Self-Styled Siren

I can’t remember how I spotted the above, nor why I decided to lob a tweet back over the parapet of costume designer Jean-Pierre Dorléac. Elizabeth Taylor, in all her flawed glory, is an idol of mine, not least for her AIDS work. I definitely called Dorléac a has-been, and as I recall, I also asked what he’d ever done for AIDS charity that compared with Elizabeth Taylor.

Eric Portman in Wanted for Murder Today is the birthday of Eric Portman, one of British cinema’s most unusual postwar stars, with a potent attraction that was rooted in personal magnetism, not looks. One of Portman’s best roles was in Wanted for Murder (1946), directed by the chronically underrated Lawrence Huntington. It seemed as good a time as any to put my Huntington essay online.

Susan Hayward in a publicity shot for the movie Happy belated birthday to Edythe Marrener, aka Susan Hayward, born June 30, 1917. In her honor, I’m re-publishing this 2012 essay on the joys of I Can Get It for You Wholesale, one of my favorite Hayward performances. It’s going out with a dedication to my darling friend Steve Hayes, a.k.a. Tired Old Queen at the Movies, the funniest and most charming Youtube movie reviewer you’ll ever encounter. Steve loves Susan Hayward as much as I do.

This essay first appeared in The Lady With the Torch: Columbia Pictures 1929 – 1959, published alongside the Locarno Film Festival retrospective programmed by Ehsan Khoshbakht in 2024. It is reprinted online here for the first time. Steve McQueen with John Sturges, looking at McQueen’s Jaguar Xk Ss, 1960. Photo by Steve Avery During the studio era, a few novice directors were handed the keys to the sportscar right away—a brilliant script for the first film, a great cast, a nice budget.

Marilyn Monroe, 1947; photo by Earl Theisen Exactly one hundred years ago today, on June 1, 1926, Norma Jeane Mortenson was born in Los Angeles. There was a time twenty years ago, back when I started this blog, when I would have shrugged at most things to do with the woman who became Marilyn Monroe. Sure, I loved some of her movies, but girlfriend got quite enough hoop-la, I thought. She didn’t need any more from me.

Rex Reed in dazzling youth, captured by paparazzo Ron Galella like the celebrity he was. I know exactly what many people thought of the late Rex Reed. Short-tempered, careless with facts, close-minded at times. Took unseemly delight in insulting actors’ appearances. Politically incorrect (to put it politely) to an extreme, at times offensive degree. Hell, he offended me more than once. So it’s not that I don’t share those views—all of them.

Rex Reed in dazzling youth, captured by paparazzo Ron Galella like the celebrity he was. I know exactly what many people thought of the late Rex Reed. Short-tempered, careless with facts, close-minded at times. Took unseemly delight in insulting actors’ appearances. Politically incorrect (to put it politely) to an extreme, at times offensive degree. Hell, he offended me more than once. So it’s not that I don’t share those views—all of them.

There was I, looking for classic-film stills, as one does on a Sunday night, or any other night, and the one above brought me up short. It isn’t exactly obscure, but I didn’t recall seeing it before. Surely we all recognize Hedy Lamarr, even with a cigarette dangling from her perfect mouth, but what’s that thing she’s holding? Then I remembered—it’s a c…

There was I, looking for classic-film stills, as one does on a Sunday night, or any other night, and the one above brought me up short. It isn’t exactly obscure, but I didn’t recall seeing it before. Surely we all recognize Hedy Lamarr, even with a cigarette dangling from her perfect mouth, but what’s that thing she’s holding? Then I remembered—it’s a c…

Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity At 3:21 a.m. on March 4, 2022, a 911 call was made from a house in a well-to-do suburb outside of Park City, Utah. The caller was Kouri Richins, and her emergency was her husband Eric. She’d been sleeping with one of her three little boys, but returned to the marital bed to find Eric was cold to the touch. He was pale and yellow, and he wasn’t breathing. Paramedics were dispatched, but it was too late. Eric Richins was dead at the age of 39.