[the 100-year-old who taught Garbo to waltz]

Hey! I thought some of you might be interested in my profile of Shep Houghton, a Hollywood extra who turns 100 today and who appeared in the margins of an extraordinary string of classics--Gold Diggers of 1935, The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Shadow of a Doubt, The Big Sleep, Show Boat, and Spartacus. During a career that stretched from Josef von Sternberg silents to Planet of the Apes sequels, Mr. Houghton discussed fishing with Clark Gable, danced for Busby Berkeley, and was propositioned by a Munchkin.

 

I spoke with the extraordinary Mr. Houghton for three hours in March. I hope you enjoy!

 

http://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/last-great-nobodies

 

Matt

[The Last MGM Musical]

I don't know how many of you are Sondheim fans, but I just wrote an article about his dashed attempt to make a movie musical of "Follies" in 1972; it would have featured faded stars from MGM's glory days (Astaire, Crawford, Kelly, Reynolds, Swanson) wandering around the studio backlot and exchanging boozy recriminations.

 

The piece is sprawling and (necessarily) speculative, but I thought some of you might be interested.

 

http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2013/11/29/loveland/

 

Matt

[Rita Johnson's 100th Birthday Today]

Thanks for all your kind words!

 

Randy, I wish I'd been able to scrounge up a copy of "The Second Face"--it was the first movie Rita made after emerging from her coma, and I'd be curious to see whether its disfiguring-accident plot dovetailed at all with the events of her life. Hopefully TCM will air it one of these days.

[Rita Johnson's 100th Birthday Today]

I don't post here as often as I'd like, but I thought I'd share a piece I just wrote about MGM contract player Rita Johnson--who was hit on the head with a hair dryer in 1948, spiraled into alcoholism, and was thereafter only capable of playing nurses and psychiatrists. It's a pretty bizarre, poignant story, and I interviewed Rita's co-stars and relatives to try to get a handle on her life. See what you think!

 

http://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/the-booby-trapped-life-of-rita-johnson

 

All best,

Matt

[memories of Adela Rogers St. Johns]

Hello! I'm working on an article about the late, great journalist Adela Rogers St. Johns, who wrote for Photoplay magazine and later made a second career out of appearing in talk shows and documentaries to discuss the silent era and the early talkie years. I'd love to talk with anyone who remembers Adela's writing or her gossipy, exhilarating TV appearances. Please private message me!

 

Although Adela had a complicated relationship with the truth--when a fact-checker questioned her memories once, she responded, "Yes, dear, I know, but the true story isn't dramatically correct"--she did a lot to mold the mythologies surrounding Gable, Harlow, and Hepburn. And she's worth remembering.

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{font}All best,

Matt