Forgotten Hollywood

Manny P. here…

“`John Travolta, is expected to attend the Cannes Film Festival. He will receive its inaugural Cinema Icon Award at this month’s festival in France. Travolta will receive the accolade on May 15th, following the premiere at Cannes of his new film, Gotti.

“`Travolta received an Oscar nomination for his star-making turn in 1977’s Saturday Night Fever, and another for 1994’s Pulp Fiction. Grease, released in 1978 and starring Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, was among the biggest movie musical hits ever. His career began in television, co-starring in Welcome Back Kotter.

JOHN TRAVOLTA                                     JOHNNY CASH

“`The Man in Black’s boyhood house has just been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program announced the residence in Dyess where country music icon Johnny Cash lived from age 3 through high school has been added to the register. Dyess is a small Arkansas town close to the Tennessee border.

“`The five-room farmhouse was built in 1934, as part of the Dyess Resettlement Colony by  Federal Emergency Relief Administration. The Arkansas Democrat – Gazette newspaper reports the house is owned by Arkansas State University, which spent $575,000 to buy, restore, furnish, and landscape the property.

“`Cash died in 2003 at age 71 after an incredibly successful musical career. Among his many hit songs were I Walk the Line and Ring of Fire.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here… 

“`The first-ever Virtual Reality 360° interactive Doodle, created in collaboration with Google Spotlight Stories,  Google Arts and Culture, and  Cinémathèque Française, honors Georges Méliès, the trailblazing French illusionist and movie director, on the release date of one of his iconic masterpieces:  À la conquête du pôle. Méliès pioneered numbers of technical and numerous film techniques in the early days of cinema, primarily in the use of special effects, and creation of the earliest films of the science fiction genre.

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“`Georges Méliès transformed the world of cinema over a century ago. He brought his magic to film through dozens of tricks and illusions. In addition to being a magician, Méliès was an expert storyteller. He saw cameras as more than just a tool to capture forms. Georges imagined them as vehicles to transport and truly immerse people into a tale.

“`An amazingly agile actor and remarkable mime, Méliès also appeared in almost all of his works. He also proved to be a visionary of what was to come; like Jules Verne was to literature.

“`We can thank the pioneering mind of Georges Méliès (right) for the cinematographic wonder and special effects we see today.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Universal Pictures and  The Film Foundation has announced a multi-year partnership to restore a couple of handpicked selections of classic productions, with Oscar-winning directors Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg lending a hand. Universal will fund the restorations, as well as provide research and technical services. Through The Film Foundation, Scorsese and Spielberg will be personally involved in the process, contributing their unique artistic expertise and historical knowledge throughout the restoration process.

MARTIN SCORSESE   STEVEN SPIELBERG

“`The Film Foundation was established in 1990 to protect and preserve celluloid history. By working in partnership with archives and film studios,  this nonprofit foundation has helped to restore more than 800 movies, which are made accessible to the public through programming at festivals, museums and educational institutions around the world.

“`The 2018 restoration slate will include Destry Rides Again, Winchester ’73, My Little Chickadee, and both cinematic versions of Hemingway’s The Killers, with additional titles announced in the coming months.

“`A collaborative partnership marks an added step in Universal’s film restoration initiative announced during the studio’s centennial in 2012.  Over 70 works have been fully restored, including All Quiet on the Western Front, Dracula, Double Indemnity, Frankenstein, Touch of Evil, Schindler’s List, Jaws, Out of Africa, High Plains Drifter, Pillow Talk, Bride of Frankenstein, To Kill a Mockingbird, Spartacus, Duck Soup, The Sting, The Birds, and Holiday Inn.

“`In 2015, Universal launched a silent film initiative. The company has so far restored 15 titles, including Outside the Law, Sensation Seekers, and The Man Who Laughs.

“`The restored versions will be screened at film festivals and archives around the world.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`I am thrilled by my recent nomination at Fullerton College as a 2018 Teacher of the Year nominee. According to the chair of the event, I was the only Adjunct Faculty (out of twelve full-time educators) receiving this annual honor distinction. A part-time professors rarely merits this kind of acknowledgment. So, this is indeed a special moment in my teaching career.

“`I currently teach in Advanced Radio Programming with our students completing the program being awarded certification towards a Broadcast Radio curriculum. Many eventually work professionally in the Broadcast industry.

“`The distinct honor is to witness our students move to a real-world career in the field.

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“`Magazine designer Art Paul was the creator of Playboy’s famous tuxedoed bunny head logo. He was a freelance illustrator when he started working with Playboy founder Hugh Hefner as the magazine’s first employee in the 1950s. Paul crafted the bunny logo in about an hour. Paul also hired artists to create illustrations for  Playboy, including Salvador Dali, Shel Silverstein, and Andy Warhol.

“`Art Paul was 93.

Until next time>                               “never forget”