“Forgotten Hollywood”- Must-See Classic Television on KCET

June 29th, 2016

Manny P. here…

kcet50_1   KCET is proud to present a new weekly classic series, KCET Must See Movies, providing a nostalgic destination for loyal viewers to watch motion pictures from Hollywood’s most iconic filmmakers. The eclectic lineup celebrates cinema that is considered timeless by film experts, worldwide.

FunnyGirlPoster   KCET Must See Movies features selected epic productions that is sure to entertain viewers. The variety of celluloid milestones presented in the series include West Side StoryButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Some Like It Hot, Patton, Bridge on the River Kwai, Rain Man, Speed, and many more.

   The 1968 Academy Award-winning film Funny Girl, starring Barbra Streisand as famed comedienne and entertainer Fanny Brice, will kickoff the series. Directed by William Wyler, the musical chronicles the legendary Ziegfeld Girl’s rise to fame, and her subsequent career and personal life.

   Other flicks on tap in July: Gilda and Queen Christina. KCET Must See Movies premieres Friday, July 8th at 9p on KCETand encores on Saturday at 4p.

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   Now is your opportunity to purchase an eBook version of Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History at 50% off on Smashwords. For the entire month of July, you will be able to download my initial paperback on your favorite app. Click (or cut-and-paste) on the link:

SW SW sale

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/forgottenhollywood

   The eBook of my work will be available beginning on July 1st for about $5. Make sure to include the promo code:  SSW50. A version can be downloaded in these available formats:

epub – mobi – pdf – rtf – lrf – pdb

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- The Toast of Albany…

June 28th, 2016

Manny P. here… AIHA_225th-Anniversary-Final-18059ac4

   Long before his life story became a darling of the Great White Way, Alexander Hamilton was a hit in Albany. New York’s capital is finally capitalizing on the Hamilton Broadway musical craze with a lineup of attractions focusing on the patriot who got hitched in the upstate city and spent time in the area.

   The Founding Father first visited Albany in 1777 to speak to General Horatio Gates on behalf of George Washington. Three years later, he married Elizabeth Schuyler in the parlor of her Albany home — The Pastures, now known as Schuyler Mansion. Over the next 20 years, Hamilton traveled to the hamlet to visit his in-laws and to conduct legal business.

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   The mansion is in coordination with an exhibit at the Albany Institute of History and Art that highlights Hamilton’s Albany connections and features some of his family heirlooms and papers. This exhibition highlights objects related to Hamilton from a collection with a few significant loans, including a portrait of him by Ezra Ames (courtesy of Union College Permanent Collection, Schenectady, New York). The locale is offering guided and self-guided tours that focus on Hamilton’s life in Albany.

   The exhibition runs through December 31st.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Happy Birthday to You…

June 27th, 2016

Manny P. here…

   A judge has approved a settlement putting Happy Birthday to You in the Public Domain. United States District Judge George King approved the agreement. It ends the ownership claims of Warner/Chappell Music, the music publishing company that has been collecting royalties on the song for years.

   The company has agreed to pay back $14 million to those who have paid licensing fees to use the song. Last year, King ruled the company didn’t own the lyrics, one of the best-known and most beloved songs in the world. He said the company has no right to charge for the song’s use.

   The origins of Happy Birthday to You date back to the late 19th Century, when sisters, Patty and Mildred J. Hill, introduced Good Morning to All to Patty’s kindergarten class in Kentucky. The complete printed text of Happy Birthday to You first appeared in Edith Goodyear Alger’s poem Roy’s Birthday, published in her book, A Primer of Work and Play, copyrighted by D.C. Heath in 1901, with no reference to the lyrics.

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   In 1935, a piano arrangement and an unused second verse of Happy Birthday to You were copyrighted as a work-for-hire, crediting Preston Ware Orem for the piano arrangements and Mrs. R.R. Forman for the lyrics by the Summy Company. A later corporate restructuring in the 1970s saw Summy-Birchard becoming a division of a new company: Birch Tree Group Unlimited.

   Warner/Chappell Music acquired Birch Tree Group Unlimited in 1988 for 25 million US dollars. The company continued to insist one cannot sing the Happy Birthday to You lyrics for profit without paying royalties. In 2008, Warner collected around $5,000 each day (roughly $2 million per year) in royalties for the song. Warner/Chappell claimed copyright: 

For every use in film, television, radio, anywhere open to the public, and for any group where a substantial number of those in attendance are not family or friends of whoever is performing the song

b4438229fbbb3e82255468c75b74ac49   On June 13th, 2013, documentary filmmaker Jennifer Nelson filed a class action suit in federal court for the Southern District of New York  against Warner/Chappell because of the name of her film company, Good Morning to You Productions. As part of a documentary she was making about the song and its history, she paid $1,500 to secure the rights. This week’s decision finally puts the tune in the Public Domain.

   Warner/Chappell said it didn’t try to collect royalties from just anyone singing the song, but those who use it in a commercial enterprise. Finally, the ditty will now be able to appear on television and on the big screen without fear of a financial backlash.                    SHIRLEY TEMPLE —->

   According to the 1998 Guinness World Records, Happy Birthday to You is considered the most recognized song in the English language.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Das Boot Re-Boot…

June 26th, 2016

Manny P. here…

Das_boot_ver1   Thirty-five years after the massively successful World War II classic Das Boot, or The Boat, which chronicled the brutal life aboard a German U-boat, plans are underway for a sequel. The DPA news agency reported that pay-television channel Sky and Bavaria Film have announced they will produce a German-language series of eight one-hour episodes that will pick up from the tragic end of the movie. The production has a budget of €25 million euros ($28 million), and should air in 2018. It will also be based upon the eponymous novel by Lothar-Guenther Buchheim.

   The original 1981 film, which was nominated for six Oscars, was directed by Wolfgang Petersen, and starred Juergen Prochnow and Herbert Groenemeyer. Its high production cost ranks it among the most expensive films in the history of German cinema. In late 2007, there was an exhibition about the film Das Boot, as well as about the real U-96, at the House of German History in Bonn. Over 100,000 people visited the exhibition during its four-month run.

   Details on the director and cast for the series have not been announced.

jost   Meanwhile, a German court has granted Jost Vacano (right) more than $500,000 for his contributions on the anti-war movieThe Munich body ruled this week in favor of the Oscar-nominated cinematographer by ordering Bavaria Film, WDR, and Eurovideo to pay Vacano €475,000 euros, along with a 2.25% share in the motion picture’s future earnings. Vacano successfully argued that he should be better compensated after the film’s success.

   The 82-year-old cinematographer was initially given $200,000 for his work on the film, but he was cut out of future profits. Despite winning in court, his compensation only covers earnings from 2002 to 2014, as previous copyright law does not account for the more than $100 million Das Boot generated worldwide.

   Vacano has also worked on RoboCop, Total Recall, and Starship Troopers.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Rebuilding a Kauai Treasure…

June 25th, 2016

Manny P. here… oct-08-2013-coco-palms-hotel-high-resolution-rendering-750xx4000-2250-0-0

   Work has finally begun on rebuilding the storied resort where Elvis Presley’s character got married in the 1961 film Blue Hawaii, decades after a major hurricane heavily damaged its buildings and forced its closure. The company redeveloping the Coco Palms Resort began demolishing structures this week. The demolition will take six months. It hopes to reopen the hotel in mid-2018.

   Coco Palms initially opened in 1953 next to a historic coconut grove and ancient Hawaiian fishpond. It’s been closed since Hurricane Iniki — a Category 4 storm — slammed into the island of Kauai in 1992. The 46-acre grounds were once home to Kauai’s Queen Deborah Kapule Kekaihaakulou. It’s the site of key scenes in Blue Hawaii, including the last one where Presley sings the Hawaiian Wedding Song, and holds his bride’s hand while they board a raft to cross a lagoon.

elvis

           ELVIS PRESLEY

   Structures of the steel and concrete buildings will stay but their interior walls, plumbing and electrical wiring will be gutted. These buildings will house 80 percent of the hotel’s rooms. The bungalows housing suites, including the suite where Presley stayed during the filming of Blue Hawaii, are wood. These will need to be taken down and rebuilt eight feet above sea level to comply with new federal requirements to prevent flooding. The fishponds and lagoons are on the state historic registry and will be preserved. The renovated hotel will have 350 rooms, including 22 master suites and 50 junior suites. Hyatt will manage the hotel, once it reopens.

   Coco Palms Hui will set aside four acres for a community nonprofit that will offer lessons in Hawaiian culture, including hula, lei making, Hawaiian language, and playing the ukulele. The nonprofit will also provide hotel workers with a guide about Hawaiian culture and the historic Wailua area.

   Coco Palms is in Wailua, one of two political centers on Kauai before Europeans arrived in Hawaii in the late 1700s. Commoners farmed taro, a Hawaiian food staple, and tended fishponds in the fertile valley. Wailua has numerous shrines, which were reserved for the use of royalty and priests but fell out of use when the traditional Hawaiian religion was abolished in 1819. The area was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1962. Producer Hal Wallis would use the box office returns from Blue Hawaii to finance his next film, 1964’s Becket.

   On a personal note, I visited the historic area, six weeks before Hurricane Iniki slammed into the garden paradise.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Kennedy Center to Honor Al Pacino…

June 24th, 2016

Manny P. here…

   The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced that actor Al Pacino, rock band The Eagles, gospel and blues artist Mavis Staples, and singer-songwriter James Taylor will be honored for influencing American culture through the arts. A spokesperson for the center calls Pacino’s selection a long overdue tribute.

al_pacino_1900935   The co-star of The Godfather trilogy, who is regarded as one of the great American actors, has been the benefactor of the obvious oversight. Many of his peers, who became leading men in 1970s Hollywood, have already received tributes, including Warren Beatty, Robert de Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson, and Robert Redford.  AL PACINO ->

   Born in East Harlem, and raised in the South Bronx, Pacino began to draw notice for his onstage work in the late 1960s, and he won his first Tony Award in 1970. With his daring choices and deep immersion into his roles, he was among the 1970s movie stars who redefined what a Hollywood leading man could look and sound like.

   He had just one major film role to his credit when writer-director Francis Ford Coppola cast him as Michael Corleone in The Godfather. He reprised the iconic role two years later in the groundbreaking sequel, The Godfather Part II, and Pacino received Oscar nominations for both performances.

   Al also starred in two other 1970s classics, Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon. He worked sparingly in the 1980s but had another string of memorable starring roles in the 1990s, including Scent of a Woman, for which he won his first Academy Award after seven previous nominations. Other screen credits include ScarfaceHeat, Donnie Brasco, and The Insider. More recently, he’s done memorable work in television, playing real-life figures, Jack Kevorkian and Phil Spector.

   For The Eagles, the recognition will be bittersweet. The band was tapped for the honor last year, but postponed its appearance because of founding member Glenn Frey’s failing health. Frey died in January, about a month after last year’s gala.

   Mavis Staples got her start as part of a family gospel band, singing alongside her four siblings, with her father, Pops Staples, on guitar. Her dad was a friend of Martin Luther King Jr., and The Staple Singers’ popular hits became a soundtrack for the Civil Rights movement. She has also performed twice at the honors ceremony, paying tribute to Paul McCartney and Al Green.

   James Taylor has sold more than 100 million albums, won multiple Grammy Awards, and has been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

   The honorees will be celebrated at a gala on December 4th, featuring performances and tributes from top entertainers. The show will broadcast on December 27th on CBS.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- TCM Presents Olivia de Havilland…

June 23rd, 2016

Manny P. here…

   One of Hollywood’s true survivors, Olivia de Havilland, celebrates her 100th birthday on Friday, July 1st, but it’s her many fans who will receive the gifts of her talents as an actress.          OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND –>

   Turner Classic Movies will screen all of de Havilland’s movies — 39 in all — Friday nights in July, including her eight pairings with Errol Flynn, and her Oscar-winning turns in To Each His Own and The Heiress. Also on tap will be three other Oscar-nominated performances: as Melanie Hamilton in Gone with the Wind; Hold Back the Dawn, for which she lost the Best Actress award to her sister, Joan Fontaine, for Suspicion; and The Snake Pit, in which she played a mental patient.

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   After watching her motion pictures, curl up with de Havilland’s amusing 1962 memoir, Every Frenchman Has One, which Crown Archetype will re-issue on Tuesday, June 28th. De Havilland, who has lived in Paris since 1953, serves up a series of vignettes about adjusting to her life in the City of Lights, from shopping for clothes, to reading a thermometer (which was in degrees instead of celsius) to take her son’s temperature.

   Happy birthday, in advance, to the durable Olivia de Havilland.

Until next time>                               “never forget

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Touring with the Fab Four…

June 22nd, 2016

Manny P. here…

   The Beatles were a a Liverpool rock band on the cusp of stardom. The band’s ascent, and why the Beatles remain relevant today, will be documented in The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years. The project, directed by Ron Howard and produced by Imagine Entertainment, White Horse Pictures, and Apple Corps Ltd., will explore four years in the life of the band before it stopped touring in 1966. The documentary is set for a theatrical release on September 16th, followed a day later by an exclusive on-demand streaming deal through Hulu.

Beatles_Eight_Days_A_Week_on_hulu

   The film’s promises insight into the Beatles’ early years, beginning with the period after they had returned from an extended stint in Hamburg, Germany. A relentless performing schedule transformed a ragtag bunch of teens into a well-honed rock ‘n’ roll machine. Upon returning, the band set up camp at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, and from there, they started touring all over the globe.

   Over the four years represented in the film, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr revolutionized popular music. After their initial appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964, the band toured relentlessly. In those two-plus years, they performed 166 concerts in 90 cities around the world. For the project, producers scoured fan-made home-movies and photographs to augment the many hours of available interviews, performances, and behind-the-scenes footage. The production was completed with the combined cooperation of McCartney, Starr, and Beatles widows, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison.

   The film concludes with the band’s last official concert. Citing an inability to replicate in a concert setting its increasingly complicated music, The Beatles performed their last scheduled gig a little more than two years later at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park in August 1966.

  To paraphrase a classic tune by the Fab Four, director Ron Howard will allow The Beatles to profess their words of wisdom… let it be… let it be.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- A Golden Eatery…

June 21st, 2016

Manny P. here…

rue   Michael J. La Rue announced plans to open a restaurant in the late Rue McClanahan’s honor later this year in New York City. The restaurant, fittingly called Rue La Rue Cafe, is scheduled to open early September in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Her longtime friend plans to decorate the restaurant with items he inherited after Rue’s death in 2010, including personal belongings and show-business memorabilia from The Golden Girls. The actress’ own piano will be used for live music.

   McClanahan’s son, Mark Bisch, is also on board with the project. Because of Bisch’s commitment, the Walt Disney Company, which owns the distribution rights to the hit show, will allow the restaurant to create and sell its own Golden Girls merchandise. Even though the eatery will focus on McClanahan, the other Girls will also get appropriate attention. Betty White is expected to attend the cafe’s ribbon cutting ceremony. Both actresses were close friends in real life.

   The news of the Golden Girls–themed restaurant comes during the same month as a Saved by the Bellthemed pop up diner opened in Chicago. That restaurant, originally slated to remain open until August 31st, recently announced it will extend its stay until the end of the year due to overwhelming demand.

   Currently, The Golden Girls remains syndicated in 50 countries around the world. The restaurant should become a tourist destination due to the show’s devoted fan base.

   I hope the cafe serves the famous cheese cake featured in many of the episodes for dessert.

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psychoCam   A historic downtown Phoenix building known for appearing in the movie Psycho will become a cluster of condos. This week, the City Council approved the $2.3 million sale of the Barrister Building. Crescent Bay Development Services LLC plans to convert the six-story tower, which was once a hotel, into a complex of at least 88 condos. The developer also plans to incorporate restaurants and shops at the site. It’s often recognized for Alfred Hitchcock’s cameo in the opening scene of iconic suspense flick.

   Built in 1915, the property has been mostly vacant since 2010. However, the company plans to maintain the brick facade.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Cheers Live on Stage…

June 20th, 2016

Manny P. here…

Cheers_intro_logo   The bar where everybody knows your name is ready to go on tour. Cheers Live on Stage is a comedy based on some of the most memorable moments of the celebrated television show’s first season. It will feature retired Red Sox pitcher, and shameless lady’s man, Sam Malone, pretentious waitress Diane Chambers, rotund barfly Norm Peterson, idiotic mailman Cliff Clavin, and the rest of the first season cast when it debuts in September in Boston.

The show will have a cast of 14 actors — although no original cast members are involved — but to lend a little authenticity to a typical neighborhood bar, director Matt Lenz is planning what he says is an unusual casting call. Every night, he will bring about 10 pre-selected members of the audience to be on stage with the cast as bar patrons. They’ll be dressed in 1980s fashions and given directions, perhaps walking onstage to sit at a table, order a drink, then head upstairs to Melville’s, the restaurant above the bar. The stage set will appear almost identical to the television show, and producers plan to use the original theme music.

   Even though it’s based on the sitcom set in a Boston bar, loyal fans should see plenty of new material in the stage version, and may even get a chance to be a part of each performance. A national tour is also planned. Fans will get their fill of all of their favorite Cheers characters, but because the two-hour show is based solely on the first season, there will be no Woody, Frasier, or Rebecca.

cheers_bar_artifacts   vxyJ8

   Erik Forrest Jackson, the writer who adapted the show for the theater, binge-watched all 22 episodes of the first season, and studied the original scripts before he started writing. The quality of the original is what  made a live reboot attractive to Randy Buck, the chief executive officer of Troika Entertainment, which is producing the show along with Stageworks MediaTroika traditionally brings Broadway musicals on the road, but barely hesitated when given the chance to get involved in the Cheers project.

   The television series ran for 11 seasons from 1982 until 1993, winning 28 Emmys and six Golden Globes, and is found on just about every list of the top small screen programs in history.

   Cheers to a potentially fruitful endeavor

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- To Boldly Go…

June 19th, 2016

Manny P. here…

James_Kirk,_2266   Actor William Shatner will appear at Boston Comic Con 2016 to mark the 50th anniversary of the hit television series Star Trek. The three-day convention is scheduled for August 12th – August 14th at the Seaport World Trade Center.           WILLIAM SHATNER  —>

    Shatner played Captain James T. Kirk on the iconic show. He will appear at the convention on August 12th, when Fenway Park will host a Star Trek 50th Anniversary Night. Shatner will throw out the first pitch before the Red Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks ballgame.  Shatner will also be available to meet with fans on August 13th.

   The convention will feature appearances by well-known comic artists and celebrity guests, a charity art auction, a film festival, a harbor cruise, and a costume contest.

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   On a tragically related note, Anton Yelchin, a rising actor best known for playing Chekov in the new Star Trek films, was killed by his own automobile as it rolled down his driveway. The car pinned Yelchin against a brick mailbox pillar and a security fence at his home in Los Angeles.

   The SUV that rolled down a driveway was being recalled because the gear shift has confused drivers, causing the vehicles to roll away unexpectedly. The 2015 model-year Grand Cherokee was part of a global recall of 1.1 million vehicles announced by Fiat Chrysler in April, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration records show. The automaker sent recall notification letters to owners on May 16th, according to a memo to dealers, but it’s not known whether the actor received or saw his letter. The company was working on a fix and expected to have a final remedy in October or later, the letter said.

   Yelchin, an only child, was born in Russia. His parents were professional figure skaters who moved the family to the United States when he was a baby. He briefly flirted with skating lessons, too, before discovering that he wasn’t very skilled on the ice. He began acting as a child, taking small roles in independent films and television shows, such as ER, The Practice, and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

fans-mourn-anton-yelchin-ftr   He drew on his Russian roots for his role as the heavily accented navigator in the sci fi franchise, his most high-profile to date. The freak accident tragically cuts short the promising career of an actor whom audiences were getting to know, and who had great artistic ambition. Star Trek Beyond, the third film in the rebooted series, comes out in July.      ANTON YELCHIN –>

   Anton Yelchin was only 27.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Literacy Campaign to Start…

June 18th, 2016

Manny P. here…

Forgotten Hollywood - Therapy Cable logo    Beginning June 21st, I’ll begin a number of visits to branches of the County of Los Angeles Public Library to offer my unique take of portions of American History. My oral presentation includes a screening of my Forgotten Hollywood Documentary Trailer, and an opportunity for patrons to pick up autographed copies of my Forgotten Hollywood Book Series. Here’s this next week’s itinerary:

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CLIFTON M. BRAKENSIEK LIBRARY

9945 E. Flower St., Bellflower, CA

June 21st / Tuesday 6p – 7:30p

LA COUNTY LOGO   c-m-brakensiek-library

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HUNTINGTON PARK LIBRARY

6518 Miles Ave., Huntington Park, CA

June 25th / Saturday 10a – 12p

LA COUNTY LOGO   Huntington Park Library

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   The highlight of my week will be my visit to the Chicano Resource Center in East Los Angeles. Here are the complete details:

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Manny Pacheco june 22 2016 flyer5-page-001

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   If you live in Bellflower, Huntington Park, or East Los Angeles, or in Southern California neighboring communities, I urge to stop by.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Mr. Murphy Goes to Washington…

June 17th, 2016

Manny P. here…

   The filibuster is a powerful parliamentary device in the United States Senate. Rules permit a senator, or series of senators, to speak for as long as he or she wishes and on any topic he or she chooses, unless three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn (usually 60 out of 100 senators) bring debate to a close by invoking cloture. Most defenders call the filibuster… The Soul of the Senate.

   On Wednesday, Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, with the aid of other colleagues, held the floor of the Senate for 14 hours and 50 minutes. Murphy was fighting for a vote on two measures related to the issue of gun control:

~ Make it illegal for people on the FBI’s various suspected terrorism watch lists and no-fly lists to buy guns

~ Expand universal background checks

   Murphy’s filibuster was motivated by the Orlando massacre over the weekend, and the Sandy Hook tragedy that took place in his home state in 2012. Due to his arduous effort, Senate Republicans agreed to put the bills to a vote on Monday.

chris murphy

                                             SENATOR CHRIS MURPHY

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   Since 1900, 14 filibusters have been initiated in the U.S. Senate that have lasted at least 8 hours over a variety of issues, including civil rights, health care, tax cuts, and an increase in our national debt. However, the most famous filibuster may have been the one Jefferson Smith initiated in 1939. He’s the fictional character portrayed by James Stewart in the Frank Capra classic, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

Mr-Smith-Filabuster-1939

                      CLAUDE RAINS                  JAMES STEWART

   In the film, a junior senator (not unlike Senator Murphy) fights for a national boys camp at fictional Willet Creek, instead of a dam-building graft scheme included in an appropriations bill. The filibuster postpones the appropriations bill. The senator talks non-stop for about 24 hours, reaffirming the American ideals of freedom, and disclosing true motives of the dam scheme.

   Oscar-voters were shocked when Stewart (or Clark Gable in Gone with the Wind) were denied a Best Actor statuette, with the award going to Robert Donat for Goodbye Mr. Chips. One can speculate that Stewart received an apology Academy Award the following year for his performance in The Philadelphia Story (denying the Oscar to a more-deserving Henry Fonda for his role in The Grapes of Wrath).

   No matter the political party, America loves the filibuster.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- United Nations Ambassador Hathaway

June 16th, 2016

Manny P. here…

   Oscar-winning actress Anne Hathaway was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. U.N. Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, who announced the appointment, called her a longstanding supporter of women’s and girls’ rights.

   She said Hathaway will put the spotlight on women’s work at home caring for their families as a key barrier to equality. Hathaway will be making the case that parental leave for mothers and fathers, and childcare services, are important ways for employers to demonstrate that:

They understand the value of their staff — both male and female.

anne-hathaway-caricature   The 33-year-old actress previously served as an advocate for the Nike Foundation, which supports programs to empower adolescent girls in the developing world, and traveled to Kenya and Ethiopia to raise awareness on child marriage. In 2013, she narrated the CNN documentary, Girl Rising, which focused on the power of female education.

<——– Anne Hathaway won a 2013 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Les Miserables. She stated:  

I am honored and inspired by this opportunity to aid in advancing gender equality. 

   Congratulations to the talented star.

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   Walt Disney Company’s new $5.5 billion Shanghai Theme Park officially opened as its sixth resort, the first in mainland China. The park’s opening follows a decade of negotiations, five years of construction, and weeks of having over one million visitors trying out its rides, shops, restaurants, and its two hotels. The 963-acre facility is 57%-owned by the government-backed Shanghai Shendi Group. Letters of congratulations were read from the Chinese and American presidents, Xi Jinping and Barack Obama.

   Analysts expect Shanghai Disneyland to become the world’s most-visited theme park, annually attracting 50 million guests. Plus, it’s designed to appeal to Chinese visitors. Highlights include Garden of the Twelve Friends, and characters like Remy from Ratatouille, Tigger from Winnie the Pooh, and animals of the Chinese Zodiac. At the entrance, instead of Main Street USA, it’s Mickey Avenue.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Blowing Up The Riviera …

June 15th, 2016

Manny P. here…

   The Riviera Hotel and Casino — the Las Vegas Strip’s first high-rise that was as famous for its mobster ties as its Hollywood personification of Sin City’s mob past — officially exited the scene with a cinematic implosion, complete with fireworks. It closed in May, 2015 after 60 years on the northern end of The Strip. A plan to expand its Las Vegas Convention Center is in the works on the site.

rat pack   Three of the most famous movies ever filmed in Las Vegas used The Riviera as a backdrop, including the Rat Pack’s original Ocean’s 11, the James Bond film, Diamonds Are Forever, and Casino, the 1995 movie based on real-life Vegas mobsters Frank Rosenthal and Anthony Spilotro during their 1970s heyday. More recently, it was featured in The Hangover in 2009. The Riviera also pioneered the business model that helped Vegas turn into an entertainment capital. The casino’s first headliner was Liberace. Dean Martin was a part-owner for a short time as part of his exclusive residency.

The Riviera   The Riviera’s implosion will mark the latest kiss goodbye to what’s left among the relics to Vegas’ mobster past. When the hotel opened in 1955, organized crime outfits from across the country had already sunk their teeth into the casinos in a takeover that had started the decade before. Gambling profits were skimmed to send back home to pay for their illegal enterprises involving illegal betting, drugs, prostitution, murders, and racketeering.

dessin-mafieux-5   The mobsters were known to have controlled the money-counting at the most famous casinos in their day, including The Desert Inn, The DunesThe Sands, and The Stardust — all of which have already disappeared from The Strip. Only The Tropicana and The Flamingo casinos are still in business. The Flamingo (originally built by Bugsy Siegel) has been completely remodeled at its original location, but The Tropicana still has pieces of its original building, making it the last true mob structure on The Strip. The casinos were cleaned up in the 1970s and 1980s, courtesy of state and federal crackdowns on organized crime.

   The National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, also known as the Mob Museum in Las Vegas will house remnants of The Riviera for posterity sake.

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mainimage   Ann Morgan Guilbert was a film and television actress, best known for her recurring roles in The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Nanny. She also guest starred on My Three Sons, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Adam-12, The Andy Griffith Show, I Dream of Jeannie, Room 222, Dragnet, The Partridge Family, Love American Style, Maude, Barney Miller, Cheers, Murder She Wrote, Newhart, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Picket Fences, Blossom, Seinfeld, and Modern Family. In cinema, Ann appeared in Two For the Seesaw, A Guide For the Married Man, Viva Max, and Grumpier Old Men.

   She began her career in a Los Angeles musical variety cabaret act, which toured throughout California. In 1959, The Billy Barnes Revue opened in New York as an off-Broadway production, and then moved to Broadway. Guilbert had extensive theater credits, including in productions of To Kill a MockingbirdThe Matchmaker, Arsenic and Old Lace, and Harvey.

   Ann Morgan Guilbert (right) was 87.

Until next time>                               “never forget”