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The Mammoth Book Of Hollywood Scandals

Today I received the Mammoth book of Hollywood Scandals by Michelle Morgan, and I am hooked.

I love Michelle's writing, she has thoroughly researched each and every chapter/scandal in the book and I am really hoping that she will fix some of the damage that the horrible book Hollywood Babylon caused when it was first published

Anyway so here I am enjoying my copy of the book, the only problem is, I need to get up early for work in the morning, I only hope I can put the book down!!!

I will write more about the book when I have finished it, but if you can't wait go order a copy

click HERE to order from Amazon UK

click HERE to order from Amazon.com

Huey Lewis and The News

This post is really late due to being on holiday for a week, however went to see Huey Lewis and the News in London on 1st October.

This is the second time I have seen them in concert and they were fabulous once again.

Here's hoping they come back to the UK again soon

Finding Valentino

As you all know I am a huge movie fan - but until recently the only silent movies I had seen were Laurel and Hardy shorts on a Saturday morning and the Louise Brooks film Pandora's Box (I'm not counting the modern silent 'The Artist' in this)

But just recently I found myself drawn to Rudolph Valentino, obviously I knew who he was, and that there was a terrible outpouring of grief when he died at the age of only 31, in 1926 but I had never seen one of films, and had never really paid any attention to him.

But, movie lover that I am, I thought it was time to broaden my horizons so I purchased The Sheik. I mentioned this to my Mother as the DVD was sent to her address and she admitted that she didn't think much of him judging by what she had seen, too much, white make up and heavy eyeliner - that was until she saw the DVD cover pictured below: 

She took one look at the photo and exclaimed - 'Now I can see what all the fuss was about!'

And it still comes across in these films today, some 87 years after his death. The first close up of him in The Sheik was so powerful, his charisma and sexuality still so very evident across the years.

Enraptured by his image in The Sheik, I next purchased - Blood and Sand, another really good film, in which Valentino moves the viewer and makes the heart flip of the hardest modern woman. It is so strange that he can still have this affect on people. And so my fascination with the man has grown over the last 2 weeks, and yesterday I received my 3rd Valentino film - The Eagle.

Yet again his appeal is so evident in the movie, and at the end the viewer is moved to tears when the Czarina signs the death warrant for his character.

I have never felt such a pull towards and actor, other than to Marilyn Monroe, I was drawn to her because of her beauty, vulnerability, talent and humanity. Valentino has all that and the added attraction of being an incredibly gorgeous, sexy man!

The films themselves are not of the best quality and I would love to see a digitally restored pristine print, but maybe that would detract from the original charm.

These films had to have good but simple stories, and they really were, and Valentino was the greatest silent male star there was, he could really make you feel what the character was feeling with just a look. In those days the acting really was done with one look.

And as Norma Desmond put it in Sunset Boulevard - 'We didn't need dialogue. We had faces!'

And oh how true it was. Now I have found Valentino, I intend to keep learning about him, the man, the life. He is one of the more fascinating of the stars, because of what he was, what he still is, and I hope that anyone out there reading this will give a Valentino movie a chance, and other classic movies as well. There was a time before colour pictures, there was a time before sound pictures and that time was Valentino's.

For more information please visit the Rudolph Valentino Society by clicking HERE

 and 

Falcon Lair - The Rudolph Valentino Homepage by clicking HERE

I like staying up all night..........

Watching old movies til the morning light...

So says Huey Lewis and the News on the 1980's album Fore!.

And I do love staying up to watch old movies. Currently I am working my way through this

Yep the Jean Harlow box set, and all I can say is about time. Although some of her films have still not been released, this is a good start. So far I've watched:

The Girl from Missouri

Reckless

Saratoga

I have had these a while and I must admit it is taking me a while for several reasons:

Work always gets in the way

The other half does not like old Black and White movies (strange I know)

I was given some TV box sets for my birthday and I also bought a load of films from CEX and I still haven't watched all of those!

Still to go are:

Bombshell

Suzy

Riff Raff

Personal Property

The only other Harlow film I have on DVD currently is Hell's Angels

The rest of my Harlow material is on old VHS cassettes, some still play fine others are very dodgy but I will keep them until I get the rest of the films on DVD.

There are very few extras on these DVDs, mainly because the out takes would have been destroyed by the studio which was common practice back in those days, and also because these films were made in the 1930s, there are few surviving people who took part in the filming of these films.

However some of the discs do contain the original theatrical trailer and one Reckless contains some audio outtakes of Harlow recording the title track.

If you are fan of old Hollywood I would recommend that you buy this set of movies starring the Original Platinum Blonde.

Although on Amazon UK it says the discs are Region 1, they are in fact Region Free, so there really are no excuses not to buy this set.

Click HERE to order the set in the UK

Congratulations

So the Duchess of Cambridge has had her baby, and she and William looked extremely happy as they left the hospital with him this evening.

Congratulations to the both of them and we now look forward to learning the baby's name. This is usually announced at the Christening. I wonder if they will give us a Bank Holiday for it????

The Who in Cardiff

So Tuesday night went to see The Who at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff - Fantastic night - where they get their energy from I just don't know.

It was amazing to see and hear the whole of the Quadrophenia album live and of course some of their most famous songs.

Baba O'Riley was amazing live and the audience went mental

Music is always great live and I can't wait for the next concert I have tickets from which is for Huey Lewis and the News - Sports 30th anniversary tour in October in London

Love it