BAD MOVIE ALERT!!!

[Hibi]

3 minutes ago, txfilmfan said:

There were several photos taken, as Crawford was the hostess for a party honoring Russell at the Rainbow Room.  There's also grainy video footage from the event.

This photo is the one most people post when they talk about Joan's reaction to the press coverage the next day.

 

Yes, that's it. Joan doesn't look that bad, except for the wig.

[Hibi]

On 11/15/2020 at 8:51 AM, DougieB said:

She did. She fought the good fight. And, to be honest, the picture I posted was one she commissioned sometime in the following decade. And when age and vanity finally collided after she saw an unflattering candid shot in the newspaper, she withdrew from public life.

I think that picture with the necklace is a still from I Saw What You Did, another awful film of hers from the 60s.  She's barely in it, but she gets star billing! (LOL).  She wore a necklace like that in the film and an elaborate wig/fall.

[txfilmfan]

7 minutes ago, Hibi said:

Yes, that's it. Joan doesn't look that bad, except for the wig.

There's also a bit more to the story, which isn't always told.  She was "volunteered" to be hostess by a book agent without her permission.  It was a book publication party for "They Had Faces Then."   She went through with it as it had been announced publicly.  She left the event early.

Here's a color photo.

 

[Hibi]

I see. I have that book. It's worth hundreds and hundreds of dollars now (the first one). Joan doesn't look bad in that picture either. It was a huge oversize photo book of Joan, Garbo, Dietrich and Swanson. There was another follow up book of other stars. Unsure if there was a third.

I see that Joan was still into those elaborate necklaces...

[txfilmfan]

9 minutes ago, Hibi said:

I see. I have that book. It's worth hundreds and hundreds of dollars now (the first one). Joan doesn't look bad in that picture either. It was a huge oversize photo book of Joan, Garbo, Dietrich and Swanson. There was another follow up book of other stars. Unsure if there was a third.

I see that Joan was still into those elaborate necklaces...

The agent (a press agent, to clarify), in this case, was also the author: John Springer.  He was a noted publicity agent.

To tie it back to TCM, there was this anecdote just before he passed away in 2001:

The day before Springer died, he told his son to call columnists Liz Smith and Robert Osborne to let them know he was in the hospital.

“Tuesday morning, the day he died,” Gary Springer said, “when my mother walked in, he whispers, ‘Do you know if Gary called Liz and Osborne?’ So he was a publicist to the end.”

[Hibi]

11 minutes ago, txfilmfan said:

The agent (a press agent, to clarify), in this case, was also the author: John Springer.  He was a noted publicity agent.

To tie it back to TCM, there was this anecdote just before he passed away in 2001:

The day before Springer died, he told his son to call columnists Liz Smith and Robert Osborne to let them know he was in the hospital.

“Tuesday morning, the day he died,” Gary Springer said, “when my mother walked in, he whispers, ‘Do you know if Gary called Liz and Osborne?’ So he was a publicist to the end.”

LOL! Oh, yes, I remember him. I think he was involved in the star "tours" that evolved after the book came out too. (Screenings of clips'/ Q&A session after) It started in NY's Town Hall and some toured the country. I saw Bette Davis here doing one.

[txfilmfan]

1 minute ago, Hibi said:

LOL! Oh, yes, I remember him. I think he was involved in the star "tours" that evolved after the book came out too. (Screenings of clips'/ Q&A session after) It started in NY's Town Hall and some toured the country. I saw Bette Davis here doing one.

He hosted those in NY too, before the book came out.  They were at Town Hall.  Anything to keep your name in the papers...

[Hibi]

5 minutes ago, txfilmfan said:

He hosted those in NY too, before the book came out.  They were at Town Hall.  Anything to keep your name in the papers...

Yes, Joan did one. Sylvia Sidney. I think Bette Davis started hers there too. Forget who else.

[txfilmfan]

8 minutes ago, Hibi said:

Yes, Joan did one. Sylvia Sidney. I think Bette Davis started hers there too. Forget who else.

Per Town Hall's website, it also included Myrna Loy, Roz Russell and Lana Turner.  Davis was first.  Crawford's night was 8 April 1973.  She was the fourth, and according to the web site was a substitution when someone else cancelled (no mention of who that was), and did it as a favor.  Odd that he'd return the favor by signing her up for his own publicity event the following year, if that version of the story is true.

[Hibi]

Yes, I thought Loy was one of them, but wasn't sure. Turner came later. She wasnt part of the initial "package".

[CinemaInternational]

On 11/13/2020 at 5:38 PM, Hibi said:

I LOVE how the exclamation point is part of the title! Worse was to come with TROG. At least BERSERK! is campily entertaining.

Explanation points were big at the time on films. See also Hello Dolly!, Oliver!, Star!, Morgan!, What a Way to Go!, Help!,  That Darn Cat! Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, Viva Maria!, Boy Did I Get a Wrong Numer!, Not With My Wife You Don't!,  Where Angels Go Trouble Follows!, Che!, Oh! What a Lovely War, Hail Hero! and Tora! Tora! Tora!

[Hibi]

Very true! (Exclamation point!)