Rudolph Valentino, will you teach me to tango?

Français : Le Cheik (Rudolph Valentino) et son ami Raoul (Adolphe Menjou) dans le film Le Cheik (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Rudolph Valentino was “The Great Lover of the Silver Screen” until John Gilbert inherited that moniker after Valentino’s premature death. Valentino was an Italian immigrant, who slept on a park bench in Central Park when he arrived in NYC.  Before he went from rags to riches, he was best known for his dancing skills.

I’ve seen several of his films.  Despite his Italian ethnicity, he was cast as an Arab in THE SHEIK and in The SON OF THE SHEIK.  I haven’t seen BEYOND THE ROCKS, based  on a book written by Elinor Glyn, but love I his performance in BLOOD AND SAND, which earned a remake starring Tyrone Power.  THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE is not my favorite Valentino film, but it does contain my favorite scene:  Valentino doing the tango.  (The tango made him a star.)  I could watch that scene over and over.  And I have!

Valentino was larger than life.  How tragic that he died so young!

English: movie poster for 1922 film Blood and Sand (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Poster for 1921 film “The Sheik” starring Rudolph Valentino Français : Affiche du film Le Cheik avec Rudolph Valentino (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Son of the Sheik (1926) film poster. (Photo credit: *Wikipedia)

NOTE:  As a child, I sang “I’m Old Enough for Kissing but I’m Too Young to Tango” in a talent show.  I was a hit with three curtain calls even though I couldn’t sing, hadn’t kissed anyone, and couldn’t define “tango.”  I still can’t tango.  If only Rudy were around to teach me!

* This post was  composed for my fellow blogger, Richard.  We share an admiration for the films of Rudolph Valentino as well as Vivian Leigh.  If you haven’t read his film reviews, check them out.  They are outstanding.  They cover films in every era of cinema history.

• The Son of the Sheik (1926) – by Thea (schilleratthemovies.wordpress.com)
• The Great Valentino (girlwithadogandgoodshoes.wordpress.com)
• Romance in Films: Then and Now (theprinceinthetower.wordpress.com)

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: Romantic, Demonic, Silly?

 

My answers to the above questions are “not really,” “yes,” and “yes.”   As a matter of principle, I do not watch anything on TV or at the theater with an occult or vampire theme.  However, at the advice of someone I respect, I soldiered though an episode of the “Twilight Saga.”   Afterwards, I looked up the series on “Honest Trailers“–just for fun.

I would not advise watching all of the trailers associated with these films because some of them are a bit crude.  But I definitely recommend this trailer for parents who want to know what their teenage daughters are watching.

If you’re looking for alternatives, try introducing your teens to the era of silent films when stares were more expressive and meaningful.  Silent films are generally wholesome and entertaining.  They’ve made a comeback in recent years.  You can find them on Turner Classic Movies.

Français : Rudolph Valentino et Agnes Ayres dans Le Cheik. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

 

Finding Fictional Characters

Meet “Jeremiah Doss,”  the main character in “The Eastlake Clock,” one of my unpublished short stories.  To tell the truth, I haven’t the foggiest idea who he is–or was.  I found his photo in an antique shop and was drawn to it at once.

When I started writing the story, I had a vague image of what my leading character looked like, but when I stumbled upon this photograph of a nineteenth-century gentleman, I knew that he was the one.

I didn’t buy it at first. The price was an exorbitant $17, too much for a picture of a dead man that I didn’t know.  So I went home and brooded over my predicament.  I couldn’t get the photo out of my head, and I was desperate for inspiration; so, I trekked back to the shop and shelled out the cash.

When I got  home, I examined the back of the photo, and guess what?  No name.  The only script on back of the photo was the name of the studio, “Morse’s Palace of Art,” and the address:  “No. 417 Montgomery St., San Francisco, Cal.”

That gave me an idea.   Why not name the character after the studio?  So “Mr. Anonymous” became “Mr. Morse.”  Now I needed a given name.  I choose “J.D.”

When my husband saw the framed photo among the family pictures, he made a remark about “another dead relative.”  I didn’t have the nerve to tell him that the fellow was not part of our ancestry, and I wasn’t about to tell him what it cost to acquire the anonymous image.  

One day as I was browsing through my Dad’s genealogy online, I came across the name “Jeremiah Doss.”  Charles Wright and Rachel Doss were my g-g-g-g-grandparents, and Jeremiah was related to Rachel.  His name had a nice ring to it.  So I tossed J.D. Morse into the graveyard of unknown fictional characters and resurrected Jeremiah Doss.

I haven’t finished penning “The Eastlake Clock,” but when I do, I will post a notice on my blog.

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Romantic Remakes: You’ve Got Mail

Some movies merit at least one remake.  Which two of these films below inspired YOU’VE GOT MAIL (1998), starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan?

Cropped screenshot of Greer Garson from the trailer for the film Pride and Prejudice (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cropped screenshot of Bette Davis and Leslie Howard from the film Of Human Bondage. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cropped screenshot of the trailer for the film The Shop Around the Corner (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cropped screenshot of Joan Fontaine from the trailer for the film Suspicion (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cropped screenshot of Lana Turner from the trailer for the film The Postman Always Rings Twice. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Van Johnson in ”In The Good Old Summertime” 1949 (Photo credit: Movie-Fan)

Cropped screenshot of Deborah Kerr from the trailer for the film An Affair to Remember (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Romance in Films: Then and Now

English: Studio publicity portrait for film Sabrina with William Holden and Audrey Hepburn. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hugh 6 (Photo credit: Cool Guyz)

Hugh 4 (Photo credit: Cool Guyz)

Poster_-_Gone_With_the_Wind_01 (Photo credit: Jim Surkamp)

English: Screenshot from the original 1958 theatrical trailer for the film Vertigo Frame taken from MPEG4. Note: This version of the original 1958 theatrical trailer is of significantly lower quality than the 1996 restoration theatrical trailer. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Flesh and the Devil (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Legend of Zorro (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Merry Widow (1925 film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jane Eyre: Mia Wasikowska & Michael Fassbender (Photo credit: Lyon & Pan)

English: Rudolph Valentino in “The Sheik” (www.silentgents.com) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Rudolph Valentino and Agnes Ayres in “The Sheik.” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How do you define romance?  It’s not raw, in-your-face sexuality.  It’s more subtle than that.  The pictures say it all.

Hugh Jackman: Talent Wasted

Hugh Jackman at the X-Men Origins: Wolverine premiere in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I adore Hugh Jackman.  I think he’s the most talented actor alive, but with the exception of “Kate and Leopold,” he doesn’t always get the best parts or the best co-stars–at least, not in films.  (His Broadway hits are the exception.)  The man can sing, dance, and act.  His best performance was at the Academy Awards when he hosted it several years ago.

Today I feel compelled to write about “Les Miserables,” which should have been the best film of the year, except it had some flaws. To balance my review, I should add that the cinematography was outstanding. There is much to applaud and much to speculate about the filming and casting of “Les Miserables.”

UPDATE:  Les Miserables is scheduled for Broadway with Hugh Jackman in the lead.  Hurray!

“The Cat in the Tower”

“Mosby” is preparing to grab me by his claws when I walk by the kitchen counter.

I have yet to meet a writer without a pet.  More often than not, the pet is a cat.  Cats and computers go together.  Cats keep you company when you’re typing and like to edit your manuscript by walking across the keyboard.   Now and then, their edits go unnoticed until the manuscript is published.

Cats inspire writers.  Since they’re in your face or rubbing against your arm when you’re trying to type, you might as well include them in your stories.  So I created a minor character, a cat named “Mosby,” to immortalize my pet in THE PRINCE IN THE TOWER.

My cat (now deceased) was more mischievous than the fictional one.  He was clever.  He could jump up high enough to turn off the kitchen light, and he did this more than once.    One time I found him sitting on top of the ledge of the back door.  He was a big cat, so I don’t know how he maintained his balance, but he was an acrobat.

Both my cat and the fictional one were named after the Confederate raider Colonel John Singleton Mosby, a.k.a. “The Gray Ghost.”  Since Mosby’s Midnight Raid occurred in Fairfax, Virginia, and most of the novel takes place in Fairfax County, where I was living at the time, it seemed fitting to write my cat into the story.

John S. Mosby (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

While I was writing the novel, I had the opportunity to meet John Singleton Mosby’s grandson, Admiral Beverly Coleman.  He lived in the same retirement home as my mother-in-law, so I found an excuse to meet him.  I owned a book called MOSBY’S CONFEDERACY.  I asked Admiral Coleman to sign it next to his own photo, which was included in the book.  Admiral Coleman’s features were identical to his grandfather’s. I was in seventh heaven talking to Admiral Coleman when my husband came to the door signaling me to leave the room.  Admiral Coleman asked me who “that man” was.  When I acknowledged that the so-and-so was my husband, the admiral said, “He’s a lucky fella.”  That made my day.

My first published article was “Mosby’s Midnight Raid,” which appeared in the CONNECTION, a newspaper with a wide distribution in Northern Virginia.  I sent Admiral Coleman a copy of the article and a photo of my cat.  He replied with a nice letter.

Many cats that live in Fairfax are named after the Confederate raider, but only mine earned a part in THE PRINCE IN THE TOWER.  He was “a character” in every sense of the word.

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