“Travis Banton inspired my dressing Cher,” says Bob Mackie at TCM Fest
In a curtain talk with costume historian Deborah Nadoolman-Landis prior to a TCM Fest opening-night screening of Cleopatra, Bob Mackie described an early influence. It was designer Travis Banton’s amazing costumes for Claudette Colbert in Cecil B. DeMille’s at-turns-camp, at-turns-sumptuous Roman romp. “I was thirteen, I lived in Inglewood, there were three movie theaters there. An ...
George Balanchine dances in British film from 1929 1
What we have here is not “Apollo.” That’s putting it mildly. But it’s still a very amusing, even amazing, piece of historic dance footage that’s making the rounds on Facebook. George Balanchine himself dances in a rather crude bit of his own choreography “Dark Red Roses,” in a British-made early talkie. Appearing in the pas ...
spring holiday weekend at arts·meme
Apr
6
2012
Cecil B. DeMille lived right down the road from arts·meme global headquarters. His crossing-of-the-Red-Sea special effect in “The Ten Commandments” (1956) may have been inspired by crossing Los Feliz Boulevard. Just as tough. We wish you and yours a Happy Passover and Happy Easter! thank you jonathan rosenbaum for the photo Like this? Read ...
Noir City: 14th annual film noir festival opens soon @ Egyptian Theatre
Apr
2
2012
Fourteen years ago, the American Cinematheque launched its inaugural festival of film noir. Back in 1999 it was called “Side Streets and Back Alleys: A Festival of Film Noir,” and it featured dozens of forgotten films, retrieved from critical exile, that have since been recognized as unjustly neglected genre gems, with many returned to circulation ...
arts•meme’s formidable flock of female facebook friends
Yes, arts•meme has a Facebook “fan” page. We now have 372 fans on Facebook. That’s fantastic. Lately, however, we attracted a very cool line-up of new “likes” — all wonderful women working in the arts. It is noteworthy. Rose Eichenbaum Dance photographer, author, lecturer Melissa Silverstein Publisher, “Women & Hollywood” blog Shea New Producer, “Dance ...
Doris Day shares career memories on TCM 1
Mar
30
2012
TCM does such a wonderful job … no one does it better. The best bits come when Day recounts memories of working with James Cagney, Ginger Rogers, and Jack Lemmon. [Apologies for commercial first.]
Bill Cunningham, milliner, photographer
So enjoyed seeing Bill Cunningham New York, the 2011 documentary about the legendary New York Times fashion photog who tools around Manhattan on a Schwinn capturing the look of society, high and low — an inspiring film. Cunningham began his fashion career as a hat maker. A wonderful, colorful movie. Recommended. Thank you Camera Lucida ...
Vintage Hollywood photos of Bison Archives move to Academy 1
Since we launched arts·meme nearly four years ago, we have enjoyed the privilege of sharing with our readers several photos of early Hollywood from the collection of film historian, Marc Wanamaker. Marc has shared unstintingly from his Bison Archives collection, letting us eyeball wonderful images of: Anna Pavlova‘s first and only foray as a Universal ...
Jean-Paul Gaultier “Snow White’ costumes recycle Cher’s 1989 thong 3
And now for something completely not different. We were distracted, at ‘Dance at the Music Center,’ by an unflattering costume created for the lead dancer in Ballet Preljocaj’s “Snow White.” Baby-diaper by front, bird-tail by back, and bared flesh in between, it was fabricated by haute couturier Jean-Paul Gaultier. It sent the viewer’s eye ...
Julie Andrews granted “Gypsy” award by Professional Dancers Society 2
An amazing line up of talent on view at the Professional Dancers Society 25th anniversary gala luncheon honoring Julie Andrews on March 18, 2012. Previous PDS honorees Carl Reiner, Dick Van Dyke, Marge Champion, Mitzi Gaynor, Carol Burnett, Joni Berry (Chairman of PDS), Rita Moreno and Florence Henderson, join Julie Andrews on stage as she ...