Happy Independence Day #7 -- July 4, 2013

Happy Fourth of July to all.

Actress Myrna Loy, one of my favorites, ignores the sign prohibiting fireworks.  From Motion Picture Magazine, August, 1928.
150 years today, on 04-July-1863, Confederate Lieutenant General John C Pemberton surrendered the fortified town of Vicksburg, a key point on the Mississippi River, to Union Major General Ulysses S Grant.  Grant  had besieged the city for six weeks and the defenders and the civilian population had become desperate.  Vicksburg, along with the just-concluded Battle of Gettysburg, was a turning point in the war.  

Graumann's Chinese #20 -- November 20, 2012

In July, 2012 we paid a return visit to Hollywood and Grauman's Chinese Theater.  Sid Grauman was a San Francisco showman who came to Los Angeles and built three major houses, the Million Dollar, the Egyptian, and the Chinese. The theater has hosted many film premieres, but is most famous for the hand and footprints (and hoofprints and nose prints and other types of prints) in the forecourt.

William Powell and Myrna Loy played together in many movies, including the Thin Man series.   They both left their hand and foot prints on 20-October-1936.  This was around the time of the release of Libeled Lady with Powell, Loy and Jean Harlow.

Powell's "Sid old boy, I am happy to put my foot into it for you" sounds very much like something he would say in a movie.  Loy's "To Sid who gave me my first job" remembers her time performing in live action prologues at Grauman's Egyptian up the street. 

Happy Fathers' Day #4 -- June 19, 2011

Happy Fathers' Day to all my fellow fathers. I miss my dad.

I think my favorite movie dad is William Powell's Nick Charles in the Thin Man series, inspired by Dashiell Hammett's novel. Nick and Nora really loved each other. Nick had some points in common with my dad: He was very smart, he could be very sarcastic, and he always enjoyed a martini.

The photo of Nick, Nora and Asta is from the wonderful site LucyWho (http://www.lucywho.com/).