CelluloidKid

_Caretakers, The_ (1963) W./Joan Crawford!

Jenifer Connelly was in: _Once Upon a Time in America_ (1984) Directed by Sergio Leone. *NEW DIRECTOR: Sergio Leone!*

_Above Suspicion_ (1943) ....Stars Joan Crawford & Fred MacMurray!!!

Ellen Burstyn. WAS IN: _Resurrection_ (1980) DIRECTED BY: Daniel Petrie! *New Director: Daniel Petrie!*

What a very interesting film. Last night was the 1st time I had the chance to watch _Bullets or Ballots_ and I was very impressed. However, you could tell _Bullets or Ballots_ was made "After" the Production Code went into effect. I liked how Robinson was playing an undercover cop. The last 30 minutes kept me on the edge of my seat. Edward G. Robinson gets shot and keeps going till the end.

*Nicholas Ray retrospective begins July 24 2009* - *Directed 'Rebel Without a Cause,' 'Bigger Than Life'* Film Journal July 7, 2009 Nicholas Ray (Getty) New York City's Film Forum will salute director Nicholas Ray with a 14-film retrospective, July 24 through August 6. Born Nicholas Raymond Kienzle in Galesville, Wisconsin, Ray won a scholarship at age 16 to study drama and architecture at the University of Chicago, and would later earn a fellowship with Frank Lloyd Wright. Following college, he moved to New York, where he joined Elia Kazan's Theatre of Action. Upon moving to Hollywood, Ray was hired as an assistant for Kazan's first film, "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn." He made his directorial debut at RKO in 1947 with the noir classic "They Live By Night." After directing seven more pictures at RKO, Ray became a free agent and produced some of his most memorable work, including "Johnny Guitar," "Rebel Without a Cause" and "Bigger Than Life." Ray's Hollywood career ended after he collapsed from nervous exhaustion on a set in 1962. Remaining in ill health for the rest of his life, Ray moved back in New York, where he lived until his death in 1979. The festival opens on July 24 with "Bigger Than Life," starring James Mason as a cortisone-addicted schoolteacher, which critic Scott Foundas calls "one of the best, most radical, least known films of the 1950s." Other highlights include "On Dangerous Ground," "The Lusty Men," and the rarely seen "Wind Across the Everglades." The festival was programmed by Bruce Goldstein, Film Forum's director of repertory programming.

Nicholas Ray (born Raymond Nicholas Kienzle) (7 August 1911 ? 16 June 1979) was a US-American film director; his best known movie is _Rebel Without a Cause_. Martin Scorsese is a fan of Ray's, particularly his expressionistic use of color in _Johnny Guitar_ (1954), _Rebel Without a Cause_ (1955) and Bigger Than Life (1956). He used clips from two of them in his documentary _A Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American Movies_. *_My Favorite Nicholas Ray films_:* _Macao_ (1952) _They Live by Night_ (1948) _Rebel Without a Cause_ (1955) _Johnny Guitar_ (1954) _The True Story of Jesse James_ (1957) _55 Days at Peking_ (1963) _The Lusty Men_ (1952) _Androcles and the Lion_ (1952) *Nicholas Ray (left) with James Dean* *NICHOLAS RAY* Nicholas Ray was born Raymond Kienzle on 08/07/1911 in Galesville, Wisconsin. In 1945 he served as Elia Kazan's assitant director on the acclaimed film A Tree Grows In Brooklyn Two years later he made his own successful debut as a director with They Live By Night. His other credits include Knock on Any Door (1949), In A Lonely Place (1950), The True Story Of Jesse James(1957) & Dreams Of Thirteen (1976). He also appeared in the 1972 film The American Friend which co-starred Dennis Hopper. Ray died of cancer on June 16, 1979 leaving behind a crowded shelf of unfinshed films. Joan and Nicholas Ray on the set of _Johnny Guitar_ (1954)

_Peyton Place_ (1957) ... ???!

_Rain_ (1932) Stars Joan Crawford!

Langdon, Harry - Iowa-born comic who began his career in vaudeville, debuting in film in 1923, in Mack Sennett short comedies. In 1926, he made his full-length feature debut in the First National film Tramp, _Tramp, Tramp_, which co-starred Joan Crawford as his love interest.

*Evans, Robert* - Later to go on to fame as a Hollywood producer/man-about-town, Evans was one of many young co-stars of Joan's 1959 picture _The Best of Everything_.

Barry Fitzgerald WAS IN: _None but the Lonely Heart_ (1944) DIRECTED BY: Clifford Odets! *New Director: Clifford Odets!*

Jackson, Michael - _The Wiz_ (1978)

Castle, William He directed Joan Crawford in '64's _Strait-Jacket_ and '65's _I Saw What You Did_.

Victor Buono WAS IN: Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) playing Big Sam Hollis, the father of Bette Davis! *NEW STAR: BETTE DAVIS!*

Irons, Jeremy

Paulette Goddard WAS IN: _The Women_ (1939) WITH Joan Crawford!! *NEW STAR: Joan Crawford!*

There is a documentary about Hollywood Forever Cemetery called _The Young and the Dead_. Among those interred or entombed in the cemetery are a number of important personalities, famous persons, including men and women from the entertainment industry, important people in the history of Los Angeles, and their relatives. ;; *Very interesting documentary!!* *I saw it at the Denver International Film festival. Then I bought a copy.* *---------------------------++++++++++++++++++++-----------------------* Sunday, March 1, 2009 *Film review: The Young and the Dead* The former Hollywood Memorial Park, which opened in 1899, became the final resting place for many stars of Hollywood?s golden age, among them Douglas Fairbanks, Tyrone Power, and Rudolph Valentino. However, it teetered on the brink of bankruptcy in the mid-1990s, and some families moved the remains of their loved ones from its untended grounds. Two Midwestern entrepreneurs, Tyler and Brent Cassity, bought the cemetery in 1997, rechristened it Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and set about transforming the grounds and, they hoped, American "death care" itself. The Young and the Dead (2003), which focuses largely upon the media-savvy Tyler Cassity, chronicles their efforts to do so. Archivists ought to find Tyler Cassity an interesting subject. He has the desire to preserve evidence of the past that propels many people to enter the archival profession, and he sees cemeteries as having a mission akin to that of archives: Cassity: We believe that cemeteries are libraries of lives, and if we don?t capture the life that?s written on that stone, then we?ve failed at that task. So that three or four generations from now, after people who might have remembered that person are gone, that person should be able to speak for themselves, to tell their story and to be remembered. We think we fail as cemeterians if people are forgotten. Interviewer: And how do you do that? Cassity: Through modern technology. Hollywood Forever has a film crew that works with survivors to conduct interviews, digitize photos, and create a short film about each decedent; it also encourages people who are planning their own services to sit for interviews and gather materials well in advance of their demise. Completed films, which Hollywood Forever calls LifeStories, are shown at funeral services and can be accessed by anyone at any time via the Internet or kiosks stationed throughout the cemetery grounds, and Hollywood Forever asserts that these films will be preserved in perpetuity. The Young and the Dead emphasizes the cemetery?s only-in-Hollywood status as a tourist destination and its clear relationship to the city?s celebrity culture. Cassity and his Hollywood Forever colleagues were clearly inspired by the capsule biographies that television news organizations create whenever a prominent politician or cultural figure dies, and one of the cemetery?s film producers explicitly connects LifeStories to Andy Warhol?s oft-quoted prediction that in the future everyone will enjoy 15 minutes of fame. Of course, professional archivists will have some questions about this enterprise. What kind of software is being used to create these LifeStories? Has Hollywood Forever developed any sort of plan for ensuring that these films will remain accessible over time, or has it deferred making such decisions? The Young and the Dead is silent about this aspect of Hollywood Forever?s work, as is the LifeStories Web site, which simply notes the existence of a "Forever Endowment Care Fund." Archivists should keep in mind that Hollywood Forever is in sync with the larger culture: owing to the availability of inexpensive and easy-to-use hardware and software, short films and slideshow-style presentations are an increasingly common component of contemporary memorial services. At least a few of these productions will invariably make their way into archives, and future archivists will likely find themselves dispensing advice to families who find that technological change has rendered these cherished mementos inaccessible. Cassity?s interest in the past also extends to Hollywood Forever itself. He has pored through the records of former owner Jules Roth, and what records they are! Roth was a key player in the oil swindles that beset the Los Angeles area in the early 20th century and served time in San Quentin as a result. He diverted money from the cemetery to fuel his globetrotting lifestyle and scattered the erotica he collected on his journeys throughout the records. He refused to allow Hattie McDaniel, the first African-American performer to win an Oscar, to be buried in his cemetery. He also hired "operatives" who spied upon his employees; their reports detail workers? off-the-job activities (one groundskeeper bragged about "a wild night in the Drake Hotel with three girls, two sailors, and a Marine") and gossip about Roth. Archivists will not like seeing Cassity scatter Roth?s records throughout his office or Executive Vice President Bill Obrock smoking while handling them, but they ought to appreciate the film?s use of business records to highlight Roth?s colorful life. The Young and the Dead is ultimately a group portrait of Cassity and his Hollywood Forever colleagues, some of whom have been his friends since childhood. All of them really seem to enjoy preserving people?s memories and spending their days surrounded by Hollywood Forever?s bucolic splendor, and their encounters with death and grieving survivors seem to have deepened their appreciation of and zest for life. The film is similarly pleasant, sincere, and thoughtful. It nonetheless lacks a certain something, and the hole at its center stems from the decision of directors Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman?s to focus so tightly upon Tyler Cassity. Cassity comes off as a well-read and reflective person who wears his good looks lightly, but his demeanor is so calm and reserved that one can?t help but wonder what lies beneath his contemplative, articulate exterior. A quick Web search will only intensify these questions. In mid-2008, officials in Texas and Missouri took over three businesses operated by Tyler and Brent Cassity and their father Douglas, who -- like Jules Roth -- spent time in prison after the collapse of an investment scheme he ran. Regulators in at least 10 states are trying to sort out the complicated and possibly fraudulent insurance arrangements that supported the prepaid funeral plans that the Cassitys sold, and funeral home directors in 19 states may experience ruinous losses as a result of these faulty plans. Moreover, the LifeStories concept, trumpeted endlessly in The Young and the Dead, may have been created to attract media attention; even if it isn?t, the proliferation of YouTube, iMovie, PowerPoint, and other low- and no-cost digital tools virtually guarantees that the LifeStories program won?t generate huge revenue streams. Tyler Cassity, who graciously cooperated with the writers who profiled him in the Atlantic, the New Yorker, Time, and a host of other publications, no longer answers media inquiries. Despite its shortcomings and the scandal that now engulfs the Cassity family, The Young and the Dead is nonetheless a worthwhile examination of recent changes in the "death care" industry and memorialization of the dead. Archivists and other viewers interested in American social and business history should find that its merits outweigh its faults. Posted by L'Archivista

I had a friend who rented Walt Disney's _Lady and the Tramp_ (1955) thinking it was porn! Same thing happend with _Bedknobs and Broomsticks_ (1971)!

I found this cool article on the FBI harrassment of Jean , which helped to drive her to suicide. *_An Essay on Jean's harrassment by the FBI_:* Jean Seberg was one of a group of several prominent celebrities, among them John Lennon, Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave, who, in exercising their democratic birthright to free speech found themselves incurring the wrath of the United States authorities. Seberg, vocal in her support of the Black Panther Party, who fought racial prejudice in the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King, was singled out for particular attention from notorious FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, who considered her to be a threat to the American apple pie way of life and everything. Seberg, being a movie star and hence presumably wielding some supreme executive influence over western cultural values, was deemed so sufficiant a danger to national security (whatever that means), that on 23rd April 1970, Hoover issued orders that she be "neutralised" under the FBI's aptly named Counter Intelligence Programme (COINTELPRO). In response to this order, the above request was made to Hoover by FBI SAC Richard W. Held on 27th April 1970. Hoover granted permission for Held to plant the story in the Los Angeles Times, from where it was syndicated across the US. Many believe the subsequent backlash of the right-wing press so traumatised Jean Seberg, who was seven months pregnant at the time, that it significantly contributed to her miscarriage in May 1970. Although at the time Seberg gave as good as she got, totally humilating the rumour mongers when she presented the press with the body of her dead white child, no one could be in any doubt that the episode took a toll on her emotional well being. Eventually Jean Seberg paid with her life, and the world paid with her loss. The above documents, made public in 1982, together with the testimony of her friends, and ultimately the actions of Seberg herself at that fateful press conference, provide a wealth of damaging evidence against the FBI's counter intelligence operation, as well as providing further proof, as if any were needed, that western civilisation is only "free" as long as the powers that be say so. The name which was deleted from the above memo, during an investigation by the FBI's office of Internal Affairs, is thought by many to have been Raymond Hewit, a Black Panther leader. The FBI had also typed up a letter on official FBI stationary identifying Hewit as an informant and planted it where other Black Panthers would find it, in the hopes that Hewit would then be killed. Richard W. Held, the architect of this outrageous bastardisation of the word "democracy" was, of course, only obeying orders. Held later became SAC in San Francisco, and was also incriminated in the bombing of the Earth First activist Judith Bari, by Ward Churchill and James Vander Wall, authors of "The Cointel Papers", from which the above memo was sourced. He subsequently retired from the FBI to become Head of Security for Visa International. *FRIENDS OF JEAN SEBERG ON THE STAR'S PERSECUTION BY THE FBI* "Jean knew her phone was tapped. Everyone's phone was tapped. Once she was walking down Sunset Strip, and a fan asked her for an autograph. It got back to Jean that this girl was busted and searched by the Feds less than ten minutes later, they wanted to know what Jean Seberg had given her. Jean didn't scare easily, but once, in New York, she called to say that someone had been in her hotel room while she'd been out. She had put Scotch tape on the closet doors, and it was ripped when she came in. She was a little paranoid, but with good reason. It was very real. They were out to get her." -David Keller, friend. "Jean was very beautiful and very intelligent, but she had a sad life. She was a close friend. She pointed out the FBI men who were constantly following her around. Have you ever seen FBI men? They were exactly what you expect. Vulgar. Can you imagine such a thing? What tragedy... I cannot be bothered to tell people everything that is true, because it is more frightening than anything they themselves know. You can't tell the truth when nobody will believe it." -Nico, friend and co-star of "Les Hautes Solitudes" FBI STATEMENT PRINTED IN THE LOS ANGELES TIMES FOLLOWING THE NEWS OF JEAN SEBERG'S SUICIDE IN PARIS, SEPTEMBER 1979 "The days when the FBI used derogatory information to combat advocates of unpopular causes have long since passed. We are out of that business forever." *J. Edgar Hoover, pictured in 1970, around the time of Jean Seberg's miscarriage* WAS JEAN SEBERG ASSASSINATED? Most sources close to Jean believe that she took her own life. She had suffered deblitating bouts of depression for some nine years by that point. Rumour mongers and conspiracy theorists may still like to suggest otherwise, but in truth Jean Seberg's suicide was sadly not unexpected by those who knew what she had been through. She had seemed quite determined to do it. Although there was some talk of her return to acting at the time of her death, this is by no means any more than speculation. She had turned down offers of roles from both Truffaut and Donald Cammell in the months preceding her death, although she was apparently enthusiastic about a possible but then unconfirmed role that would have reunited her with her "Bonjour Tristesse" co-star David Niven. The film, "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square", was made in 1980, with Elke Sommer assuming the role that Jean had been set to play. "Jean Seberg died by her own hand. I've never thought otherwise. Others certainly contributed to her breakdown, but by the time it happened the Jean we knew and loved was already gone. I miss her terribly, but she made up her own mind in the end. She was the most willfull girl. She turned her determination against herself, and against those that thought they could help her. No one could help her in the end. The rest is academic." -David Keller

Tommy Rettig WAS IN: _The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T_ DIRECTED BY: Roy Rowland! *NEW DIRECTOR: Roy Rowland!*

_Paris_. MGM silent, 1926. -Joan Crawford stars!

Tommy Rettig WAS IN: _The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T_ DIRECTED BY: Roy Rowland! *NEW DIRECTOR: Roy Rowland!*

Tommy Rettig WAS IN: _The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T_ DIRECTED BY: Roy Rowland! *NEW DIRECTOR: Roy Rowland!*

Tommy Rettig WAS IN: _The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T_ DIRECTED BY: Roy Rowland! *NEW DIRECTOR: Roy Rowland!*