Next week is Barbara Stan-week
Feb
1
2014
Frank Capra called her “the greatest emotional actress the screen has yet known.” She was one of its most natural, timeless, and underrated stars. Author Victoria Wilson, the author of a massive and much anticipated biography, “A Life of Barbara Stanwyck – Steel True – 1907-1940,” will appear at three book events in fun locations ...
Fred Astaire’s songs that dance 2
If all you know of Fred Astaire is his movie dancing, the new two-CD set “Fred Astaire: The Early Years at RKO” (Turner Classic Music/Sony Masterworks) will be a revelation. With the possible exception of Bing Crosby, Astaire introduced more good songs — first on the Broadway stage, then in his movie musicals — than ...
Koehler on Cinema: the greatness, and terror, of a flood
No words, no images, no sounds can fully convey the total horror of the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927. The book that comes closest to putting you in the middle of the most widespread water disaster in American history—it stretched across the entire Mississippi River valley and west, across the river’s tributaries, affecting nearly ...
Backstage intimacy from Phil Stern’s camera 1
Hollywood photographers have always had to walk a fine line. Their work is contingent on access to the celebrated, but entree hinges on trust and following implicit rules of privacy. Movie studios have always wanted their actors and directors depicted in the best possible light and they’ve rewarded those whose images flatter most. But good ...
Best of 2013 yet to play in Los Angeles
After December’s endless ‘best-of-2013’ lists (our own list here!) and January’s blitz of stories previewing upcoming 2014 movies, it may be useful to consider the movie universe from a different angle. What interesting movies premiered elsewhere in the world in 2013, but haven’t yet screened or opened to the public in Los Angeles? The answer ...
Cecil B. DeMille’s “Madam Satan,” dance-dissected, March 15 5
Delighted to announce my talk, “Theodore Kosloff & Cecil B. DeMille Meet Madam Satan” concerning the notorious early talkie-musical, co-sponsored by the American Cinematheque and the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles. The “illustrated lecture” is slated for Saturday March 15, 2 pm, coupled with a screening of MADAM SATAN (MGM, 1930), at the Egyptian ...
Respect for Godard’s “Contempt”
Jan
14
2014
Laemmle Theatres and Rialto Pictures have teamed to present Rialto Pictures’ new 50th anniversary restoration of Jean-Luc Godard’s CONTEMPT (1963). The exclusive Los Angeles engagements begin Friday, January 17 at the Royal in West L.A. and Playhouse 7 in Pasadena. The director’s look at a crumbling marriage stars Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli, Jack Palance, and, ...
Hayworth by Hurrell … just because
This stunning portrait of Rita Hayworth shot in 1942 by Hollywood glamour photographer George Hurrell is featured in Mark Vieira’s massive coffeetable book, “George Hurrell’s Hollywood: Glamour Portraits 1925 – 1992.” photo courtesy mark vieira
Hooray for Hurrell 1
We caught up recently with Mark Vieira, author of the newly published “George Hurrell’s Hollywood,” an image-filled tribute to the film industry’s lauded glamour photographer. When asked how Hurrell got his start in high-gloss movie-star portraiture, Mark explained, “Hurrell was an unknown commercial photographer in the artsy Westlake District of Los Angeles when he made ...
Koehler on Cinema: Best of 2013
1. Leviathan 2. A Touch of Sin 3. Inside Llewyn Davis 4. American Hustle 5. The Last Time I Saw Macao 6. Upstream Color 7. Gravity 8. Nana 9. Viola 10. Computer Chess 11. Museum Hours 12. At Berkeley 13. The Last Christeros 14. The Wind Rises 15. Sightseers 16. Pain and Gain 17. No ...