#signature garbo

[like-pixie-dust]

[clancysstole]

[faustiandevil]

Boy, you wanna come to my motel, honey? Boy, you wanna hold me down, tell me that you love me? Boy, you know that I have really never loved nobody, but you?

René Vincent next to drawing a lot of vehicles was also knows for drawing some very nice lanky dames, so I’m taking notes. While I’m taking a break from writing for the AU (please read the prologue until then, it’s good), I’m doing some character explorations with Dick/Drusilla. A lot of her mannerisms will be based off the big name stars like Garbo and Dietrich (the Modiano cigarette one kind of gives off Dietrich vibes even with the hat)… well mostly when Dick is sober, otherwise she acts like Tallulah Bankhead. I think everyone has heard that one quote from Bankhead that goes a little like “My father warned me about men and booze but he never said anything about women and cocaine.”, which is questionable if she ever said that, but it’s the vibes that I’m going for here. She was still known for being wild at parties and I need that for my queen.

I did keep Dick’s mustache in some of the drawings just for the sake of the character being recognizable in some way. I also generally kept to his signature colors of blue, red and black. Ignore Max in the second one this is not about him. Btw if anyone is wondering where the name Drusilla came from, it’s from the comics, and to me it’s canon. I wrote a whole essay about Dick in drag I’m an expert on this subject, I know my lore.

[deadlockorignalfilms]

This seems really important

List of reported  and confirmed Warner Home Video DVDs that have rotted:

Box Sets and Series:

4 film favorites: Hugh Grant

4 Film Favorites: King of Horror- The Dreamcatcher side of Disc 1 doesn't load in any player. That side of the disc has become discolored.

4 Film Favorites: Lethal Weapon

4 Film Favorites: Urban Action (Black Belt Jones, Hot Potato, Black Samson, Three the Hard Way) - Hot Potato freezes at layer chagne

Adventures of Superman: The Complete Fifth & Sixth Seasons - Disc 2 (2U / L907)

Alfred Hitchcock - The Signature Collection-All these discs fail at the layer change:- Foreign Correspondent- Strangers on a Train: Two-Disc Special Edition (both discs)- Stage Fright- Suspicion- The Wrong Man

Animaniacs Seasons

Astaire and Rogers Collection Vol 1 and 2 and complete set

Barbara Stanwyck Signature Collection

Batman - The Complete Animated Series- Volume 2, Disc 3 starts skipping at episode 5.- Volume 3, Disc 2 doesn't play the last episode.

Bette Davis Collection Vol 1

Bette Davis Collection Vol 2

Bette Davis Collection Vol 3

Blade Runner 4 Disc Collector’s Edition-Disc 1,2 and 4

Burt Lancaster Signature Collection

Busby Berkeley Collection Vol 1

Busby Berkeley Collection Vol 2

Buster Keaton TCM Archives collection

Cary Grant Signature Collection

Clark Gable Signature Collection

Classic Comedies Collection

Classic Comedy Teams Collection

Classic Musicals From the Dream Factory Vol 2

Classic Musicals From the Dream Factory Vol 3

Cult Camp Classics Volumes

Dallas-multiple seasons

Doris Day Collection Vol 2

Dukes of Hazzard - Multiple Seasons

Elizabeth Taylor-Richard Burton collection

Elvis Presley [Deluxe 2-Volume] (10-Disc Set)

Errol Flynn Signature Collection Vol 2

Errol Flynn TCM Spotlight WWII Adventures

Esther Williams Collection Vol 1

Film Noir Classic Collection Vol 3

Film Noir Classic Collection Vol 4

Film Noir Classic Collection Vol 5

Forbidden Hollywood Vol 1

Forbidden Hollywood Vol 2

Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

Friends: Season 3, Disc 1,Season 6, Discs 1, 3, and 4

F-Troop Season 2

Gary Cooper Signature Collection

Greta Garbo Signature Collection

Henrik Ibsen Collection- The Master Builder and The Lady From The Sea will not play.

Humphrey Bogart Signature Collection Vol 2

James Cagney Signature collection

James Stewart Signature Collection

Joan Crawford Collection Vol 1 and 2

John Ford and John Wayne Collection

John Ford Collection

Katharine Hepburn 100th Anniversary Collection

Katharine Hepburn Collection

Legends of Horror Collection-all discs rot.

Literary Classics Collection 

Lois & Clark - The Complete Fourth Season: Disc 4 freezes at episode 3 on one player and read as invalid on another.

Looney Tunes Gold Coll 5 - Disc 2,Disc 4

Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 2: Disc 3

Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 4 - all four discs have rotted

Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 5 - all four discs have rotted

Lucille Ball Film Collection

Man From Uncle Complete Series: Season 2 Disc 6

Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland Collection- TCM reissue pack is okay

Motion Picture Masterpieces Collection

Myrna Loy and William Powell Collection TCM Spotlight

Nancy Drew Movie Mystery Collection

One Tree Hill

Paul Newman Collection

Pinky and the Brain seasons

Popeye Volumes

Powerpuff Girls Complete Series

Rooney & Garland Collection

Sam Peckinpah Collection

Shakespeare Collection

SilverHawks Volume One - Disc 4 (2U / L906)

Smallville - The Complete Sixth Season: Disc 2 skips and freezes. Discs 3 and 4 only play the first two episodes on one player and read as invalid on another.

Spawn: The Animated Collection - 10th Anniversary Signature Edition (Steelbook)- Disc 1 freezes and skips over the opening eight minutes of the first episode.

Stanley Kubrick - Warner Home Video Director's Series

Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show - Disc 2 (60, L387)

Superman Ultimate Collector’s Edition Tin-multiple films and extras no longer play. Some discs completely rotted.

Superman: The Theatrical Serials Collection: Disc 4

Supernatural (Season 2), some episodes on discs 4 & 5 won't play

Tales from the Crypt - The Complete Fifth Season: Disc 1, Disc 2 froze before the end of the last episode on one player and read as invalid on another.

Tales from the Crypt - The Complete First Season: Disc 1 doesn't play.

Tales from the Crypt - The Complete Sixth Season: Disc 1 & 2 won't play some of the episodes. At least three are inaccessible.

Tarzan Collection Vol 2

TCM Archives Laurel and Hardy Collection - both discs rotted

TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection - Horror

Tennessee Williams collection

Tex Avery's Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection - both discs rotted

The All-New Super Friends Hour Volume One - Disc 1 (2U / L908), Disc 2 (2U / L907)

The Christopher Reeve Superman Collection

The Cult Camp collection

The Exorcist - The Complete Anthology- Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist fails at the layer change.

The Flash: The Complete Original Series - Disc 2 (2U / L907), Disc 6 (2U / L907)

The John Wayne Collection

The Sopranos

The Twisted Terror collection

The West Wing-Multiple Seasons

Tom & Jerry Spotlight Collection Volume 2: Discs 1 and 2

Tom & Jerry Spotlight Collection Volume 3: Disc 1

Tough Guys Collection-reissued as Gangsters Volume 2

Twisted Terror Collection

Vacation/European Vacation- Comedy Double Feature release

Val Lewton Collection-I Walked With A Zombie / The Body Snatcher, The Leopard Man / The Ghost Ship

Veronica Mars

Veronica Mars - The Complete Second Season

Veronica Mars - The Complete Third Season

Warner Bros Gangsters Vol 1

Warner Bros Gangsters Vol 2

Warner Bros Gangsters Vol 3

Warner Bros Gangsters Vol 4

Individual Titles (Boxsets listed if originally released as part of a set): 

2001: A Space Odyssey-Stanley Kubrick Director’s Series

30 Seconds to Tokyo

A Clockwork Orange-Stanley Kubrick Director’s Series

A Free Soul/Divorcee-A free Soul rotted-Forbidden Hollywood Collection - Volume 2

A Midsummer Night’s Dream-Shakespeare collection and standalone

A Nightmare on Elm Street - Infinifilm Edition

A Slight Case of Murder-Tough Guys Collection and Gangsters V2

Across the Pacific-Humphrey Bogart: The Signature Collection - Volume 2

Act of Violence /Mystery Street (Only Plays Mystery Street) Film Noir v4

Action in the North Atlantic-Bogart Signature Collection v2

Adventures of Don Juan-Errol Flynn SC V2

Air Force

All This and Heaven Too

Angels in the Outfield (1951)

Arsenic and Old Lace-snapper case

Austin Powers in Goldmember (Infinifilm Series)

Babes In Arms- Rooney & Garland Coll

Babes on Broadway- Rooney & Garland Coll

Bathing Beauty-Esther Williams Vol. 1

Best Foot Forward

Billy Budd-Literary Classics Coll 

Black Legion-Gangsters V3

Blade Runner- 4 disc collector’s edition

Bombers B-52

Boom Town

Born to Dance

Bringing Up Baby-Classic Comedies Collection

Broadway 1936

Brother Orchid-Gangsters v4

Bullets or Ballots-Tough Guys Collection and Gangsters V2

By the Light of the Silvery Moon-The Doris Day Collection, Vol. 2

Captain Blood-Errol Flynn SC V1

Captain Horatio Hornblower-Literary Classics Coll

Captain of the Clouds-James Cagney Signature Collection

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof-Tennessee Williams collection

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory SE

City for Conquest-Tough Guys Collection and Gangsters V2

Command Decision

Crime Wave/Decoy-Film Noir V4

Critic’s Choice

Cruising

Damn Yankees

Dance Girl Dance

Dangerous When Wet-Esther Williams, Vol. 1

Dark Passage

David Copperfield-Motion Picture Masterpieces 

Decoy-Film Noir Classic Collection Volume 4

Deep in My Heart-Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory: Volume 3

Desperate Journey-Errol Flynn TCM WWII Adventures

Destination Tokyo-The Cary Grant Signature Collection

Dinner at Eight-Standalone copy

Dive Bomber-Errol Flynn SC V2

Dog Day Afternoon SE

Dr. X/Mask of Fu Manchu-Legends of Horror

Dragon Seed-Katharine Hepburn 100th Anniv Coll

Droopy

Du Barry Was a Lady 

Each Dawn I Die-Tough Guys Collection and Gangsters V2

East of Eden SE

East Side West Side 

Eight Legged Freaks

Evelyn Prentice-Powell and Loy TCM Collection

Executive Suite-Barbara Stanwyck Signature Collection

Eyes Wide Shut-Stanley Kubrick Director’s Series

Female/Three on a Match-Forbidden Hollywood v2

Firecreek-James Stewart Signature collection

Flamingo Road-Joan Crawford V2

Flying Down to Rio (Astaire/Rogers Collection)

Fort Apache

Friendly Persuasion

G Men-Tough Guys Collection and Gangsters V2

Garbo Silents Collection-Garbo Signature Collection

Gentleman Jim-Errol Flynn Signature Collection V2

Girl Crazy-Rooney & Garland Coll

Gold Raiders/Meet the Baron double feature

Hairspray SE

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix SE

High Sierra

His Kind of Woman-Noir V3

His Majesty O'Keefe-Burt Lancaster Signature Collection

Hit the Deck-Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory: Volume 3

I Love You Again (Loy/Powell collection)

I'll See You in My Dreams-The Doris Day Collection, Vol. 2

Illegal / The Big Steal (only plays Illegal)-Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol 4

In This Our Life-Bette Davis collection v2

Invisible Stripes-Gangsters V4

Jeopardy-Barbara Stanwyck: The Signature Collection

Jailhouse Rock Remastered (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) - Elvis Presley 10 Film Set

John Carpenter’s Someone is Watching Me

Julius Caesar

Kismet-Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory: Volume 3

Lady Be Good- Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory: Volume 3

Lady Killer-Gangsters V3

Land of the Pharaohs-Cult Camp Classics v1

Looney Tunes Golden Collection vol 1 disc 1 & vol 5 disc 4

Love Crazy-Powell and Loy TCM Collection

Lucky Me-The Doris Day Collection, Vol. 2

Madame Bovary-Literary Classics Coll 

Manhattan Melodrama-Powell and Loy TCM Collection

Meet the Baron/Gold Raiders-Gold Raiders won’t play

Mogambo-Clark Gable SC

Mr. Skeffington-Bette Davis collection v1

My Dream Is Yours-The Doris Day Collection, Vol. 2

Mystery Street-Film Noir Classic Collection Volume 4

Neptune's Daughter-Esther Williams, Vol. 1

Night and Day-The Cary Grant Signature Collection

Night of the Iguana

Ninotchka-Garbo Signature Collection

Nothing But Trouble-Classic Comedy Teams Collection

Lucky Man

On An Island With You-Esther Williams V1

On Moonlight Bay-The Doris Day Collection, Vol. 2

Operation Crossbow

Othello-Shakespeare Coll

Passage to Marseille-Bogart Signature Coll V2 

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid SE-Peckinpah Collection

The Wild Bunch 2 disc SE-Peckinpah collection

Personal Best

Popeye

Popeye vol 1 discs 1 & 4

Presenting Lily Mars

Pride and Prejudice-Motion Pic Masterpieces

Prince of The City

Rebel Without a Cause

Red-Headed Woman-TCM Archives: Forbidden Hollywood Collection - Volume 1

Reflections in a Golden Eye

Reunion in France

Rio Bravo

Roberta-Astaire Rogers coll

Romance on the High Seas-The Doris Day Collection, Vol. 2

Romeo and Juliet-Shakespeare coll

Royal Wedding-Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory: Volume 2

Sadie McKee-Joan Crawford V2

Shawshank Redemption SE

Shoot the Moon-Rooney and Garland coll

Side Street-Film Noir Classic Collection Volume 4

Splendor in the Grass-snapper

Story of Vernon and Irene Castle-Astaire and Rogers

Straight Time

Streetcar Named Desire

Strike Up the Band-Rooney and Garland Collection

Superman the Movie [Four Disc Edition]

Superman II [2 Disc Deluxe Edition]

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

Superman III (Deluxe Edition)

Superman IV-deluxe reissue

Superman Returns

Tarzan’s Desert Mystery-Tarzan collection v2

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (Unrated)

That Midnight Kiss-Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory, Vol 2

That’s Entertainment 3

That's Dancing-Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory, Vol 2

The Big Cube

The Big Steal-Film Noir v4

The Charge of the Light Brigade-Errol Flynn SC V2

The Clock (1945)

The Comedians-Taylor-Burton collection

The Corn is Green-Katharine Hepburn 100th Anniv Coll

The Dawn Patrol-Errol Flynn SC V2

The Devil Doll/Return of Dr. X-Legends of Horror Collection

The Divorce-Forbidden Hollywood V2

The Fighting 69th-James Cagney Signature collection

The Flintstones

The Fountainhead-individual and Gary Cooper Signature Collection

The Golden Compass SE

The Great Lie

The Great Ziegfeld

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

The Hill-WWII collection

The Informer-John Ford collection

The Jazz Singer-2007 release

The Little Giant-Gangsters v4

The Live By Night/Side Street-Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol 4

The Maltese Falcon 3-disc SE and Humphrey Bogart: The Signature Collection - Volume 2

The Man Who Came to Dinner-Bette Davis collection

The Naked Spur-James Stewart Signature Collection

The Old Maid-Bette Davis V3

The Pirate-Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory: Volume 2

The Prince and the Pauper-snapper case

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex-Errol Flynn SC v1

The Prodigal

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle 

The Stratton Story-James Stewart SC

The Three Musketeers-Literary Classics Coll

The Toast of New Orleans-Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory, Vol 2

The West Point Story-James Cagney Signature Collection

The Wreck of the Mary Deare-Gary Cooper SC

The Yakuza-Robert Mitchum SC

There Was A Crooked Man

They Died With Their Boots On-Errol Flynn SC v1

They Live By Night-Side Street-Film Noir v4

Three Little Words

To Please a Lady/Jeopardy-Jeopardy does not play. Barbara Stanwyck SC

Torch Song-Joan Crawford V2

Treasure Island

Twilight Zone: The Movie

Undercurrent-Katharine Hepburn 100th Anniv Coll

Vacation/European Vacation Comedy Double Feature release

Wally Gator

Watch on the Rhine-Bette Davis collection V3

Waterloo Bridge-TCM Archives: Forbidden Hollywood Collection - Volume 1

West Point Story-James Cagney Signature collection

Where Danger Lives/Tension-Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol 4

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? SE-Taylor Burton Collection

Without Love-Katharine Hepburn 100th Anniv Coll

Wizard of Oz- 2 disc SE

Wonder Woman

Words and Music-Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory: Volume 2

[monkeyssalad-blog]

Zarah Leander by Truus, Bob & Jan too! Via Flickr: Dutch or Belgian postcard, no. A.X. 290-89. Glamorous, mysterious diva Zarah Leander (1907-1981) was a Swedish actress and singer, who is now best remembered for her German songs and films from the late 1930s and early 1940s. With her fascinating and deep voice, she sang melancholy and a bit frivolous songs specifically composed for her. Zarah was for a time the best-paid film star of the Third Reich. In her Ufa vehicles, she always played the role of a cool femme fatale, independently minded, beautiful, passionate, self-confident and a bit sad. It gave her the nickname 'the Nazi Garbo', but a recent book claims that she was, in fact, a Soviet spy Zarah Leander was born Sara Stina Hedberg in Karlstad, Sweden, in 1907. Her parents were Anders Lorentz Sebastian Hedberg and Matilda Ulrika Hedberg. Although she studied piano and violin as a small child and sang on stage for the first time at six, Sara initially had no intention of becoming a professional performer. She led an ordinary life for several years. As a teenager, she lived for two years in Riga (1922–1924), where she learned German and worked as a secretary. She married actor Nils Leander in 1926, and they had two children: Boel (1927) and Göran (1929). In 1929, she had her breakthrough when her counter-alt voice was recognised by revue king Ernst Rolf. In his touring cabaret, she sang for the first time 'Vill ni se en stjärna' (Do you want to see a star?) which soon would become her signature tune. She got a record contract with the Odeon company, for which she recorded 80 songs till 1936. One of the songs she recorded in 1930 was Marlene Dietrich's 'Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestellt' from Der Blauen Engel/The Blue Angel (Josef von Sternberg, 1930). In the early 1930s, Leander played in several shows and performed in three Swedish films, including Dantes Mysterier/Dante's Mysteries (Paul Merzbach, 1930) and Falska Millionären/The False Millionaire (André Berthomieu, Paul Merzbach, 1931). Her persona in those films was already that of the singing, mundane vamp. She had her definitive breakthrough as Hanna Glavari opposite the legendary Swedish film star Gösta Ekman in Franz Lehár's operetta 'Die lustige Witwe' (The Merry Widow) (1931). In 1932 she divorced Nils Leander. She declined American work offers but she opted for an international career on the European continent because of her two school-age children. In 1936 she went to Vienna to star at the Theater an der Wien in the operetta 'Axel an der Himmelstür', composed by Ralph Benatzky and directed by Max Hansen. This parody of Hollywood and Greta Garbo was a huge success. She also got the role of a successful revue star in the Austrian film Premiere (Geza von Bolvary, 1936) with Karl Martell. Then she was offered a three-film contract by the German Universum Film AG (Ufa) studios, as propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels was looking for a new muse of the cinema of the Third Reich. She would earn approximately 200,000 Reichsmark and 53% of her gage would be paid in Swedish Kronor (crowns). Leander said "yes", despite the political situation. Zarah Leander's first film at Ufa was Zu neuen Ufern/To New Shores (1936) directed by Detlef Sierck (later known as Douglas Sirk). After the other two films of her contract, La Habanera/Cheated by the Wind (Detlef Sierck, 1937) with Ferdinand Marian, and Heimat/Home (Carl Froelich, 1938) with Heinrich George, she was so popular that Josef Goebbels, who according to his diaries did not like her, had to continue her contract. On renewal, her salary increased even further, and in 1940 the Ufa offered her a contract for six films, to be produced in the following two years, for a total of 1 million Reichsmark. Zu neuen Ufern had launched songs such as 'Ich steh' im Regen' (Standing in the rain) and 'Yes, Sir', that were sold on record in various languages. These songs earned her more money than her films, even if she was the best-paid German female film star in the early 1940s. Her songs 'Davon geht die Welt nicht runter' (It is not the End of the World) and 'Ich weis, es wird einmal ein Wunder gescheh'n' (I Know One Day a Miracle Will Happen) from her film Die grosse Liebe/The Great Love (Rolf Hansen, 1942) received double entendre in the time they were distributed and struck chords with the Germans. Among her other films in those years were the comedy Der Blaufuchs/The Blue Fox (Viktor Tourjansky, 1938) with Paul Hörbiger, a biopic of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Es war eine rauschende Ballnacht/It was a Gay Ball Night (Carl Froelich, 1939) with Marika Rökk, Der Weg ins Freie/The Way to Freedom (Rolf Hansen, 1941) with Hans Stüwe, and the crime film Damals/In the Past (Rolf Hansen, 1942) again opposite Hans Stüwe. In her films, Leander often portrayed independent, fatal women, with strong will-power but haunted by destiny. In real life, she was a 'tough cookie' too, as she demanded that she should select her scripts and composers. At a party, Goebbels once asked her ironically: "Zarah... Isn't this a Jewish name?" "Oh, maybe", she answered him, "but what about Josef?" "Hmmm... yes, yes, a good answer", Goebbels had replied, according to IMDb. Zarah Leander never became a party member and refused to take German citizenship, but her films and song lyrics were viewed by some as propaganda for the Nazi cause. After her villa in the fashionable Berlin suburb of Grunewald was bombed during an air raid in 1942 and the increasingly desperate Nazis pressured her to apply for German citizenship, she decided to break her contract with Ufa. In 1943, she secretly left Germany and retreated to Sweden, where she bought a mansion at Lönö, not far from Stockholm. Initially, she was shunned by much of the artistic community and public in Sweden (In 1936 the reactions were completely different when she started to work in Nazi Germany. Most of her Ufa films were very popular in Sweden as in the rest of Europe). In November 1944, Swedish radio decided to no longer play her records. But, as Antje Ascheid describes in her in-depth study 'Hitler's Heroines', Zarah's role was complex: "She regularly supported communal fundraisers and appeared in 'request concerts' - live radio shows in which famous star singers performed songs requested mostly by soldiers on the front - that aired all over the Reich. In addition, Leander was frequently depicted attending social functions at the homes of political leaders, which further linked her public persona to Nazi officials in power." After the war, she was severely questioned, but in 1947 she managed to record her songs again in Switzerland, where she also sang for the radio. Concert tours followed, first in Switzerland, then in 1948-1949 in Germany; and in 1949 she performed in Sweden again. Leander tried her luck once more in the film. Gabriela (Geza von Cziffra, 1950) was the third biggest box office hit of that year in Germany. The following films, Cuba Cubana (Fritz Peter Buch, 1952) with the new and younger idol O. W. Fischer, and Ave Maria (Alfred Braun, 1953) with her old partner Hans Stüwe, were both disappointments. Thus Zarah Leander's film career came to an end, even though she still did four more films till 1966. Her last film was the Italian comedy Come imparai ad amare le donne/Love Parade (Luciano Salce, 1966) with Michèle Mercier, Nadja Tiller, and Anita Ekberg. Leander would continue with musicals and operettas on stage, however, and she also sang her now evergreens in TV shows. She published her memoirs, 'Zarah's minion' (Zarah's Memories), in 1972. In 1975 she played in her last musical, 'Das Lächeln einer Sommernacht' by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler based on Ingmar Bergman's film Sommernattens leende/Smiles of a Summer Night (1955). In 1979 Zarah Leander officially retired and in 1981 she died of a stroke in Stockholm and was buried on her estate Lönö. She was married three times. After Nils Leander, she was married to journalist Vidar Forsell (1932-1943). Her third husband was pianist Arne Hülphers from 1956 till his death in 1978. In 2003 a bronze statue was raised in Zarah Leander's hometown of Karlstad at the Opera House of Värmland where she began her career. After years of discussions, the town government, at last, accepted this statue on behalf of the first Swedish local Zarah Leander Society. A year later the book 'The Mystery of Olga Chekhova' (2004) by Anthony Beevor was published, in which the author claimed that both Olga Tschechova and Zarah Leander worked for Soviet intelligence during World War II. According to the author she supplied information about Nazi Germany to a Soviet contact during her visits home to Sweden. In Germany, Zarah Leander is still an icon of the gay community, and her persona has been recreated by many drag queens. Performers like Nina Hagen have covered her songs, and director Quentin Tarantino used her song 'Davon geht die Welt nicht runter' (It is not the End of the World) in his war thriller Inglourious Basterds (2009). Sources: Antje Ascheid (Hitler's Heroines), Paul Seiler (Das Zarah-Leander-Archiv), Lennart Haglund (Find A Grave), Wikipedia and IMDb. And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

[ironborealis]

Wait wait galaxy brain thoughts here --

In an AU where the figure out Palpetine's a Sith a bit sooner :

Mace Windu is retired from the stage because "I want to be left alone" officially, but unofficially he got promoted to the Council and doesn't have time for hobbies outside the Temple.

One of his biggest fans pre-retirement, who shows up at every opening night, hangs out at the gala specifically to talk (gush) about Mace's brilliant turn as Mak-Bet in The Mon Cala Play, and get an autograph for his fictional nibling: Sheev Palpetine.

(Sheev knows Mace is a Jedi, but talent is talent, and dramatic stage arts are his only Sith weakness)

Council discovers Palpetine's the Sith. Council starts a headcount to see how fast and how many Jedi can they call back before the Sith makes a move, maybe Anakin can spy on the Chancellor --

Not necessary, Mace assures them, they have some time because he has A Plan, calls up an old director friend, and suddenly the holonet is tearing itself apart because Mace Windu will be making a triumphant return to the stage as Do-Ker Charlay in a new production of The Valachord Lesson next month.

Hold off on Order 66 boys and girls, Sheev's too busy using force-lightning on scalper bots trying to get front row center tickets for the first week of performances without having to pawn a Sith artifact.

Taking some pages out of Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich's playbooks, Mace offers a private meet and greet to the Supreme Chancellor on opening night, and of course in deference to the threats on the Chancellor's life he will meet him in his dressing room entirely in the nude to assure him that this is not a secret assassination plot.

(This is the point where Sheev should have realized the Jedi were on to him, but One. Sith. Weakness.)

Once the Chancellor agrees it's time for the Jedi to put on the best little show to save the Republic

Anakin was not invited because everyone knows he hates theater/opera. The only time he willingly goes without a bunch of whining about how he's bored is when Palpetine invites him.

Obi-Wan is just relieved that he's not playing honeypot this time. He's excited to be the lead electrician operating the spotlight in the catwalk.

Quinlan, Tholme, and Ayala have fully invested themselves in the roles of beleaguered head costumer / make-up artist / hair stylist.

Yoda is stage manager.

Sheev shows up backstage and is ambushed by Mace Windu holding only his actual lightsaber and 50 Jedi cast and crew who quickly turn him into a lightsaber pin cushion.

Anakin, who was invited to attend by Palpetine but has not recognized that the man whose face and name are on all the playbills and posters is THAT Mace Windu feels the shift in the Force and joins in on the fun, not realizing until it's too late that Palpetine's the Sith they've all been stabbing backstage. (This incident will spur Anakin to be assessed by neuropsychologist who diagnosis him with face blindness among many other diagnoses).

Mace Windu wins a Honorary Award at the Corusc-ony Awards for saving the Republic through the power of theatre.

The End

(References:

1. "I want to be left alone" - Greta Garbo on her retirement.

2. Macbeth aka The Scottish Play in theatre circles.

3. Fuck scalper bots and Ticketmaster.

4. Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich both allegedly (take with a pound of rock salt) had similar plans to assassinate Hitler that involved being in a room with him alone and naked.

5. Samuel L. Jackson was nominated for a 2022 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his role as Doaker Charles in The Piano Lesson by August Wilson.

6. By operating the spotlight in the catwalks, Obi-Wan maintains the highest of grounds at all times.

7. All of Quinlan's costume designs are sleeveless. Aayla has no clue what to do with humanoid hair so it's pigtails and headbands for everyone. They both get nominations for their work come awards season.

8. Turns out Anakin has been using people's Force signatures to identify them all these years instead of their faces, which explains how no one caught on, but does bring up questions about how he was fooled by the Rako Hardeen incident, not to mention how he missed that his friend the Chancellor's a SITH...

9. Coruscanti Tony Awards and a hat tip to Samuel L Jackson's Honorary Award at the Oscars in 2022)

Happy Birthday Ian McDiarmid

[youtubepoop2009]

ok im like an hour late but its birthday time baybee

[repentents]

                                                        INTRODUCTING  ... I  POUR  ALCOHOL  INTO  THE  GAPING  HOLE  IN  MY  CHEST.  IT  DOES  NOT  HEAL  /  NOT  TODAY  /  MAYBE  TOMORROW.

GENERAL DETAILS.

FULL NAME:  weston  tobias  abbott NICKNAME(S):  wes,  toby,  chef  in  professional  settings AGE:  forty DATE OF BIRTH:  november  22nd PLACE OF BIRTH:  westerly,  ri CURRENT LOCATION:  westerly,  ri  —  returned  officially  about  nine  months  ago ETHNICITY:  caucasian;  german  &  british  hailing GENDER:  cis  male PRONOUNS:  he  /  him ORIENTATION:  questioning RELIGION:  lapsed  catholic OCCUPATION:  executive  chef  &  current  owner  of  restaurant  ‘ six  oh  one ‘ LIVING ARRANGEMENTS:  two  bedroom  flat  downtown;  he’s  hardly  unpacked  since  moving  in  but  at  least  he  has  a  couch! FINANCIAL STATUS:  upper  middle  class  with  tendencies  to  splurge  on  practical  and  collectible  items  alike. SPOKEN LANGUAGES:  english,  conversational  german

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE, ETC.

FACECLAIM:  chris  evans HAIR COLOR AND STYLE:  dark  brown,  styled  in  a  medium  length  quiff  with  tapered  sides. EYE COLOR:  cornflower  blue  with  flecks  of  green. EYESIGHT:  farsighted,  often  wears  round  frame  reading  glasses  to  combat  such. HEIGHT:  6′1″ WEIGHT:  187  lbs. BODY AND BUILD:  well  built  &  athletic TATTOOS:  lots  of  meaningless  stick  and  pokes  dotted  around  the  few  that  actually  have  some  meaning;  most  notably,  his  brother’s  birthday  transcribed  on  his  left  wrist. PIERCINGS:  none,  but  he  still  has  a  scar  from  that  one  time  he  had  a  brow  piercing. CLOTHING STYLE:  moody  with  classical,  slim  silhouettes  when  not  adorning  his  whites  in  the  kitchen. SIGNATURE SCENT:  devoted  dior  sauvage  wearer

HEALTH.

MENTAL DISORDER(S):  unmedicated  anxiety  disorder SLEEPING HABITS:  constantly  tired,  hardly  well  rested;  sleeps  ‘ when  he  can ’. EATING HABITS:  unregulated  but  he  keeps  a  somewhat  healthy  diet. SOCIABILITY:  none.  do  not  perceive  him. ADDICTIONS:  alcoholism,  previous  history  with  prescription  pill  abuse. DRUG USE:  irregularly,  only  smokes  weed ALCOHOL USE:  frequently  but  not  socially

PERSONALITY.

LABEL(S):  the  isolato,  the  crestfallen,  the  despondent POSITIVE TRAITS:  independent,  ambitious,  imaginative,  competitive,  reliable NEGATIVE TRAITS:  enigmatic,  nihilistic,  domineering,  perfectionistic,  penitent HABITS:  taking  up  space  for  no  good  reason:  sprawling  across  chairs  and  couches,  leaning  in  doorframes  and  against  walls,  taking  his  anger  out  on  his  line  staff,  nervous  hand  rubbing. GOALS AND AMBITIONS:  hardly  inhibits  any  current  long  term  ambitions  on  account  of  his  therapist’s  suggestion;  for  now,  wes’  only  goal  is  getting  through  the  day.

FAMILY, RELATIONSHIPS, ETC.

MOTHER:  gisela  abbott  ( 67,  alive ) FATHER:  elias  abbott  ( 73,  deceased ) SIBLING(S):  jaime  abbott  ( 39,  deceased ),  mila  abbot  ( 37,  alive ) PET(S):  none  officially  but  he’s  befriended  a  stray  cat  unofficially  garbo  on  account  of  how  many  times  he’s  spotted  it  rummaging  in  the  garbage  bins  behind  six  oh  one.

BACKSTORY

TW:  child  neglect,  familial  loss,  mentions  of  mental  health

the  eldest  by  a  handful  of  months,  weston  grew  up  trying  to  be  everything  his  little  siblings  needed.  their  parents  are  twisted  but  he  would  learn  to  see  them1  through  rose-colored  glasses  instead  of  living  in  pain.  when  his  siblings  fell,  he  felt  it,  too,  &  when  they  cried,  weston  was  the  shoulder  to  lean  on.  it’s  too  much  responsibility.  his  parents  fed  and  clothed  them,  but  he  held  their  mental  health  in  his  hands  and  the  truth  is  he  was  no  better.  weston  just  got  so  good  at  hiding  behind  this  mask  that  he  couldn’t  seem  to  tell  the  difference  between  himself  &  party  favor  anymore,  and  the  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  while  weston  was  quiet  and  just  so  different  in  a  way  that  his  parents  feared  he  would  be,  he  blended  in  like  a  chameleon.  

he  was  class  president  &  prom  royal.  that’s  the  way  it’s  always  been.  but  all  the  academic  strivings  and  kodak  ready  smiles  in  the  world  can’t  hide  the  fact  that  weston  was  no  better.  the  older  he  got,  the  more  they  could  see.  his  grandmother,  first.  then  his  little  brother’s  best  friend.  his  first  love.  everything  he  tried  to  hide  sits  in  his  lap  &  wes  tried  to  wrestle  it  into  submission  and  but  sometimes  it  won.  they  know  him  but  he  doesn’t.  his  eyes  flashed  golden  sometimes  when  he’s  mad  enough  that  he  remembers  that  he’s  the  one  who  put  the  burn  stains  on  the  wood  floors  of  his  family’s  old  home,  but  he’s  more  human  than  anyone  can  ever  even  imagine.  

he  was  angry  in  a  way  they  couldn’t  be.  he  liked  classical  music  at  prolific  volumes  and  he  liked  driving  his  car  too  fast  and  wes  liked  making  people  regret  believing  in  him.  his  mother  scoffs.  says  he’s  just  like  his  grandmother  who  she  moved  countries  to  get  away  from,  who  drank  vodka  like  orange  juice,  who  never  could  stand  the  way  her  daughter  liked  to  lie  to  herself.  his  father  glances  away.  asks  weston  to  please  turn  that  down,  or  please  show  your  ‘  friend  ‘  out,  or  to  please  stop  ruining  dinner.  when  he’s  home  alone  again  at  age  eighteen  wes  makes  them  regret  treating  him  like  this.  and  when  he’s  nineteen  when  they  leave  the  keys  to  the  porsche  in  his  eyesight.  and  when  he’s  twenty-one  and  him  and  jaime  can’t  even  make  it  up  the  steps  to  the  front  door  because  you’re  so  wasted  new  years  eve.  wes  can  be  angry  and  vicious  and  that  made  him  really  fucking  happy  in  a  way  that  nothing  else  does.

but,  when  his  father  passes,  reality  grips  wes  with  a  frightening  stillness.  while  his  siblings  are  inducted  into  the  family  business  and  take  the  helm  of  the  restaurant,  wes  packed  his  life  away  into  cardboard  boxes  and  leaves  washington  for  the  first  time  in  his  life.  his  first  taste  of  true  freedom.  freedom,  as  it  turned  out,  felt  an  awful  lot  like  being  confined  as  well,  as  weston  shackled  himself  to  shitty  jobs  to  keep  a  steady  flow  of  money  coming  in,  living  in  leaky  flats  with  shitty  roommates  and  eating  a  lot  of  humble  pie  as  he  figured  himself  out.  eventually,  he  finds  his  own  current  and  instead  of  cleaning  dishes,  he  prods  the  idea  that  had  always  lingered  in  the  back  of  his  mind:  culinary  school.  he’d  never  been  the  best  cook,  jaime  had  bested  him  at  that,  but  it  was  something  weston  could  apply  himself  to,  so  he  latched  on.

for  the  first  time  in  many,  many  years,  weston  allows  himself  to  follow  through  and  with  this  new  career  set  into  motion,  he  took  the  plunge  and  quit  his  day-job  the  moment  that  first  soux  chef  check  landed  in  his  palms.  he  spends  the  next  few  years  embracing  this  one  true  freedom  —  falling  in  love  with  girl  who  he  didn’t  deserve  once,  twice,  maybe  three  times,  studying  things  that  truly  enthralled  him,  and  establishing  himself  in  the  culinary  field.  swiftly  rising  from  soux  to  executive  chef,  his  name  becoming  synonymous  with  splashy  ‘chefs  to  watch  for’  writeups  and  running  a  world  class  line  staff.  though,  weston  stills  for  just  a  moment  long  enough  for  life  to  pass  him  by  at  a  frightening  pace.  within  the  span  of  a  few  months  he  was  awarded  the  james  beard  foundation  award  and  in  the  same  span,  lost  his  younger  and  only  brother,  jaime.  as  it  turns  out,  old  habits  thought  to  be  deaded  a  decade  ago  have  an  odd  habit  of  rearing  their  heads  when  least  needed  and  so  the  cycle  reinvents  itself  and  lurches  onward.  

and  it’s  like  being  guilty  for  a  crime  he  hadn’t  committed  because  while  weston  was  innocent  in  the  larger  scheme  of  things,  he  cannot  help  but  to  think  that  it  should  have  been  him.  if  anyone  could  bare  the  weight  of  the  world,  let  alone  keep  the  family  business  afloat,  it  could  have  been  weston.  not  jaime.  jaime  should  have  been  the  one  living  his  life,  and  instead  he  took  his  father’s  place  while  wes  indulged  in  god  knows  who  or  what  for  the  past  decade.  for  now,  weston  is  back  in  town,  picking  up  where  jaime  left  off:  cooking  up  good  food,  repaying  back  a  debt  he  didn’t  take  out,  and  trying  his  very  best  not  to  think  of  all  the  unpleasant  things.

HEADCANONS

renamed  barnie’s  ( the  family  restaurant )  after  jamie’s  birthday  on  06/01/83

slipped  back  into  binge  drinking  after  his  brother  passed  

still  attends  his  AA  meetings,  though  he  has  yet  to  fess  up  to  not  being  sober;  mostly  just  attends  for  emotional  validation  at  this  point.

while  they  weren’t  born  at  the  same  time,  wes  and  jaime  were  oft  called  the  “ abbott  twins ”  growing  up  on  account  of  how  closely  they  stuck  to  one  another.

currently  receiving  a  bit  of  pushback  following  the  recent  conversion  of  barnies  into  six  oh  one  but  there  still  hope  of  getting  both  kitchen  staff  and  previous  regulars  of  the  restaurant  on  board  with  the  change.

owns  thousand  dollar  chef  knives  but  has  no  curtains  in  his  apartment.

[like-pixie-dust]

Okay, so I saw the theory that the four men in the "Opera" video are actually MCR in prosthetics, so obviously I lost my mind for the next 20 minutes analyzing and trying to decide whether this was plausible or not. This is what I come back with.

1. The two men on the left look VERY MUCH like Frank and Mikey, no doubt, so if it is NOT the boys in prosthetics, that would be an insane coincidence.

2. The most compelling evidence to back this theory is teeth. You can get super high-quality prosthetics and do really good photoshop, but teeth are gonna be hard to fake without it looking obvious.

If you look at these two, I think most will agree that their teeth are VERY similar. (apologies for the low quality Frank pic, i think the mcarmy will understand it's tough to find photos of them that are more than three pixels)

3. The other thing that's gonna be hard to fake/mask is eyelashes. You can't exactly remove them, and as we know, Gerard has very long thick eyelashes.

We will ignore the eye color because that could probably easily be changed with good contacts and editing. but the eyelashes line up here. The man in the video even has the curl that Gerards lashes do.

4. One of the things that breaks the immersion of this theory is their heights. By all means, Ray should be the tallest here, yet he seems to be the shortest? he is slouching quite a bit, but even so, at 6'1", he shouldn't look that short compared to Frank, who is only 5'6 and also seems to be slightly slouched.

Other than that, it just seems too realistic to be prosthetics? I thought this theory was completely delusional until I started looking deeper into it, so I'm basically 50/50 on whether this is true or not. If you bothered reading all this, please share your thoughts!!! I'm so confused.

[clancysstole]

[allgarbo]

Hey, it seems like you really know a lot about Greta Garbo. I saw a signed photo that is addressed to Miss Louise. Would you happen to know who Miss Louise would be?

thank you so much for your trust! i believe i am not aware of who "miss louise" is as i am sure this dedication was not autographed by garbo herself. you'll find countless photographs like this with fake signatures. i even answered a question recently related to this here on my blog (link) and garbo rarely agreed to sign autographs. so it's very likely that we don't know the miss louise mentioned, it could be anyone.

[ebenana]

It’s his touch tone telephone 🌕🐺 

[Image Description: A colored illustration of Trevor Garbo from Smile for Me. He is a mid-toned Latino boy with shoulder length red hair that falls loose over his eyes and sticks out at the top of his head. He is wearing a striped green scarf, a dark blue coat, and a yellow-green button up shirt. He is hunched over, holding a phone receiver in his left hand and the cord in his right. He has sharp claws growing in the place of his fingernails, sharp teeth, and slit eyes. His body is outlined on the left with a pink-white rim light from the glow of the moon behind him. The background is blurred, has two clouds on the right, one on the left, and a large moon. In the bottom right corner, the artist signature reads “Eben Rose Taylor”] 

[blakegopnik]

SIXTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK, POP ART WENT PUBLIC FOR THE FIRST TIME

THE DAILY PIC shows the window of the Gunther Jaeckel department store off Fifth Avenue in Manhattan as it stood 60 years ago this week, giving the public its very first glimpse of true Pop Art — by a certain Andy Warhol, as it happens.

This post celebrates that 60th birthday, but also the release of the paperback edition of my Warhol biography, published by Ecco at HarperCollins.

I thought this would be a good moment to list my own favorite moments in the book, so readers of the new edition could cut straight to the chase, as it were.

I’ll admit that I’m particularly happy with what I managed to find out about the changes in marketing at Gunther Jaeckel — and across American retailing — that let Warhol’s Pop Art make sense for its window display in April of ’61.  

Here, in chronological order, are a dozen other moments in my book that I’ll admit to being pleased with:

1) Documents left over from Warhol’s college years — from teachers’ class notes to college textbooks, some covered in Warhol’s own annotations — let me outline precisely what he learned about art, and how advanced that teaching was. Forget the notion, often propagated by Warhol himself, that he was a self-taught know-nothing.

2) The memories and records of gay Pittsburghers revealed the utter brutality that they suffered in Warhol’s hometown in the years after World War II — just when Warhol was coming out. When gays weren’t being beaten up by college jocks they were being shot and extorted by local cops. No wonder Warhol could never be completely comfortable in his queerness.

3) Thanks to records at the Library of Congress, I was able to dig into Warhol’s experiences with the avant-garde dancer Franziska Boas. For several months late in 1949, soon after he’d arrived in New York, Warhol rented a corner of the Chelsea loft that Boas shared with her nudist Lesbian partner. It was his first sustained contact with New York’s gay bohemia, and I think it affected him deeply.

4) It’s a minor detail that almost got left on the cutting-room floor, but in the end I just had to share it with readers: In 1959, Warhol designed a production of Jean Cocteau’s Orphée  put on by students at Barnard; a surviving contact sheet of the sets shows that silver foil and fabrics played a big role — years before Warhol’s famous Silver Factory came into being.

5) There are only shreds of evidence that survive from the meeting between Yves Klein and Warhol at the Chelsea Hotel in the spring of 1961. But I hope my book makes a convincing argument for why the encounter was vital for both of them.

6) Silkscreening and Warhol go together in our minds like … silkscreening and Warhol. But amazing records preserved at the New York Public Library show that by 1962 the technique had acquired all kinds of baggage — aesthetic, political, economic and cultural — that affected what it meant for Warhol to adopt it. It had been celebrated in industry as an example of America’s commercial know-how, denigrated by fine printmakers who were fighting for art-world respect and trumpeted on the left as a way to bring art to the people. I’m pleased with the pages in my book that allowed me to share that complexity.

7) Once Warhol began to build his classic Pop persona, striped sailor’s shirts and dark glasses became part of his signature look. It was fun to unpack exactly what those shirts and those glasses meant in and for 1960s culture: The shirts came with links to Picasso, biker flicks and Jean Seberg; the glasses crossed over between Greta Garbo, JFK, James Bond and Miles Davis. (I discovered that once Warhol went out of a morning in his shades, he couldn’t really take them off again even in the dimmest of rooms; they had prescription lenses that corrected his extreme near-sightedness.)

8) Almost since the moment that Warhol began to live his life in public, people have judged that public life to be one of his most important works. I was pleased to discover that this was more than an empty cliché that might apply to almost any celebrity. Warhol’s self-sculpting was part of an early-’60s trend that saw artists on the farthest margins of the avant-garde working hard to break down any barrier between art and life. Alberto Greco declared his final work to be his own suicide, committed days after one of Warhol’s first appearances in his full biker-jacket-and-shades look, at the ICA in Philadelphia in 1965.

9) Warhol skeptics love to doubt the worth of his “superficial” society portraits. I hope I’ve managed to convince a few doubters that those portraits have true value and heft as a single, giant project in social analysis and commentary. Not everyone will buy my comparison to Goya — but I borrowed it from some of the smartest critics in Warhol’s own day.

10) I was surprised to discover, and pleased that my book could reveal, Warhol’s close ties to late-’60s conceptualism. He admired the conceptualists, mixed with them, collected them and, more than anything, wanted to copy their achievements.  Some ideas he got from them, like an interest in Business Art, got him in trouble when he took them further than anyone else.

11) Warhol’s Shadow paintings, made and shown in the late ’70s, can seem like some of his most straightforward, even superficial works: “Disco décor,” he himself called them, and others have seen them as simple — maybe simpleminded — abstraction. But I hope that, by digging into what disco and abstraction truly meant at the time, to Warhol and others, my book reveals these paintings’ real depths.

12) Already from college days Warhol probably knew of Marcel Duchamp’s doubts about painting’s validity in modern times. Those doubts informed all the many “paintings” that Warhol went on to make. (Those scare quotes are there, invisibly, as a frame around every one of his canvases.) I hope my book shows that those doubts are front and center when he engages with the new, hot painting and painters that hit the scene in the 1980s — he paints to explore his own doubts, not to show that he’s lost them.

(Artworks in my image © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.)

For a full survey of past Pics visit blakegopnik.com/archive.

[silent-era-of-cinema]

Reginald Leigh Dugmore (20 November 1891 – 16 June 1967), better known as Reginald Denny, achieved success both as an English stage, film and television actor, and as an aviator and UAV pioneer. He was also once amateur boxing champion of Great Britain.

Born as Reginald Leigh Dugmore on 20 November 1891 in Richmond, Surrey, England, he came from a theatrical family; his father was actor and opera singer W.H. Denny. In 1899, Master Reginald Denny began his stage career in A Royal Family and starred in several London productions from age seven to twelve. At sixteen, he ran away from a boarding school and trained as a pugilist with Sir Harry Preston at the National Sporting Club; he also appeared in several British stage productions touring the music halls of England of The Merry Widow. In 1911, he went to the United States to appear in Henry B. Harris's stage production of The Quaker Girl, then joined the Bandmann Opera Company as a baritone touring India and the Far East India where he performed for Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV.

Although he worked in "flickers" during 1911 and 1912, Reginald officially began his film career in 1915 with the World Film Company and made films both in the United States and Britain until the 1960s. Among the numerous stage productions in which he starred, Reginald appeared in John Barrymore's 1920 Broadway production of Richard III; the two actors became friends and starred in several films together including Sherlock Holmes (1922), Hamlet (1933), Romeo and Juliet (1936), and Paramount's Bulldog Drummond series (1937-1938).

Denny was a well-known actor in silent films, and with the advent of talkies he became a character actor. He played the lead role in a number of his earlier films, generally as a comedic Englishman in such works as Private Lives (1931) and later had reasonably steady work as a supporting actor in dozens of films, including The Little Minister (1934) with Katharine Hepburn, Anna Karenina (1935) with Greta Garbo, Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940) and the Frank Sinatra crime caper film Assault on a Queen (1966). He made frequent appearances in television during the 1950s and 1960s. His last role was in Batman (1966) as Commodore Schmidlapp. In 2020, Kino Lorber released 4K restorations on DVD and Blu-ray of three of Denny's silent comedies: The Reckless Age, Skinner’s Dress Suit, and What Happened to Jones? in The Reginald Denny Collection.

Denny served as an observer/gunner in the First World War in the new wartime Royal Air Force.

In the 1920s he performed as a stunt pilot with the 13 Black Cats and loaned his WWI Sopwith Snipe biplane to Howard Hughes for use in Hell's Angels (1927). In the early 1930s, Denny became interested in free-flight model airplanes. In 1934, he and oil tycoon Max Whittier's son, Paul Whittier, formed Reginald Denny Industries and opened a model plane shop, which became a chain known as the Reginald Denny Hobby Shop, now California Hobby Distributors.

He designed his "Dennyplane" with its signature model engine "Dennymite," developed by engineer Walter Righter, in addition to the "Denny Jr." which child actors would enter in model plane competitions at Mines Field, which later became Los Angeles International Airport. In 1935, Denny began developing his remote controlled "radioplane" for military use. In 1939, he and his partners won the first military United States Army Air Corps contract for their radio-controlled target drone, the Radioplane OQ-2. In July 1940, they formed the Radioplane Company and manufactured nearly fifteen thousand drones for the US Army during the Second World War. The company was purchased by Northrop in 1952.

Denny had a great deal in common with Robert Loraine, an older actor / Airman. They had been in a West End production together in 1902 in London,[5] they were both veterans of the RFC (and its successor, the Royal Air Force) and were both still flying and making films in Hollywood in the 1930s. It is possible that Denny's interest in radio controlled aircraft was influenced by his old RFC colleagues and the British unmanned aircraft developments.

Denny married actress Irene Hilda Haismann on 28 January 1913 in Calcutta, both were with the Bandmann Opera Company. They had one daughter but were divorced in 1928. Denny married actress Isabelle "Betsy Lee" Stiefel in 1928 and they had three children.

Denny died on 16 June 1967 at the age of 75, after suffering a stroke whilst visiting his sister in his home town of Richmond in England. His body was buried at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. His wife Isabelle survived him until 1996, living to age 89.

[borisbubbles]

13. LATVIA

Samanta Tina - “Still breathing”

THOUGHT I’D NEVER GET UP?

THOUGHT I GONNA GIVE UP?

LOST IN MY WAYS

MANY TIMES BETWEEN

BUTT STEEL BREEDIN’

I’M STEEL BREEDIN’

NOTHIN’ TO REGRET

NEVER LOOKIN’ BACK

Song Analysis

Apparently 13th is the highest my conscience will let me rank “Still breathing” because LMFAO this song is AWFFFFULLLLL. 

Is this take a surprise? Let’s be honest. Samanta Tina does NOT do good quality music, babes. Samanta Tina does whatever the fuck Samanta Tina wants and we... well some of us love her for it I suppose, but I mostly just look at her works, ye mighty and despair. 

So of course when she showed up in Supernova, I was obviously extremely cautious because ‘Cutting the wire’ was so woeful it gave me fucking night terrors. But it looked like she was co-operating with Aminata, so maybe she could channel pure Aiste Pilvelyte and erupt in an outcry of I’M LIKE VVOOLF.

Except, SURPRISE  Aminata was merely the lyricist and Samanta composed the instrumentation herself: A literal chain of camel farts and klaxon noises that served as an amplifier for Samanta Polakova, Feminist Extra-Ordinaire PATHOLOGICAL NARCISSIST SAMANTA DEMON. 😍😍😍😍😍 Lmfao at the entire “female empowerment angle” btw. “Still Breathing” empowers exactly one woman, and that’s Samanta herself . The song’s actual purpose is to give a subtle middle finger to the country that spat her out at least seven times, but she obviously can’t say that out loud so she quickly created some pseudofeminist narrative to cover it up <3

Then 2020′s signature Freak Factor struck and  she won Supernova when her international fans hijacked the internet vote. It totally caught me off-guard, like, Samanta is going to Eurovision? “Do I actually have to... rank this piece of shit song and analyze her chances in earnest?” 🙄 “At least she’s amusingly shit, I guess”

As we all know, most ironic love eventually becomes unironic. I can’t exactly pinpoint when it clicked for me, so I’ll just post the lot of them. SAMANTA GIFS INCOMING:

THE KRUMPING

THE POSTURING

THE WHATEVER THIS IS.

MARVEL UPON HER CRAZY-EYED DESPERATION

BECAUSE SHE’S GONNA BLOOOOOOOOOOOW

LOOKING FOR THE STARS CUZ YOU KNOW I’M GETTING CLOSER LIFE IS MUSIC ~I aM a CoMpOsUr~

Samanta Tina may be famewhore deluxe, but by Daði she does not give A SINGLE FLYING FUCK what people think about her, as long as she gets to do whatever it is she wants to do, and gets to do it in front of as many people as possible. <3 She’s the type of narcista who pursues attention not because she thinks she’s better than everyone else, but because she wants to be an inspiration in the lives of as many people as possible. 💫 

In sum, I love Samanta for her fucking Samantaness, and since “Steel breeding” is the most evocative of her signature components (defeaning loudness, palpable egocentrism, pretentious locomotion, insane asylum energy), I am obliged to love it too by default. 😍

Europe had better be ready because A BLOOD MOON WILL BE RISING and... omg 😍 I cannot wait to get to ranking that, somewhere near the end of April 2022. (lol I realize this post will go online AFTER ‘The moon is rising’ has been released but can’t be bothered changing it, chickens!!)

NF CORNER

Supernova 2020 really feels like an EXTREMELY distant memory that I only have vague recollections on, so I suppose I’ll cover the three entries I can remember liking?

MADARA - “Maras Zeme”

EPIC HIPPIE QUEEN <3333333 I had completely forgotten that 2020 had a few CRAZY ASS environmental fundie anthems, channelling pure Greta Thunberg from every orfice. “Maras Zeme” is less insane than some of the other green garbo ahead of us (“Pich” 😍  “La-Ley-La” 😍), but Madara suddenly swerving into English, lecturing us on how MOTHER HAS CARED FOR US is a fucking wig-snatching moment that should have earned her a spot in the finale line-up WTF!!!

Katrina Dimanta  - “Heart beats”

The cute chubby member of Aarzemnieki showing up in a folk version of Emiliana Torrini’s “Jungle drum” 😍 and of course Katrina effortlessly won the Latvian-exclusive televote because Latvia were *never* picking Samanta without her crazed stans hijacking the app vote. 😍

ANNNA - “Polyester”

Samanta almost completely passed me by in Supernova because I was (and still am!) a committed member of #TeamPolyester. Socially-conscieous Dutch queen with an anti-sweatshop anthem. 😍  And despite the obvious gimmick subject, surprisingly competent too as a standalone indie song? Let the Annna gifs commence:

SO PRETTY! NO PITY!

TEE SHIRTS IN ALL THE COLOURS NEED MORE WHAT WILL I WEAR NEXT SUMMER?

NEED MORE, FANTASIZE,  HEY NEXT SEASON TIME TO BUY

FREAKY! FRIDAY! FACTOR!

The ‘Samanta Tina Tale of Many NF Fails’ is something I would LOVE to recap now, but given that another Samanta write-up is inbound for April, I’d rather wait until then, lol. However, I do love how Samanta’s 37 participations in Supernova, Dziesma and Eurovizijos Atranka, made her enough of a cult fave to win a Supernova which was not only set up for her to win, but she would have LOST had it not been for the internet vote. 😍 Add in the inherent Samantaness of her being, and you have a serve of High Adrenaleen:

Score: 5 Senhits out of five. 

[littletroubledgrrrl]

I know in the late 90's Madonna's "Vogue" song and dance were outdated by then, but I wish during the World Wrestling Federation's Attitude era there was a commercial that parodied Madonna's "Vogue" music video.

The commercial is entirely filmed in black and white, when the music starts playing and some WWF diva shouts "strike a pose" while doing D Generation X's hands crossed over their head.

This commercial has some WWF diva describes how wrestling, be it the WWF and WCW, is inescapable, like the first verse in Madonna's "Vogue" song, while she describes professional wrestling's massive popularity she's surrounded by NWO, Austin 3:16, WWF Attitude and D Generation X logos.

Ivory and Jacqueline are roleplaying as these 2 women in the video:

Debra (Jeff Jarrett's valet and Stone Cold Steve Austin's former wife in real life) is roleplaying as Madonna in this scene:

Some WWF diva is roleplaying as Madonna in this scene:

And those hands in this commercial are D Generation X's hands crotch chopping and making "x" and "v" shapes with their hands.

The black cone bra is Sable's "handprint boobs" in this commercial.

The Rock does his iconic People's Eyebrow to the camera and the Blue World Order do their signature dance.

And the part where Madonna's back is turned to the camera while she wears this white corset could have some WWF diva with her back turned to the camera, although the commercial has a wrestling belt on her back instead of a corset.

Maybe the commercial would sing "C'mon Vince", as in Vince McMahon.

During the rap ("Greta Garbo and Monroe"), some WWF diva raps "Stone Cold and the Rock, D Generation X and X Pac" while while name dropping some WWF stars.

This diva would also maybe say "WWF Attitude" in the rap or even just say "ladies with an attitude".

During the part where there's a closeup of Madonna's face while some hands are touching her face, that same WWF diva could roleplay as Madonna while Mick Foley's Mr. Socko makes a cameo and touches her face, and maybe for a quick shot this commercial has Al Snow's mannequin head he carried roleplaying as Madonna when hands are touching her face.

And this commercial has voguing turning into crotch chopping, because I like to think D Generation X/NWO crotch chopping is like redneck voguing.