn Monroe walked upon this earth.  Marilyn was never the greatest actress or the most beautiful woman, but there was something about her.  Maybe her vulnerability....her undying need to be loved that stemmed from a childhood of abandonment. Or maybe it was her ability to make us desire to watch her by the way she could get the camera to love her.  I have never been able to figure it out....never able to understand why a 9-year-old kid would watch Some Like it Hot one time and then she just could not get enough.

As a 9-year-old kid got her first poster of Marilyn from her friend Kelly.  Then this 9-year-old kid grew older all the while collecting Marilyn items. I would babysit just so she could make money to buy more Marilyn things. In 1987, the 25th anniversary of her death, many items were released commemorating Marilyn including her movies; this little girl bought all of them and even got the coveted Marilyn coffee mug.  Movies, paper dolls, books, pictures, magazines, newspapers... I had a little bit of everything.  In high school, my photo would be featured in a yearbook page showcasing the amount of Marilyn items she had.

Through the years, kids take over the tv and there is not time to watch the Marilyn movies.  Then the VCR is gone and no way to watch the VHS tapes.  It was time to sell them and go to the DVD.    All the VHS tapes were sold and I began to buy the DVDs...now only Bus Stop and There's no business like show business are all that is missing.  I am still reading Marilyn books over the years and is excited to see if maybe more books are published for the 50th.

 I never met her or saw a movie first run (or even on the big screen for that matter), but she has always been important to me.  Every year I remember her death on August 5 and think of what might have been.  What maybe Marilyn could have accomplished. Her career was really only active for about 10 years, so yes should have done so much more.  Her drug usage ruined all of that.  So if there is one thing we can learn from Marilyn it is for sure, DON'T DO DRUGS. 

 



 

Tommy Rall

So I wrote a fan letter to Tommy Rall of seven brothers for seven brothers fame. The dude is one amazing dancer, let me just say. If you ever get the chance to see kiss me kate you can his extraordinary work. Anyway, he is 80 so my expectations were not that high. John called me yesterday and told me that I had a case. I said open it. It was autographed photos of Tommy Rall. How cool is that? Very! Thanks, Tommy!

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Xanadu

Don't judge me because I like Xanadu. No siree bob, don't you dare. Yes, I know Xanadu has been laughed at for years and years and years. Basically, since the day it was released, but think not about the crappy storyline, or that one dude's bad acting...think about the movie.

The movie is an artistic wonder from the get-go. It has some wonderful paintings and that was just the first attraction for me and thrilling animation from Don Bluth. The second is a man that you may never have heard of Gene Kelly. He did a little song and dancing in his younger years, nothing to write home about but that is what he did. In this movie, he only dances twice and once on roller skates, he had to be 70 something when this movie was made. He even danced around Olivia Newton-John and made it appear that she could dance, but Gene was good at that trick (in that past life). This was his last movie by the way.

Kenny Ortega (High School Musical fame) was the choreographer...and I think he did a great job!!!

Then there is the soundtrack, even if Jeff Lynne won't admit it, the music is brilliant. ELO, the Tubes, Gene and Olivia. A perfect score for the fantasy film, set on roller skates.

I am writing this because I bought the movie years ago and watched it many times and then it disappeared. Where was it? I could not find it, I last remembered watching it on the way to Mason Ohio and Great Wolf Lodge. I figured that I dropped it out of the truck while traveling. NO I DID NOT, I found it yesterday, in a computer manual that I never even knew that I opened. I was gathering stuff to get rid of our stupid Celeron computer and there it was in the manual. I have watched it 3 times today. I have missed it so.

The greatest part to me is the ending...Gene Kelly "Drum Dreams" on roller skates. Then Olivia comes in and does a WOWING rendition of "Fool Country" and "First Stage out of this Town" and then "Xanadu".

As a child, my favorite part was after FSOTT (first stage out of this town) the music tempo changes and Xanadu starts, Olivia starts walking up the stage in this silver lame' dress, with her hair in a glitter corn roll type hairdo. I LOVE this part!!!!!

Guys, it's not a great movie plot-wise, as I stated but if you want a visually appealing movie, with great music and Gene Kelly, yeah this one is for you.