Publishers keep cranking out new classic film books and there are plenty coming out this summer. I just picked up the reissue of Olivia de Havilland's memoir Every Frenchman Has One and I have my eye on the new book about Twentieth Century Fox. There are plenty more new books to keep an eye out for. Here is my new round-up with publication dates ranging from May to September 2016.
Are you new to my list? Here are the details. Links go to Goodreads and this time I've added buy links. Books include biographies, memoirs, scholary texts, coffee table books and more from a variety of publishers. All publication dates are subject to change.
Make sure you let me know in the comments section below which of these books interesting and what you're reading now!
The sub-genre of WWII housing shortage films has a following among classic movie enthusiasts. Add Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1944) to The More the Merrier (1943), Government Girl (1944) and Standing Room Only (1944). You'll find this film is the most unusual out of the bunch. Sure it's a comedy about the housing shortage situation but it's also part fantasy and part sex comedy. I could have said romantic comedy but I didn't and you'll see why.
Simone Simon plays Kathie Aumont, a young Quebecoise on her way to Washington D.C. to stay with her friend Sally and take a government job. A fantastical incident on the train puts her face-to-face with a bad luck gremlin (played by Jerry Maren, voiced by Mel Blanc) who follows her around for 7 weeks.
Her first stroke of bad luck comes when she discovers Sally (Gladys Blake) recently eloped with a new guy George (Grady Sutton) and Kathie is no longer welcome. Kathie finds a vacancy with a marine named Johnny (William Terry). He gives her the key to his place so she can stay there while he's on duty. But he's too besotted with the pouty ingenue and forgets to tell her that he's also given out keys to her apartment to several men. Kathie thinks she has the place to herself but a string of male visitors prove otherwise. With every new guy comes Kathie's frequent declaration: "Johnny doesn't live her anymore!" The rotating cast includes James Ellison, Chick Chandler, Billy 'Froggy' Laughlin and others.
Kathie's bad luck, with the help of the gremlin, spirals out of control.
The neighbors think she's a floozy, some of these male visitors want to
get to know her better and in the end she picks one to marry. Who will
it be?
I came to this movie because it features a relative unknown Robert Mitchum had a minor role in the film as the
married CFO Jeff Daniels who just needs a place to crash while he waits
for his wife. He gets more than he bargained, an epic fight scene
ensues and everyone winds up in court. When the film was re-released,
Mitchum's star was on the rise and he was given top billing despite his
small role.
"Say you're purdy"- Mike
"I'm beautiful" - Kathie
A 1944 review labeled this film "morally unobjectionable". The crux of the story, the fact that Johnny doesn't live here any more, is a plot device to deliver one type of story while seeming to be another. This is really about a young single woman in the city who playfully calls all the fellows Johnny and they all happen to have keys to her apartment. Everyone else within the world of the story thinks she's promiscuous. However,
the movie audience knows better. It's all one big misunderstanding. This type of plot device fascinates me. It's one way film makers in
the era of Hays Code enforcement titillated audiences while staying
"morally unobjectionable".
Simone Simon's Kathie is a strong character in many regards. She's self-assured and understands the power of her beauty. Kathie travels from far away to help the war effort and become a Rosie the Riveter. While Johnny is away, she becomes a veritable handyman and fixes the many problems with the apartment. However, she's a victim of her time and the confines of her story. What I call "the fix" comes when it's necessary for her to fall in love with one of the guys and get married. When the film was re-released four years the title was changed to And So They Were Married further sanitizing the sexy plot.
"I don't want to talk." - Kathie
"Neither do I." - Mike
And this film is sexy. If you don't see it you're blind. Simone Simon's Kathie has incredibly charged interactions with the various men in the film. A sleeping Kathie gets a slap on the rump from the ice man who thought she was Johnny. The confines of a crowded taxi cab forces Kathie to sit on Johnny's lap and their fellow
passengers encourage Kathie to give Johnny a kiss because what if she never sees him again? Kathie plays rough with a sailor, shares a soda with two guys, walks in on a guy taking a bubble bath who then offers to show her his tattoo. Even private things like taking a shower, slathering her face with cold cream, walking around in her pajamas are done around the men. The ending of the film, set five years ahead, strongly suggests Kathie's promiscuity as we try to figure out who is the father of her three kids.
"Don't watch me." - Kathie
"I like to." - Mike
"How did this movie ever get made?" I asked myself many times. And it's not just because of it's sexy plot. It's because of Simone Simon and the Gold Key Scandal of 1938.
"When I saw all those men with those keys…" Mr. Collins
In 1944 Simone Simon was enjoying the height of her Hollywood career. Cat People (1942) was a success and The Curse of the Cat People would follow a couple years later. Simon hadn’t always been successful in Hollywood. She's made a crack at it before. In the 1930s, Simon was new to the US and didn’t speak much English. Ralph Baum of 20th Century Fox took pity on her and assigned his secretary Sandra Martin to be Simon’s full-time assistant.
Nicknamed the “Tender Savage” in Europe and marketed as Europe’s sweetheart in Hollywood, Fox tried to make Simon a star but proved unsuccessful. Simon’s bad luck continued. She took her assistant Sandra Martin to court charging her with embezzling money, forging checks and stealing luxury items from Simon’s home. Martin fought back claiming that Simone Simon had a promiscuous lifestyle that involved scandalous parties and that she favored lovers two 18 karat gold keys to her home. When the defense attorney asked Simon to name one of the lovers she proclaimed “you’ll never know!”.
Martin proved to be a shady character. Her real name was Athena Alexandroff and she had a criminal record that included check fraud. She was found guilty and sentenced to nine months in jail. Fox ended Simon’s contract and she fled to Paris to work with Jean Renoir only to come back at the start of WWII.
“She was like a cat... as long as you
smoothed her, she purred; when you stopped... she scratched.” - Sandra Martin on Simone Simon
The gold key scandal became part of Simone Simon’s reputation and eventually her legend. I’m sure producers Frank and Maurice King of the King Brothers were well aware of this when they hired her for Johnny Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Maybe Val Lewton remembered Sandra Martin's observation of Simon's cat-like nature she was cast in Cat People (1942).
Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1944) is a fun film, a bit bizarre and a nice curio from the past. It's essentially a promiscuity tale disguised as a chaste romantic comedy. It's made chaste with the circumstances and contemporary audiences will have fun with the not so subtle suggestiveness.
"His story is also the story of the birth of an industry -- the transition of the movie business from a nickel novelty to a world wide phenomenon." - Goessel
Douglas Fairbanks Sr. was a film industry pioneer. Not only did he pave the way for how male actors would influence film and culture, he also was a visionary who molded the fledgling business of making movies into what it is today. He used his influence to create United Artists, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, the Motion Picture Relief Organization and Pickfair Studios. Fairbanks' charm, winning smile, penchant for nice clothes and his physicality influenced the culture. He's the reason why getting a tan was preferred over being pale, why leading men started donning mustaches and his mannerisms in his famous swashbucklers and action flicks became the standard for heroes on screen for years to come.
"He's not good-looking. But he has a world of personality -- just worlds of it. His name is Douglas Fairbanks." - Grace George
Born and raised in Colorado, Douglas Fairbanks' father abandoned the family and he was raised by his mother along with his two brothers. His brothers would become Fairbanks' right-hand men when it came to finances and business decisions. They're astute financial savvy kept Fairbanks wealthy for a very long time. Fairbanks himself was an entrepreneur. Even in the infancy of the film industry he had the foresight to become an independent producer and filmmaker. His mother's influence on him was strong as well. Her commitment to temperance encouraged the young Fairbanks to abstain from alcohol which he did for most of this life.
In Colorado he studied and became an actor at a young age and avoided the vaudeville circuit for the most part. He immediately set his sights high and it wasn't long before he was in New York and on Broadway. Even when things didn't go well for him Fairbanks had a natural drive to succeed and he wasn't satisfied until he was lead actor in a major Broadway production. When he achieved that goal he set his sights higher to Hollywood.
Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks
"The next 14 years of their lives would find them inextricably linked in print and in perception and the hearts of the public." - Goessel
The book is a deep dive into Fairbanks' adult life and his career in film as well as his storied marriage to mega-star Mary Pickford. We learn about his first wife Anna Beth Sully, mother of his only child Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and who also served as his first business manager. We also learn about Fairbanks' brief and sad marriage to Lady Sylvia Ashley. But it's his love for Mary Pickford and their famous marriage that drove his career and his fame and made them both the envy of many. Their union is recounted in endless detail in the book with the help of love letters, wires and telegrams.
"If there was one thing that Douglas Fairbanks never did, it was stand still." - Goessel
Fairbanks' personality was what made him famous. He resonated with contemporary audiences and influenced them with his charm and antics. We learn a lot about Fairbanks' quirks including how he could never sit still enough to read a book or even read a full script. He had a major case of wanderlust and loved nothing more than to travel the world. Fairbanks did almost all of his own stunts and was innovative in plotting out action sequences. He was fearless in a way that made him admired the world over.
"He had assumed the role of pioneer so often and so well -- moving from stage to film; embracing production, then distribution; implementing new discoveries such as Technicolor; investing more; building higher; always at the forefront of the new and the better." - Goessel
Fairbanks was a business pioneer in an industry that was still figuring out how to be an industry. He was savvy enough to become an independent filmmaker and producer and made history when he co-founded United Artists along with Mary Pickford and his best friend Charlie Chaplin among others.
"His sunny cheer and astonishing athletic prowess spoke to virtues of America in an era when America had no self-doubts about possessing any." - Goessel
For all his strengths Fairbanks had flaws too. He was incredibly jealous and his restlessness often interfered with his marriages and his work. He had a troubled relationship with his son Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Father and son differed greatly in personality, physical appearance, acting styles and choice of roles. Jr. was a constant reminder to Sr. that he could only be young and popular for so long.
Douglas Fairbanks in The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
The complexities of this larger than life figure are all captured in The First King of Hollywood. The author weaves a fine a tale delivering to us the most comprehensive look at Douglas Fairbanks' life and career. All of his films are discussed in detail including: The Good Bad Man, Mystery of the Leaping Fish, The Half-Breed, Manhattan Madness, Intolerance, The Thief of Bagdad, The Mark of Zorro, Three Musketeers, The Iron Mask, The Gaucho, The Taming of the Shrew, etc. No film plots were explained which was quite a relief. The focus instead is on the behind-the-scenes making of the film and Fairbanks' involvement.
Years ago author Tracey Goessel purchased a collection of Fairbanks and Pickford's love letters and this treasure trove was the seedling that grew into this book. Goessel is a silent film expert, founder of the Film Preservation Society, on the board of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival and has given many talks about Fairbanks and his films.
Goessel's scholarship shows in the level of detail uncovered and shared within the pages of this book. What should make us willingly give our time to a biography should be rich and deep content we can't get anywhere else. I want the fine details and the bigger picture, I want the context, I want the uncovered gems laid out before me. I want more than IMDb and Wikipedia can provide. Goessel delivers that with this biography.
I did have a few issues with the book. I would have preferred the photographs in the book to be placed throughout the text, especially where they made sense in context, instead of in a glossy insert. The author had a tendency to make some remarks that were intended to entertain but instead come off as judgmental. It disrupted the narrative for me when I had to stop to look up the date of a film because the year wasn't referenced. Adding the year would have helped this reader follow along the chronology of Fairbanks' work.
Goessel comes to us an expert on this historic figure and The First King of Hollywood is the definitive biography on Douglas Fairbanks. For anyone interested in learning about this pivotal time in film history and about the man who influenced it, this book is a must read.
Thank you to Chicago Review Press for sending me a review copy of this book.
It's almost July and my Summer Reading Classic Film Book Challenge is in full swing. If you haven't signed-up yet you have until July 15th! Here is what I'm reading this summer.
The Unconscious Actor: Out of Control, In Full Command
by Darryl Hickman
When I asked Darryl Hickman about fond memories he had of working in Hollywood as a child star, he directed me to his book. He shared a few memories with me during our chat on the TCMFF red carpet but if I wanted to hear anymore I know I'd have to dive into this gem. This book is half autobiography, half a missive on acting and should prove to be an interesting read.
The First King of Hollywood book poster at BEA 2015
The First King of Hollywood: The Life of Douglas Fairbanks
by Tracey Goessel
My excitement for this title started when I spotted the cover art on display at Book Expo America in 2015. Chicago Review Press is a fantastic publisher with a growing list of excellent classic film books. I'm reading this one now and it'll be my first review for the summer reading challenge.
William Cameron Menzies: The Shape of Films to Come
by James Curtis
I enjoyed Curtis' 1,000 page biography on Spencer Tracy that I thought I'd try his newest book about master film production designer William Cameron Menzies. I love learning about the people behind-the-scenes beyond just the directors. It takes a team of talents to make films and Menzies left his mark on many of them.
Mark A. Vieira at the 2016 TCM Classic Film Festival
Into the Dark: The Hidden World of Film Noir, 1941-1950
by Mark A. Vieira
I had a chance to meet Mark A. Vieira at the TCM Classic Film Festival and to get an advance copy of Into the Dark autographed. Content-wise this should be pretty light and I added it to my summer reading list to lighten my reading load. Also I'm still in withdrawal from last year's excellent Summer of Darkness course and noir series hosted by TCM. A little noir during the summer just seems right.
Hitchcock Truffaut (2015) film poster
Hitchcock
by François Truffaut
I watched Hitchcock Truffaut (2015), the documentary about the legendary interview between the two directors, which is essentially a film about the making of this book. So of course I had to read this book! Hitchcock by Truffaut had been out-of-print but re-released thanks to the documentary.
The Dawn of Technicolor book
The Dawn of Technicolor 1915-1935
by James Layton and David Pierce
I started reading this beauty last year but life got in the way and I had to set it aside. I purchased it at Cinefest 35 and got to meet both authors, got the book signed and attended their Dawn of Technicolor presentation (which they also did at TCMFF that same year). I can't wait to read this one in earnest.
Profiles in History's Hollywood Auction 83, hosted by Invaluable, is a 3-day online auction starting tomorrow June 29th.
Collectibles up for bids include: portraits, production shots, lobby cards, press books, autographed photos, posters, TV and Film negatives, production and costume sketches, shooting scripts, manuscripts, contracts, costumes and more
Stars featured include: Rita Hayworth, Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, and other legends including an extensive catalog of Bettie Page memorabilia.
The auction starts Wednesday June 29th at 11AM PST with over 1,700 items parsed out over 3 days. You can watch the live Hollywood Auction 83 here. Most of the items from the classic film era are up for auction on the first and second days.
I'm fascinated by movie marketing, especially how it was done back in the early days of cinema. Plus it doesn't hurt that the film features one of my favorite actresses Norma Shearer. I'm off to look in between the cushions of my sofa. Maybe I can find some spare $100s in there?
It's time for my fourth annual summer reading challenge! This is a great way to tackle your growing pile of unread film books. All the details about this challenge can be found on my 2016 Summer Reading Classic Film Book Challenge page.
Here are some of the basics.
Sign up for the challenge here.
Read a classic film book
Write a review and post it on your Blog, Instagram or Goodreads profile
Submit your review link here.
Repeat until you have read and reviewed 6 books!
Review 6 and be automatically entered to win a prize.
Challenge runs from June 1st until September 15th, 2016. You have until July 15th to sign up.
One grand prize winner will receive the following:
My fourth TCMFF was by far my best. I really pushed myself to do things outside of my comfort zone like filming with TCM and doing red carpet interviews. I also gave myself a lot more wiggle room in my schedule which allowed for more sleeping and eating. Our hotel was close by which made things a lot easier. It was a good balance and for once I didn't get sick at the festival. I had great social interactions, saw lots of interesting people and went to some amazing screenings. 2016 TCMFF gets a big thumbs up from me.
My thoughts:
I had luck on my side because I got into everything I wanted to and only ended up skipping two events on Sunday. Overall this was fantastic considering how much I had to miss last year. If I go again next year I'll make sure not to skip movies just to get in line for something else. It's really not worth it. I regret not going to the midnight screenings of Roar and Gog which seemed to benefit from a social experience unlike other festival screenings. I watched Roar on my own and it just wasn't the same.
The special guests were a delightful mix of stars and personalities including several former child actors. This festival fest very intimate because of the additional access I got. The highlights for me were interviewing Gina Lollobrigida and Darry Hickman and several others, taking a selfie with Carl Reiner, flirting with Norman Lloyd, meeting Lillian Michelson and chatting with director Bruce Brown.
The social aspect was mixed. I had a blast hanging out with my social media friends and meeting a few folks for the first time. Passholders were more aggressive this time around. There was lots of bad theater behavior. The TCM volunteers were great and kept everything in order. I had fun chatting with a couple of them.
I do wonder about the social culture of the festival overall. Bloggers and social media folks already have a built-in network of people to socialize with. What about everyone else? Do they stick to their festival partner or go at it alone? Is the festival a lonely experience for some? When you're in line with a couple hundred other passholders, chances are you'll strike up a conversation with someone else orr you wait in line with your friends. Is being in the VIP/spotlight line different because you don't line up for as long and there are fewer people there with you?
I love the theme of moving pictures and the sub-themes too (sports movies, discoveries, religious movies, etc.). Discovery seemed to be a big hit at the festival and many people prioritized seeing 35mm film over DCP. The pre-code Double Harness got sold out twice which didn't surprise some but did surprise me. This is a film that's been available in full and for free on TCM's website for years (they took it down some time ago). I guess you can never underestimate the draw of pre-codes and William Powell! I was disappointed that TCM programmed the Harold and Lillian documentary in a difficult time slot. They should have put it on Sunday or an early morning screening.
I made a point of spending more time at the closing night party and I'm so glad I did. I had such a fun time and got to see a lot of people. Our post-party In-N-Out burger jaunt was a blast.
New-to-me films I saw at the festival included Los Tallos Amargos (1956), Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982), Pleasure Cruise (1933), several Vitaphone shorts and Band of Outsiders (1964).
Films I've seen before included Tea and Sympathy (1956), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), The Beau Brummels (1928), Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story (2015), Endless Summer (1966) and Network (1976).
Ben Mankiewicz had a big role to play at the festival and I thought he did a fantastic job. I wish Osborne's not being there would have been addressed in some way because his absence was definitely the elephant in the room.
Kudos to TCM for hosting 7 book signings and partnering with Larry Edmunds Bookshop. The lobby interviews were missed. I hope they bring them back next year. I didn't find anything I wanted in the TCM boutique but was more than happy just to buy a bunch of books instead.
Jessica and Me. The festival just wouldn't be the same without her.
Me and Danny
Me and Jill
Millie, Kate and me
Daniel and me
Jackie and me
Sabina and me
Me and Casey (we kinda match)
Casey, Kate, Millie, Lindsay, KC, Laura and me
Warner Archive's Matt Patterson on the red carpet. AKA best TCMFF photo ever. Photo credit: Jessica.
Kate, Sabina, Angela, Raquel, Danny Jessica, Kristen,
Lindsay, Nikki, Millie, Pete, Carlos, Jill, Casey, KC, Kim and Matt
Special Guests:
Alec Baldwin
Peter Bogdanovich
Bruce Brown
Francis Ford Coppola
Danny DeVito
Illeana Douglas
Faye Dunaway
Darryl Hickman
Anna Karina
Chris Lemmon
Norman Lloyd
Gina Lollobrigida
Leonard Maltin
Lillian Michelson
Eddie Muller
Margaret O'Brien
Sr. Rose Pacatte
Daniel Raim
Jennifer Raim
Carl Reiner
and more
TCM Staff: Ben Mankiewicz, Charlie Tabesh, Jennifer Dorian, Genevieve McGillicuddy, Scott McGee, Sean Cameron, David Byrne, Chuck Moore, Coleman Breland, Marya Gates, Noralil Fores and many more. These people are rock stars.
