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Re: ON THE TRAIL....
Posted: May 20, 2013 9:58 AM
in response to: SueSueApplegate
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Oh man, I blew it.
I love Mariette Hartley and I agree with Moira that she has a great voice. She had a wonderful friendly persona. ( Remember her in "MARNIE"? ) If I knew Hartley was there I surely would have gone to the Vanity Fair party. Great pix and good you got to meet her.
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Re: ON THE TRAIL....
Posted: May 19, 2013 7:12 PM
in response to: wouldbestar
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Woulbestar, you are so welcome! I am so glad I got to meet you at the festival during the year you attended. I love your energy! Mariette Hartley and Jerry Sroka are an adorable, fun couple. I'm glad you liked the photo!
Jeff, I miss you already, but I can always see you again here in the recap video for TCMFF 2013. as well as passholders Ed, Theresa Madere, Marya Gates, and many others:
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/626458/TCM-Film-Festival-2013-TCM-Original-.html
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2,451
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Re: ON THE TRAIL....
Posted: May 18, 2013 8:34 PM
in response to: SueSueApplegate
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Sue: Thank you for the photo and mini-bio on Mariette. Those of us who have admired her all these years for her work now have even more reason to as a person. I've read about her early tribulations and am delighted that things turned around so well for her. Mr. Sroka looks like a great guy.
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Re: SUE SUE II...
Posted: May 18, 2013 5:14 PM
in response to: SueSueApplegate
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Hey Sue Sue
It was great seeing you at the festival and I'm really enjoying your recap! You really got around!
Jeff
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ON THE TRAIL....
Posted: May 18, 2013 2:23 PM
in response to: SueSueApplegate
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In honor of Ride the High Country (1962) just being aired on TCM, a small homage
to the actress who portrayed Elsa Knudsen with Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea....
Just had to add this adorable photo of stunning actress Mariette Hartley
and her husband, Jerry Sroka, as they were leaving the Vanity Fair party.
They were both so cute and so much fun, and Hartley's husband kept
laughing at everything she said. Hartley, known for her acting in films and
popular television programs like MASH, Polaroid commercials with
James Garner, and her recent stint on The Mentalist as Elise Vogelson,
is currently involved with stage work, acting for film and television, charity
work and enjoying her life with Sroka. Hartley still keeps in contact with
former actress, current nun Dolores Hart, who sometimes advises
her in spiritual matters. Hartley's best-selling biography, Breaking
the Silence, was the basis for her one-woman show, If You Get to
Bethlehem, You've Gone Too Far. She is national spokesperson
for the American Foundation on Suicide Prevention, and feels "privileged
that her celebrity has allowed her to make contributions to society."
For more about lovely Mariette Hartley, check out her website: http://www.mariettehartley.com/Mariette_Hartley/Mariette_Hartley.html
Back to our regularly scheduled interview a little later this week...
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3,352
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MORE ABOUT MARFA.....
Posted: May 17, 2013 9:00 AM
in response to: cinecrazydc
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Dear Butterscotchgreer! Thank you so much. We all miss you so already!
Cinecrazy, you were missed this year! Thanks for the link about the Marfa update on 60 Minutes. I think everybody will enjoy it!
See you in 2014!
Family friend Ryan Lakich wrote this lovely article about the Austin Film
Festival 2013 for Austin Culture Map:
http://austin.culturemap.com/author/rya ... /articles/
Here's an excerpt:
Paramount’s Summer Classic Film Series has a scope and depth that must be experienced. Film Programmer Stephen Jannise certainly had his work cut out for him when curating this year’s selection of cinema.
“I think when you’re programming a calendar of films as long as this one, you have to treat it like a puzzle that requires a number of varied pieces to fit together perfectly,” says Jannise. “After you put a first draft of a schedule together, you can look at it as a whole and realize that maybe you have too many films from a particular genre or too few of another category.”
The lineup features a nearly perfect blend that caters to multiple preferences, whether it’s a big screen epic likeLawrence of Arabia projected in 70mm, a classic westerns like Shane, a Breakfast at Tiffany’s event complete with martinis and manicures, or a full week devoted to Hitchcock.
“I don’t stop tinkering with the schedule until I feel like I’ve put something together that would satisfy the wonderfully diverse audience that is Austin," Jannise continues.
Not only will the Paramount screen time-honored films, many of them will be shown in their original 35mm prints alongside the series’ other digital screenings. Though film fans lament the rise of digital cinema, Jannise is more than happy to screen both the past and present of cinema side-by-side.
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5,890
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Re: PART II: Jane, GIANT, and James....
Posted: May 17, 2013 8:54 AM
in response to: SueSueApplegate
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I am thoroughly relishing in reading your Festival adventures Sue Sue! I'm so glad you got to have a lengthy chat with Ms. Withers. She is such a loverly person! I'm loving the pictures you took of everyone and everything! I want to read more stories, dahling! 
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Re: PART II: Jane, GIANT, and James....
Posted: May 16, 2013 8:56 PM
in response to: SueSueApplegate
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Yes, Sue Sue. I caught Jane's interview on line.
And, my, how Marfa has changed. Check out this recent 60 Minutes segment on Marfa
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50144653n
Sorry we couldn't get together this year Cristie -- see ya (hopefully) in 2014 !
Cinecrazy
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PART II: Jane, GIANT, and James....
Posted: May 16, 2013 4:36 PM
in response to: SueSueApplegate
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PART II....
During her introduction to Giant in The TCL Chinese Theatre with host Ben Mankiewicz,
Jane Withers talked a great deal about James Dean and her activities on the set of Giant
in Marfa, Texas. Evidently she had a house, and would have parties almost every night with
food, cards, Monopoly, and bridge, and "almost everybody" from the crew would come and
enjoy the evening. She said that Rock Hudson came most of the time, but Elizabeth Taylor
only came once because she liked to go to a country club about sixty miles away. The only
night she did drop by, she said how much fun it was, and why didn't she come by more often.
But Withers did seen to form a bond with James Dean. One night after almost everyone else
had left, she went into her bedroom, and he was lying down with his hat over his head. "Is
that you, Jimmy?" Withers asked. She wanted to know why he hadn't come through the front
door, and he said he didn't want to see all those other people, that he came just to see her.
Well, Withers claimed she always carried a tool kit with her, and took her hammer, and nailed
the window shut while Dean was watching so that the next time he came, he had to come
through the front door.
 When Withers left California for Marfa, Texas, she knew that she might be gone for over a
year, so she brought lots of books to read, as well as her tool kit, and Dean would come over
and read books from her makeshift "lending library," and they would read aloud to each
other, many times it would be plays. One night she was reading The Bible and quoted
Matthew 21:22 to him, and told him that she tried to live by that verse: And all things,
whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. She repeated this verse
to me during our conversation, and said that it was one of her favorites.
Long before Withers ever signed a contract for Giant, she suffered a debilitating
case of rheumatoid arthritis, and had to be hospitalized for a lengthy stay. While she
was cared for at the hospital, she became friends with a young orderly, and he invited
her to his graduation. Once Withers was well enough, she was able to attend his
graduation ceremony, and after the ceremony, a man tapped her on the back, and
as she turned around, director George Stevens introduced himself, and said that he
had wanted to talk to her about a part in his next movie, Giant. Well, the next
week, Stevens called, but Jane was busy fixing lunches for her children to take to
school, and said, something like, "right, you are George Stevens. Well, I have to finish
fixing these lunches. I can't talk right now." Later the next day, Stevens secretary called
and told her that Stevens wanted to take her to lunch to discuss with her a part he had
in mind for her. It turned out to be Vashti Snythe, the quintessential no-holds-barred
Texas gal from Giant. And she again stated how she knew God had a hand in
her career and her life.
Part of Jane Withers' interview with Ben Mankiewicz can be viewed here under the heading 4/27:
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MORE VANITY FAIR FUN WITH ANNE AND JANE...
Posted: May 15, 2013 6:45 PM
in response to: SueSueApplegate
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The Vanity Fair party, 2013. The big hit of the evening? When Lulu sang "To Sir, With Love."
In April of 2011, I was fortunate enough to meet the late Ann Rutherford, Anne Jeffreys, and Jane Withers at the Vanity Fair party after the Gala screening of An American in Paris. Jane Withers and I chatted for quite awhile about our families and our rings, and how much fun we were having.
This year, I found myself having an extended visit with the gal who started out taunting Shirley Temple in Bright Eyes, and had a featured role in the George Stevens epic Giant. Jane Withers' faith in God and humanity has seen her survive Hollywood, a severe bout with rheumatoid arthritis which led to her featured role as Vashti Snythe in the screen version of the popular Edna Ferber novel, and allowed her good health to attend the Vanity Fair party after the Gala screening of Funny Girl on Thursday, April 25.
Withers, supportive of the effort of Turner Classic Movies to continue to broadcast films and original programming without commercial interruption, exclaimed that "I am so thrilled that these people at TCM continue to air classic films, and I want you to tell everybody how grateful I am to them for what they have done and accomplished. They are all so wonderful, and they have been so good to me."
Miss Withers was also elated about the reissue of several of her films from the 1930s and 1940s on DVD. Her starring role opposite Shirley Temple in Bright Eyes(1934) was secured after Director David Butler had auditioned thirty young girls, but when he heard Jane Withers' imitation of a machine gun, he chose Withers to play nasty Joy Smythe. Jane's last role was as the gargoyle in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and she had to take over the part following actress Mary Wickes' death in 1996, imitating her voice exactly. She reprised the role in 2002 for the sequel.
Jane Withers and Anne Jeffreys at the TCMFF 2013 Vanity Fair party, bidding each other adieu as Anne had to leave a little earlier than Jane.
Jeffrey's last role was as Susanna in 2012's Sins Expiation, and she and Jane have known each other for quite a while. Jeffreys, Amanda Croft on Falconcrest , Marion Kerby in the Topper series, Irene Buchannon on Baywatch, and the Duchess of York in 2008's Richard III, has also had a busy and varied career, and has always enjoyed attending the TCMFF Vanity Fair parties.
More about Jane Withers, Hollywood Presbyterians, Diana Lynn, James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, and George Stevens a little later....
All photos courtesy of Sue Sue.
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Posts:
3,352
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CHINESE DOPPELGANGER....
Posted: May 10, 2013 12:52 AM
in response to: SueSueApplegate
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The lovely Theresa Madere and Sue Sue at the Vanity Fair party...
I had so much fun meeting and enjoying the bubbly company of energetically adorable Butterscotchgreer (Theresa Madere) who's been posting on the TCM Message Boards since she was 16. Watching her film an interview with Ben Mankiewicz, was so much fun. The entire interview, with special video Theresa filmed at home in Texas, can be viewed at the video gallery here:
http://filmfestival.tcm.com/about/video-gallery.php
(Theresa's interview is the last one entered for 4/26.)
A kind, gracious woman greeted me as I entered The TCL Chinese Theatre for the Gala Premiere Restoration of Funny Girl, and she posed for pictures and answered questions. Passholders told her how happy they were to see her at the festival, and she said she was very happy to be a part of it...
But shortly after I had met the stunning Ann Blyth as I entered Grauman's Chinese Theatre, I met a lady who completely shocked me. She was wearing the exact same satin floor-length Chinese dress I was wearing!
"How dare you!" I shouted.
But she just stared blankly at me, and said not a word. I was incensed. The very idea!
Evidently, she had been there for quite a while. Hence the enigmatic, unconcerned expression.
Traditionally, it seems there had been three wax dummies wearing authentic costumes from Cathay, China, who surrounded a wax figure of Rhonda Fleming seated in the chair pictured above in the West Wing of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. (Currently encased in glass in the lobby is one of these traditonal figures.)
Evidently, Rhonda's wax figure from the Hollywood Wax Museum was featured because she had been married to Ted Mann, a former owner of the theater. Movie stars, writers, directors, and producers considered it good luck to come and rub the shoulder of one of the three female Chinese figures before embarking on a new venture or after a big premiere.
So I kept telling that story while I was wearing that dress...and then I would wiggle one of my shoulders. 
(All photos courtesy of Sue Sue...)
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3,352
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I CONFESS...
Posted: May 7, 2013 9:36 PM
in response to: filmlover
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Well, filmlover, Johnny Stokes really isn't as dangerous as he seems. He's actually a good pal of Film Noir Foundation President and Founder Eddie Muller, who is terribly popular at the Turner Classic Film Festival. This year Muller introduced The Narrow Margin with special guest, Houstonian Jacqueline White, one of the stars of The Narrow Margin. Muller also hosted the screening of It Always Rains on Sunday, the British "kitchen sink" drama that heralded the British New Wave Cinema, and welcomed Beau Bridges to chat about his father Lloyd Bridges in Try and Get Me.
Johnny Stokes and Eddie Muller enjoy some libations at the TCMFF 2013 Vanity Fair soiree.....
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9,158
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Re: A DASH OF NOIR....
Posted: May 4, 2013 9:17 PM
in response to: SueSueApplegate
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Be careful, dollface. He sounds like some dimestore gigolo. Tell 'im to shove in his clutch, 'cause you ain't buyin'. No one from San Francisco would ever call it "Frisco."
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3,352
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A DASH OF NOIR....
Posted: May 4, 2013 9:05 PM
in response to: filmlover
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As I was walking by the lengthy reflection pool at the Vanity Fair party, a man standing in the shadows spoke softly to me.
"Hey, sweetheart, what's the rush? Don't ya have time for a smoke? Cigarette? A little Tiparillo?'" he sniped.
"Well, I was looking for a tall, cool drink by the bar," I said.
"There all outta milk, honey," he said.
"I was lookin' for something a little stronger," I said.
He laughed like he'd heard that more than once before.
"I'm out of 'Frisco. Where do you hail from, sister?" he asked with an aire of assurance.
Then he told me his name was Johnny Stokes, just the kind of guy you'd expect to be packin' some heat. He just came from Bay Meadows and the horses were runnin' a little slow, like San Quentin quail. But he didn't let that bother him. No, sir. Not him. He was just minding his own business...
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