Jill Clayburgh

I was just beginning to write about Jill Clayburgh, Alan Bates, & An Unmarried Woman & was startled to see that she died today at her home in Connecticut . Condolences to her husband, playwright David Rabe, & daughter, actress Lily Rabe. The film was made at a difficult time in NYC (& indeed everywhere) but I recently told someone - while her character may be well-to-do, she meets many people who are not. I knew people who lived in Manhattan then & visited fairly often. They wouldn't be able to live there now under the same circumstances. You know what? We were more grown up back then, somehow.

I recall seeing it alone & then Pied Piperette-style, leading about a dozen friends & their friends to see it. I was the only one (if I recall correctly--they'll let me know) who argued vigorously on behalf of the ending. Watch the DVD again (or for the first time). Jill-as-Erica (& on her own, too) is utterly charming & touching.

Listen to Paul Mazursky's commentary about making it, New York then & when he was growing up, where he met his wife, etc. He's quite wry & amusing in his remembrances. (Also for Last Stop, Greenwich Village.)

(images via sfgate(dot)com & Saatchi Online), it pains me not to have a good solo photo -- the irony -- from the film but there aren't many good ones around--at short notice.)

Week's End - Paul, Scene Stealer

Here's a link to Top 10 Paul Newman Movies on Scene-Stealers. How cool was Paul? Paul Newman & legendary newsman Daniel Schorr, who passed away this morning, were both proud to be on Nixon's enemies list. That's the spirit!

(Beautiful Joanne Woodward deserves a post to herself. 'Cause of the scene hog, above. He couldn't help it. He was born that way.)

Tuesday, 27 July update: I've been without power since Sunday, it returned about an hour ago (4am EDT). While I recover & assess the damage to finances & everything else, not to mention my one last delicate nerve, thanks to everyone who stopped by with comments & to queries in my email about 'are you OK?' Til later today, xo

[photograph via, where else? Paul Newman tumblr]

Red, Seeing Red, Red Room

Last evening, John Logan's play Red about artist Mark Rothko & his young assistant won the Tony Award for Best Play. Hoorah. In addition, I am seeing red about things of which I cannot speak, much less write. So. Red.

The Phillips Collection played host to actors Alfred Molina (genuis!) & Eddie Redmayne in March before the New York opening. (As did the National Gallery, but I am partial to the Phillips--where nothing bad can happen to you; it's not allowed.) Congratulations to Redmayne for his first Tony as Featured Actor in a Play.

The Washington Post article was exceptionally good, considering the downfall of the Post. There's a good image gallery & insight into Molina's (& Redmayne's) preparation. I adore Molina, so I did not have a jealous twinge that the pair had the Phillips & the famous Rothko Room to themselves. The Collection is closed on Mondays; the only day off for the actors is...Monday.

Speaking about color, Italia v Paraguay: Azzurri!

[Orange and Red on Red, 1957/The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. via www.beyler(dot)com; the second photograph is via The Clever Pup, who has a brief post involving John Donne...& it's funny. So you see, you must go. Alas it is not her bedroom but the image can be found here.]

That's Richard & Elizabeth to You

& me. Not Liz & Dick! Some of Richard Burton's love letters to Elizabeth Taylor are in the July 2010 Vanity Fair. This is not news, I know. I look forward to receiving my copy; yes, I take it, don't judge! (With the hideous images, descriptions of human rights abuses I have to read & gaze upon...eye candy is what I need, baby.) When there is a highly-publicized VF cover, sometimes it does not arrive in my mailbox. (Grace Kelly arrived in May, so I have hope.) Monday night update: nope not here; it's on the stands. Hmmm.

I can't believe I'm posting these but the couple loomed large when I was little. Anyway, the "Liz & Dick," "Dick & Liz" is annoying. When one is preoccupied with more important matters, small things can grate. So that's my excuse to post photographs of them. (Yes, of course it's also because Burton was Welsh.)

Very few images are attributed, oddly. Some of the black & white are by Gjon Mili in LIFE archives; the others are from The Burtons - a tumblr blog. It's fun, pay a visit. And though there's a super-mushy song playing behind it, here's a well-done, high quality YouTube tribute to E&R. Very clear & beautiful photographs, many I'd not seen before. So on a June Monday, have a little fun.

Gregory in Black & White

Distressed that racial epithets were hurled at civil rights hero John Lewis & others over the weekend. It stings, it really does. Also homophobic (to be polite about it) screams at Congressman Barney Frank. It's at times like these I clutch my copy of To Kill A Mockingbird & re-order the film from the Netflix Fairy. I saw a dreadful production at Ford's Theatre years ago...it was worth seeing for the sake of the young sons of my then-boyfriend (hate that word). These children were (are) biracial as are some of my family members. Their racist grandmother took us to the play; that was one weird day.

Gregory Peck was a card-carrying, proud liberal, too; that makes the film that much sweeter. And did you know he became a friend of Bob Dylan? Yep. Because of Brownsville Girl. When Dylan received the Kennedy Center Honor, he asked Peck (along with Springsteen) to be part of the festivities. Here's the Peck-narrated video.

It's gonna be a long haul.

[photographs via classicmoviekids.com; alt film guide]

Week's End - Reds

Even though I'm rereading Keats, I have been preoccupied with WWI (& the Russian Revolution). The Sepia Saturday peeps & the Netflix Fairy are to blame. Equally. (Also, cleaning. Because John Reed's Ten Days that Shook the World fell off a shelf & so there you are. Can I blame Warren Beatty, too?) Julie the Cat just purged me from the house finances committee. Uh oh.

[photographs via New York Times & Alt Film guide-www.altfg.com/Clive Coote, uncredited still photographer/Reds]

Week's End - Umbrella Girl

Off to procure a large, safe (beautiful) umbrella to weather threatening storms on their unwelcome way. Getting wet with Gregory Peck would be lovely; with the slim pickings in Washington, DC (over the age of interns), I'm choosing the bumpershoot* route. Have a great weekend wherever you are. xo

*or 'bumbershoot'. Stop the arguing over slang for 'umbrella'! Only on the Internet...

[photograph by Constantin Joffe, 1947 via myvintagevogue]

Week's End - Tony in Black & White

The last thing I wanted to do was toss in another b&w...no matter how sweet. Apparently, though, buckets o' rain & apocalyptic lightening is on its way . [from Hollywood Cats/personal scan/info here]

Wanted color in here...I just saw the pink vintage dress (same brand, the exact dress) that I have hanging outside my closet door--to remind me of the days before my period of avoirdupois (aka POA). [Philosophy of pink, a Tina-Muse pink link .] However, too afraid to go looking & then have the power go out. You'd think I was in the Year of Living Dangerously with our weather (& other matters). Go look at Hazel's fabulous trifle recipe. I plan to make it for a party in early June. Uh oh. First rumblings of scary-sounding thunder. Julie, afraid of nearly nada, just jumped into my lap & spilt iced espresso. To her credit, she looks sheepish about it.

So ciao for now & will be back later. I hope. I find it curious, though, that not a soul was interested in either Spanish post in Giulia Geranium or this site. Hmmmm. That won't stop me; not about to start 'hearting' stuff. It's obvious what I like.

PS: Yes, it was Tony's personal tabby...not a set-up shot. Even better.

Famous Blue Raincoat

Aha. Never trust a writer, particularly one who is underemployed...so no, not 4am, not NYC. Was thinking about Leonard on tour (here a few days ago in DC...of course I couldn't go) & love triangles & so on. And I wanted to get these shots into the archives, & oh well. Cohen isn't satisfied with the lyrics & I understand why. I don't know anyone who is satisfied with most things they do. Here's a quote to BBC Radio, years ago:

"The trouble with that song is that I've forgotten the actual triangle. Whether it was my own … of course. I always felt that there was an invisible male seducing the woman I was with, now whether this one was incarnate or merely imaginary I don't remember, I've always had the sense that either I've been that figure in relation to another couple or there'd been a figure like that in relation to my marriage. I don't quite remember but I did have this feeling that there was always a third party, sometimes me, sometimes another man, sometimes another woman."

That isn't the 'trouble.' By the time you rework some things, you can forget your name, or would like to, or that was the purpose in the first place (if you admitted it). Also one suspects he's like everyone else: who wants to remember?

Still looking for a site for the still photographer listed in TEP credits (Phil Bray). This is also one of those it's-Egyptian-desert-Cairo-but-really-Tunisia deals. It's difficult to believe that I stood not far from where the top photo was shot, some years earlier; that was some taxi ride. Remain fairly obsessed by it (the desert). What is "fairly" obsessed? I don't know. Will edit. Maybe. [photographs are saturated, cropped, detailed, tinted, & sepia-ed by me. They were a mess on original downloads anyway. I think there's an actual making-of book & I'd love to have it. Maybe. Have to look at it first & then win the lottery.]

Off to ultra-scary dentist appointment...& no doubt people arguing about mustard on the Metro. (Yes, I'm talking about people talking about the President's moutarde choice. Criminy.)

[photo credits /Phil Bray]-Update: 28 June 2009. Here is new link to Phil Bray Credits - looking for individual website, still.

It's right there, in black & white

Indulge me (once again). I'm exhausted & decided any two photos in My Pictures that go together, I have to make up a title no matter how dumb & literal & schedule it to post. No matter what. Once a day, five days a week. And I promise it will be better than this very soon. The Giulia Geranium blog will be one-year old on May 4th. Then, we'll see. I was never naive enough to think that Sudan would be settled by now, but I thought we'd be in a building/rebuilding period. And no, I do not think World War II was "romantic." At all. I just like these photos of a great film...I call one "the news isn't good" & the other "a toast to the end of war." Seems like we'll always need those two phrases.

I can't even remember where I got these photos...I think those "screen capture" thingies. I'll come back & do the right thing. For now, this is it. Go see Hazel at Clever Pup who has done her Theme Thursday on Fire...& then go read The English Patient if you've not...if you have, you might not have read Ondaatje's poetry. That's why his prose is so beautiful: he's a poet. His heart must be breaking with the news out of Sri Lanka. It just gets worse & worse.

Week's End - Marlon in Black & White

How cool is this? Young Marlon with a great typewriter & his white cat (in 1955) via scan from Hollywood Cats that I found for $1.00 at Catapalooza on Valentine's Day. Such a bargain.) Off to brood (but never as cool as Marlon). Have a great weekend. Sunday is International Women's Day & I'll post something...they celebrate it in Europe (especially Italy) big time but in the States? Zip, really. What about Canada? Canadiennes, please weigh in, if you like. ciao, belle!