Thursday 30 September 2010

The Late,Great Tony Curtis

Tony Curtis, the star of such films as The Defiant Ones, Some Like It Hot, Spartacus, and Boeing Boeing, passed yesterday at the age of 85. The cause was a heart attack.

Tony Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz in The Bronx on June 3, 1925. He was only eight years old when his parents decided they could not take care of their children, so that Mr. Curtis and his brother Julius were put in a state institution. Eventually Mr. Curtis returned to his old neighbourhood and attended Seward Park High School in Lower East Manhattan. During World War II Mr. Curtis served in the United States Navy.

After the war Tony Curtis returned to New York and began taking acting classes the New School for Social Research. One of his classmates was Walter Matthau. Mr. Curtis began performing in theatre in the Catskills. He was discovered by casting agent Joyce Selznick, This led to him signing a contract with Universal Pictures in 1948. It took him some time to adopt his stage name. Initially he considered James Curtis, then he settled on Anthony Curtis, later shortened to Tony Curtis. He made his film debut in How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border (1949). He would appear in such films as City Across the River (1949), Criss Cross (1949), and Francis before appearing in bigger films such as Sierra (1950), Winchester '73 (1950), and Kansas Raiders (1950). He received top billing for the first time in the movie The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951). For the next few years Mr. Curtis would star in such films as Flesh and Fury (1952), Son of Ali Baba (1952), No Room for the Groom (1952--his first comedy), Houdini (1953), The Black Shield of Falworth (1954), So This is Paris (1955), Trapeze (1956), and The Midnight Story (1957). Mr. Curstis also appeared on television, on The Red Skelton Show, Schlitz Playhouse, and GE Theatre.

It was in 1958 that Tony Curtis entered the height of his career. It was that year that he appeared in the ever popular The Vikings. It was also in 1958 that he starred in The Defiant Ones (for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role) and The Perfect Furlough (his first sex comedy). In 1959 Tony Curtis starred in the classic Some Like It Hot, regarded by some as the greatest comedy movie of all time. Mr. Curtis would go onto appear in Operation Petticoat (1959),  Spartacus (1960), 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962), Captain Newman M.D. (1962), Goodbye Charlie (1964), The Great Race (1965), Boeing Boeing (1965), Don't Make Waves (1967), The Boston Strangler (1968), Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies (1969), and Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came (1970). He also appeared on television on The Flintstones and Rowan and Martin's Laugh In.

In the Seventies Tony Curtis shifted from movies to doing more television. He starred as Danny Wilde in the British series The Persuaders and he starred in the title role in the series McCoy. He was a regular on the show Vega$. He also guest starred on the TV show Shaft and in a television version of The Count of Monte Cristo. Mr. Curtis appeared in such films as Lepke (1975), The Last Tycoon (1976), Casanova and Co. (1977), Sextette (1978),. The Bad News Bears Go To Japan (1978), Title Shot (1979), and Little Miss Marker (1980).

The Eighties through the Naughts saw Mr. Curtis appear in such films as Where is Parsifal (1983), Brain Waves (1985), Insignificance (1985), Balboa (1986), Midnight (1989), Prime Target (1991), The Immortals (1995),  Louis and Frank (1998), Play It to the Bone (1999), and David and Fatima (2008). He was the host on television of Hollywood Babylon and guest starred on Hope and Faith.

Tony Curtis was one of the last great stars of Hollywood's Golden Age. And while it may have been his dashing good looks which may have initially attracted Hollywood, and audiences, to him, it was his talent which would insure his success as an actor. Mr. Curtis was incredibly versatile. He could be outstanding in such dramatic roles as an escaped convict in The Defiant Ones or a serial killer in The Boston Strangler. At the same time, however, he excelled in comedy roles, such as a musician forced to dress in drag to protect his life in Some Like It Hot or a journalist juggling three different, stewardess girl friends in Boeing Boeing. Of course, he was naturally at his absolute best in those roles which relied upon his natural charm, whether in the movie The Perfect Furlough or the TV series The Persuaders. Very few actors in the history of movies possessed the charm, looks, and talent which Tony Curtis did. Quite simply, he was one of the last few true movie stars.

Liu Wen for Harper Bazaar Magazine Korea October 2010

Liu Wen for Harper Bazaar Magazine Korea October 2010.

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Magazine : Harper's Bazaar Korea Magazine
Issue : October 2010
Model : Liu Wen
Photographer : Yelena Yemchuk

Street Fashion Rebecca

Rebecca weears Zara cardigan, Ebay blouse, Mango Leather Skirt, Falke tights, Miu Miu bag, Primark jewelry.

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Guy Laroche Spring 2011 RTW Shows

Guy Laroche Spring 2011 RTW Shows

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Wednesday 29 September 2010

Tuesday 28 September 2010

Gloria Stuart Passes On

Gloria Stuart, an actress who appeared in such classics as The Old Dark House (1932) and The Invisible Man, passed Sunday, September 26. She was 100 years old.

Gloria Stewart was born in Santa Monica, California on July 4, 1910. She attended Santa Monica High School and the University of California, Berkeley, but dropped out in her junior year to marry. She acted in the Golden Bough Theatre and wrote for a weekly newspaper in Carmel, California, where she and her husband settled.  She was appearing at the Pasadena Playhouse in 1932 when she signed a seven year contract with Universal Pictures.

Miss Stuart made her film debut in Street of Women in 1932. She would appear in the films Back Street (1932)and The All-American (1932) before appearing in one of her best known roles. In The Old Dark House Gloria Stuart played Margaret Waverton, one half of a married couple who finds themselves who find themselves stranded in an old mansion with some rather bizarre occupants. She went onto appear in the films Air Mail (1932), Laughter in Hell (1933), Private Jones (1933), and The Kiss Before the Mirro (1933). In The Girl in 419 (1933) Miss Stuart played another role, that of Mary Dolan, a mysterious woman who is a witness to murder. In 1933 that she played another notable role, that of the daughter of the sinister Robert Von Helldorf (Lionel Atwill) in Secret of the Blue Room. It would be in 1934 that Gloria Stuart would play another one of her signature roles, that of Flora Cranley. the fiancĂ©e of the title character (Claude Rains)  in The Invisible Man. She then appeared in such films as Roman Scandals (1934), Beloved (1934), and The Gift of Gab (1935).

Disappointed in the roles in which she was cast at Universal, Gloria Stuart left the studio for 20th Century Fox. There she appeared in such films as Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935), The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936), Poor Little Rich Girl (1936),The Girl on the Front Page (1936), Girl Overboard (1937), Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938), Time for Murder (1938), The Three Musketeers (1939), and It Could Happen to You (1939). Miss Stuart took a break from acting in 1939, returning in 1943 in the film Hre Comes Elmer (1943). She appeared in the films The Whistler (1944), Enemy of Women (1944), and She Wrote the Book (1945) before retiring from acting. In her own words, she had wearied of playing a "girl reporter, girl detective, girl overboard."

In 1975 Gloria Stuart retuned to acting with a bit part in the television movie The Legend of Lizzie Borden. She made a small guest appearance on the TV show The Waltons and had a cameo in the film In the Glitter Palace (1977). By 1980 Miss Stuart was receiving more substantial roles. She guest starred on such shows as Enos, Mannimal, and Murder She Wrote. She appeared in such television movies as The Violation of Sarah McDavid, There Were Times, and She Knows Too Much. She appeared in the movies My Favourite Year (1982), Mass Appeal (1984), and Wildcats (1986). In 1997 she appeared as Rose in Titanic, a role which garnered her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. She went onto appear in the films The Love Letter (1999), The Million Dollar Hotel (2000), and Land of Plenty (2004 her last appearance on screen). She guest starred on The Invisible Man, Touched by An Angel, and Miracles.

Most obituaries of Gloria Stuart have opened with words to the effect that she was largely forgotten until her appearance in Titanic. I must state this is, quite simply, wrong. While the general public may not have remembered Gloria Stuart, there were many film buffs who remembered her quite well. Indeed, it must be pointed out that Titanic was not her comeback, as Miss Stuart had already made a comeback with her cameo in the film In the Glitter Palace, released a full sixteen years before Titanic. And while Miss Stuart did an impressive turn in Titanic (she was far superior in the film than Kate Winslet, whom I usually like, playing what was allegedly the same character), it must be pointed out that Rose was hardly Miss Stuart's most notable role.

Indeed, Miss Stuart had displayed considerable talent throughout her career, often in roles that when played by another actress might be forgettable. She was impressive in The Old Dark House, as a young and understandably rattled young wife in circumstances no one would want to find himself or herself. Miss Stuart was also impressive in The Invisible Man, adding poignancy to the movie as the tragic lead character's beloved. And while Gloria Stuart made have not cared to be typecast as girl reporters, girl detectives, and girl murder suspects, she did the role well. Indeed, she made the film Girl Overboard, in which she plays a young woman suspected of murder aboard a passenger ship, enjoyable. For much of her career Gloria Stuart played thankless roles in sometimes forgettable movies, but she also did them well. While some of the films Miss Stuart may have starred in may have been forgettable, she was always memorable.

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Giorgio Armani Spring 2010 RTW Fashion Show

Giorgio Armani Spring 2010 RTW Fashion Show.

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Naomi Campbell on GQ Russia October 2010

British Super Model Naomi Campbell pose for men’s GQ Magazine Russia October 2010. Photographed by Solve Sundsbo.

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Valentina Zelyaeva for Harpers Bazaar Japan October 2010

Model Valentina Zelyaeva photo shot for the Fashion Magazine Harper’s Bazaar Japan for October 2010. Photographer Takaki Kumada

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fashion magazine pics, celebrities posters

Kim Kardashian Red one Shoulder Gown

Kim Kardashian Red one shoulder gown. She wore at The Unmasking gala for the new LACMA pavilion.

Dress - Georges Hobeika

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Monday 27 September 2010

Hammer Films on TCM All October!

Fans of horror films, at least those who worth their salt, know that from 1958 to 1976 Hammer Films produced the greatest run of horror movies outside of Universal Pictures in the Thirties and Forties. Although shot on low budgets, the Hammer horror movies had a lavish look with striking colour. They also had the perfect balance of suspense, horror, violence, and even sexual tension (something the Universal classics could never capitalise upon).

This October Turner Classic Movies will be showing four classic Hammer horror movies every Friday night. It kicks off with one of the best Hammer movies of all time, their version of Dracula (1958) starring Sir Christopher Lee. Over the next several Fridays, viewers will have the opportunity to see The Devil Rides Out (1968-starring Sir Christopher Lee as a good guy for a change), The Mummy (1959), Quatermass and the Pit (1967), The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), and many others.  While there are some notable omissions (I think they should have shown the original Quatermass Xperiment), TCM made some very good selections when it comes to the Hammer horror movies (indeed, my favourite, Brides of Dracula, is among them).

For those of you who have never seen the classic Hammer horror films, I urge to tune into TCM every Friday. The Hammer horror movies are pivotal in the history of horror. They were among the first horror movies shot in full colour. They were also among the first to actually show blood on the screen (although they tended to be very conservative in its use compared to later horror movies). Perhaps the biggest revolution they brought to the horror movie was, quite simply, sex. With films in general becoming more liberal in both the United Kingdom and the United States in the Fifties and Sixties, Hammer Films were able to endow their movies with a strong sexual undercurrent that was often lacking from many horror movies made after the revised United States Motion Picture Production Code was adopted in 1934. Most of the Hammer Films are very well made, so much so that the typical film buff who is not a horror fan can enjoy.

Below is a schedule of the movies TCM will be showing. All times are Eastern Standard.

Friday October 1st

8:00PM: Dracula (1958)

9:30PM: The Brides of Dracula (1960)

11:00PM: Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1966)

12:45AM: Dracula Has Risen From the Grave (1968)

Friday October 8th

8:00PM: Plague of the Zombies (1966)

9:45PM: The Devil Rides Out (1968)

11:30PM: The Reptile (1966)

1:15AM: The Gorgon (1964)

October 15th

8:00PM: The Mummy (1959)

9:45PM: Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb (1964)

11:15PM: The Mummy’s Shroud (1967)

1:00AM: Blood From the Mummy’s Tomb (1971)

October 22nd

8:00PM: X: The Unknown (1957)

9:30PM: Quatermass and the Pit (1967)

11:15PM: The Damned (1963)

1:00AM: The Stranglers of Bombay (1960)

October 29th

8:00PM: The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

9:30PM: The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)

11:15PM: Frankenstein Created Woman (1967)

1:00AM: Frankenstein Must be Destroyed (1969)

Anatomik Vampire Jewelry From Fendi

Anatomik Vampire Jewelry From Fendi.

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Moschino Spring 2011 RTW Shows

Moschino Spring 2011 RTW Show.

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Image and video hosting by TinyPic

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