Thanks to Oldies.Com, suddenly it’s the 50s again with the revival of “Rocky King Detective” and “Bundle of Joy.”
Before there was Charlie Sheen there was the Bishop Sheen Show and Rocky King on the DuMount TV Network, favorites in the Zarkin household on KXLY-TV in the early 50s. Rocky carried on annoying conversations with his wife Mabel who was off camera and when the actor playing Rocky (Roscoe Carnes) was sick his sidekick substituted that week. The sponsor was a breath freshener. Unfortunately, the DVD does not include the commercials and the DuMont logo. Amazingly Rocky has survived given the fact that ABC dumped most of the DuMount kinescopes in the East River -- a criminal travesty. Many of the original DuMont stations are now owned by the Fox Network, including KMSP in Minneapolis.
America’s two cutest marrieds, Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, are the headliners in RKO’s 1956 “Bundle of Joy,” which has been remastered from its original RKOScope, released by Warner Archives and is available on DVD for the fist time. Luckily, RKO got the cuties on the studio lot before Eddie became distracted by Liz Taylor.
“The Little Bastard” would have been a better title for “Bundle of Joy” but the censors would not have been amused. The plot deals with a child born out of wedlock who is found on the steps of an orphanage by the Debbie character who falls in love with the handsome Eddie character. Before the RKO logo appears at the end of the movie, the Eddie character admits he is the father of the boy. And Debbie and the censors are okay with that startling revelation.
Tommy Noonan appears as the horny department store coworker of the Debbie character and Adolph Menjou is the Eddie character's daddy which is an odd bit of casting. Menjou appeared in Republic’s “Timberline” where he appeared to be reading his lines off the back of Vera Ralston’s wig.
Also now available (maybe for the first time) is the 1940s Universal serial “Green Hornet Strikes Again” with game show host Warren Hull as the green guy and Keye Luke as his pidgin speaking Asian sidekick Kato. Although not HD, this is a remarkable transfer. A TV series of the same name ran in the 60s. Hull was the MC on “Strike it Rich” on CBS in the 50s when unfortunates told their sad stories and got a chance to get help from benefactors who called the “heart line”. A wiseacre in high school Spanish class chirped “heartline ringing” when the phone distracted Mrs. Black from her lecture. Hull also appeared with the East Side Kids as a cop in “Bowery Blitzkrieg” and used a lot of Brylcream or Vitalis.
Wednesday, November 09, 2011
Monday, October 31, 2011
Pedicord, Where Dad and Grandparents Stayed
In the 1930s my Dad, Philip Zarkin, and my grandparents, Harry and Rebecca Zarkin, stayed for a short time at the Pedicord Apartments in Spokane which has been enshrined in an exhibit at the Weismann Art Gallery on the University of Minnesota Campus. I don't have any details about their stay in this grim hotel but some of the interior has been reassembled in the museum. Soundtracks provide a haunting picture of desperate lives and I hope that is only the artist's interpretation. Weismann was the son of Russian immigrants to Minneapolis, much like my Dad who died in 2004.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Glenn or Glenda? and Dressed to Kill
A Transgender Halloween
Cross-dressing director Ed Wood Jr. in 1953 gave us the ground breaking transgender movie “Glen or Glenda?”, a product of a feverish brain filled with conflict, guilt and self-doubt. G or G is worth a look since it was from a time when Christine Jorgenson’s sex change was commanding tabloid attention but Hollywood largely avoided the topic. This an independent exploitation throw away movie.
Then comes the intrepid Wood with all his transvestite baggage weighing heavy on his addled mind. So what we get are huge contradictions. A man can be more comfortable in a wig, woman’s clothes and pumps but can remain a manly man. We are reminded with stock war footage of Wood’s World War 2 service.
Wood actually uses the word “transgender” which I am sure was not part of the lexicon in 1953. Wood’s portrayal of gay life is homophobic, funny and disturbing: Two men meet in limbo and one offers to light the other’s cigarette while touching him on the hand suggestively and they exchange glances. One man recoils in horror.
Wood lets us know that this kind of behavior is not acceptable. Interspersed is Bela Lugosi in a set that could be the devil’s living room, repeating the line “pull the strings”. The narrator gives us a picture of Wood troubled by a remote father within possibly a traditional religious environment. So we get images of the devil fighting for his soul. Societal behavior codes requiring conformity are driving Wood crazy and result in heavy drinking which took his life. I think Wood needed to tell this story and we are somewhat richer for his effort.
Brian dePalma’s 1980 slasher thrilled “Dressed to Kill” is the tale of a conflicted homicidal transgender lady aroused by a sexy Angie Dickinson. What’s a girl to do? See these movies in tandem for a a fun filled transgender Halloween.
Cross-dressing director Ed Wood Jr. in 1953 gave us the ground breaking transgender movie “Glen or Glenda?”, a product of a feverish brain filled with conflict, guilt and self-doubt. G or G is worth a look since it was from a time when Christine Jorgenson’s sex change was commanding tabloid attention but Hollywood largely avoided the topic. This an independent exploitation throw away movie.
Then comes the intrepid Wood with all his transvestite baggage weighing heavy on his addled mind. So what we get are huge contradictions. A man can be more comfortable in a wig, woman’s clothes and pumps but can remain a manly man. We are reminded with stock war footage of Wood’s World War 2 service.
Wood actually uses the word “transgender” which I am sure was not part of the lexicon in 1953. Wood’s portrayal of gay life is homophobic, funny and disturbing: Two men meet in limbo and one offers to light the other’s cigarette while touching him on the hand suggestively and they exchange glances. One man recoils in horror.
Wood lets us know that this kind of behavior is not acceptable. Interspersed is Bela Lugosi in a set that could be the devil’s living room, repeating the line “pull the strings”. The narrator gives us a picture of Wood troubled by a remote father within possibly a traditional religious environment. So we get images of the devil fighting for his soul. Societal behavior codes requiring conformity are driving Wood crazy and result in heavy drinking which took his life. I think Wood needed to tell this story and we are somewhat richer for his effort.
Brian dePalma’s 1980 slasher thrilled “Dressed to Kill” is the tale of a conflicted homicidal transgender lady aroused by a sexy Angie Dickinson. What’s a girl to do? See these movies in tandem for a a fun filled transgender Halloween.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Vietnam, Practice War No More
The soldier in country in the photo is about 20 and you would like to see a photo of that boy state side before he became a hardened veteran of the Vietnam War. Carefully on his helmet he has check marked the months he has served in that crazy war. He had one month left and we hope he made it out alive. Also on the helmet is his blood type and the letters “DEA” which should be recognizable to those who served.
The photo is superimposed over a leather biker jacket with antiwar slogans and this is all you need to know about the 1968 exhibit at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul. The first thing you will see is an actual medic evacuation helicopter from the war which the history center reassembled inside the building.
A moment in time and where were you then? I was a local government reporter at the Idaho Statesman, chasing down information for articles on urban renewal, city planning and pollution in the Gem State. If you would have told me then that 1968 was the zenith of my career I would have said you were crazy. But it’s true. I wanted to get close to the action and even considered driving to the Democrat convention in Chicago but someone in Boise must have talked me out of that notion.
On a lighter side, the exhibit features styles, music, television shows and movies that we saw in 1968, such as the Beatles, princess telephones and amber glass grapes, a decorative touch
All of this might have had less of an impact had I not just seen 15 hours of Ken Burns’ excellent documentary “The War” with ghastly images of bodies of allied soldiers in about 1944 lined up on the beach being prepared for burial in France in that war of necessity. “Practice war no more” must be a line from a Marvin Gaye song from the ‘60s.
The photo is superimposed over a leather biker jacket with antiwar slogans and this is all you need to know about the 1968 exhibit at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul. The first thing you will see is an actual medic evacuation helicopter from the war which the history center reassembled inside the building.
A moment in time and where were you then? I was a local government reporter at the Idaho Statesman, chasing down information for articles on urban renewal, city planning and pollution in the Gem State. If you would have told me then that 1968 was the zenith of my career I would have said you were crazy. But it’s true. I wanted to get close to the action and even considered driving to the Democrat convention in Chicago but someone in Boise must have talked me out of that notion.
On a lighter side, the exhibit features styles, music, television shows and movies that we saw in 1968, such as the Beatles, princess telephones and amber glass grapes, a decorative touch
All of this might have had less of an impact had I not just seen 15 hours of Ken Burns’ excellent documentary “The War” with ghastly images of bodies of allied soldiers in about 1944 lined up on the beach being prepared for burial in France in that war of necessity. “Practice war no more” must be a line from a Marvin Gaye song from the ‘60s.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Daydreaming, playing hooky in grade school
The Roosevelt Grade School graduation memory book just arrived by email from classmate Mike Cole and it brought back lots of bittersweet memories of 1945-54 in conservative Spokane. I made some good choices in grade school -- day dreaming and leaving the building.
Trying to dodge the school yard bullies was part of the experience as well as class activities like the discussion of Easter Resurrection or choir singing Christmas carols and “Onward Christian Soldiers”. I was conflicted because of parental pressure not to sing Christian songs so I would mouth the words and the sour puss who was the music teacher would reprimand me. I couldn’t win for losing.
No, I wasn’t a student at a Catholic parochial school but enrolled almost full-time at a public school. One of the enterprising teachers passed out free New Testament bibles during recess and of course I was eager for anything free. When Dad caught sight of the bible he was not amused and it went back the next day.
The reason I say almost full-time was because, according to the memory book, “David couldn’t seem to tell time this year (1947) and used to wander home at recess time.” When you factor in the so-called “free time” and the Christian instruction, that didn’t leave much time for any meaningful education. Oh yes, Mr. Kale warned us about the radio program that satirized the Army-McCarthy hearings as being subversive. We also listened to Gen. MacArthur’s "old soldiers never die” speech on the radio and watched a lot of incredible boring Encyclopedia Brittanica instructional films. We read the Weekly Reader and if anyone has one of those I would love to see it.
I was one of a handful of Jewish or atheist students at Roosevelt and the Christian students had “free time” away at a nearby church for bible study. I was left in an almost empty class room to continue my day dreaming.
Picture 1930s actress Edna Mae Oliver and you have Miss Piendl, my first grade teacher who caught me day dreaming (once again) at the blackboard and gave me a vigorous shake. I think I cried. Miss Piendl wanted to flunk me but then I would have missed Mrs. Moran’s Easter lecture and a chance to make replicas of the Christmas manger scene the following year.
I had friends in grade school despite the anarchy including Jack Malone, a boy named Randy who I had to beat up on the play field because he wouldn’t leave me alone and George Nichols who lived up the street. One of the boys I knew in grade school, Nevin, was also a friend in high school.
My fondest grade school memory was third grade when we were rewarded for collecting newspapers with a showing of the movie “March of the Wooden Soldiers” with Laurel and Hardy. I own the movie and watch it every December.
I also remember a few birthday parties, a graduation party at Rick Judy’s home on Twin Lake and the graduation program when we played “Heart of My Heart” on comb and tissue paper. Miss Lou Eckhart, the third grade teacher, was a favorite and she married an aged wealthy former governor named Martin. I was lousy at math and luckily calculators came along in adulthood.
What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger is the applicable phrase for grade school.
In “class personality” summary for the memory book my nickname was “Dizzie”, ambition bank president, weakness day dreaming, famous for walk, pet saying “by george”, favorite food spaghetti and hobby collecting post cards. I was a crossing guard in addition to my Glee-like vocal efforts. Put your head down on the desk and tape a nap was a familiar refrain. Also, get under the desk for the "communists are coming" drill. I don't know what good the desk would have done. Try not spilling the ink in the ink well.
I was never good at conforming to behavior codes, then and now. It has served me well.
Trying to dodge the school yard bullies was part of the experience as well as class activities like the discussion of Easter Resurrection or choir singing Christmas carols and “Onward Christian Soldiers”. I was conflicted because of parental pressure not to sing Christian songs so I would mouth the words and the sour puss who was the music teacher would reprimand me. I couldn’t win for losing.
No, I wasn’t a student at a Catholic parochial school but enrolled almost full-time at a public school. One of the enterprising teachers passed out free New Testament bibles during recess and of course I was eager for anything free. When Dad caught sight of the bible he was not amused and it went back the next day.
The reason I say almost full-time was because, according to the memory book, “David couldn’t seem to tell time this year (1947) and used to wander home at recess time.” When you factor in the so-called “free time” and the Christian instruction, that didn’t leave much time for any meaningful education. Oh yes, Mr. Kale warned us about the radio program that satirized the Army-McCarthy hearings as being subversive. We also listened to Gen. MacArthur’s "old soldiers never die” speech on the radio and watched a lot of incredible boring Encyclopedia Brittanica instructional films. We read the Weekly Reader and if anyone has one of those I would love to see it.
I was one of a handful of Jewish or atheist students at Roosevelt and the Christian students had “free time” away at a nearby church for bible study. I was left in an almost empty class room to continue my day dreaming.
Picture 1930s actress Edna Mae Oliver and you have Miss Piendl, my first grade teacher who caught me day dreaming (once again) at the blackboard and gave me a vigorous shake. I think I cried. Miss Piendl wanted to flunk me but then I would have missed Mrs. Moran’s Easter lecture and a chance to make replicas of the Christmas manger scene the following year.
I had friends in grade school despite the anarchy including Jack Malone, a boy named Randy who I had to beat up on the play field because he wouldn’t leave me alone and George Nichols who lived up the street. One of the boys I knew in grade school, Nevin, was also a friend in high school.
My fondest grade school memory was third grade when we were rewarded for collecting newspapers with a showing of the movie “March of the Wooden Soldiers” with Laurel and Hardy. I own the movie and watch it every December.
I also remember a few birthday parties, a graduation party at Rick Judy’s home on Twin Lake and the graduation program when we played “Heart of My Heart” on comb and tissue paper. Miss Lou Eckhart, the third grade teacher, was a favorite and she married an aged wealthy former governor named Martin. I was lousy at math and luckily calculators came along in adulthood.
What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger is the applicable phrase for grade school.
In “class personality” summary for the memory book my nickname was “Dizzie”, ambition bank president, weakness day dreaming, famous for walk, pet saying “by george”, favorite food spaghetti and hobby collecting post cards. I was a crossing guard in addition to my Glee-like vocal efforts. Put your head down on the desk and tape a nap was a familiar refrain. Also, get under the desk for the "communists are coming" drill. I don't know what good the desk would have done. Try not spilling the ink in the ink well.
I was never good at conforming to behavior codes, then and now. It has served me well.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
How My Sister Claudia Got Her Name
The popular 1940 novel “Claudia and David” by Rose Franken deals with episodes in a young woman’s life in the ‘40s as she searches for her voice and identity so it was somewhat subversive in a time of oppressive paternalism. On the surface it is about the trials and tribulations of modern marriage, but it also gives a frightening glimpse at the attitudes, behavior codes and prejudices of the 1940s.
I couldn’t put it down once I got into “Claudia and David” as I continue my study of ‘40s books and movies.
This was one in a series of “Claudia” books by Franken and was read by many women including my mother . It must have made a lasting impression on Mom because it was partly responsible for how my sister Claudia got her name. The book was made into a movie in 1946 and was a sequel to the original “Claudia” movie.
Claudia Naughton is the central character and the husband character, David, is never fully developed. “Like the person you love, that’s marriage, and it’s exciting,” says David. Otherwise, he is either sexy and loving or vain, rude, abusive and narrow minded reducing Claudia to tears. In brighter moments there is a bit of escapism for the average reader in that Claudia has a full-time live in maid and accompanies her successful architect husband on a transcontinental flight to Hollywood where she buys an $800 dress which women in that time could only dream about. She also drags the unwilling David to a seance which he dismisses as bunk.
Despite leading a life less ordinary, Claudia confesses that her marriage is less than ideal. She complains that she is “stagnating” and would like to be like “women who function with a job” so she could be treated like a human being. David is quite dismissive at hearing this and she never mentions it again. When the author touches on a defining moment one of the characters gets sick and the plot abruptly shifts.
One of the more disturbing interludes in the book for me is when David discovers that their six year old son Bobby can’t make an acceptable fist to defend himself . David opines that the boy has a “streak of the sissy” and this is not acceptable since he won’t be good at skating or other sports. Claudia to the rescue: She teaches the boy how to skate and he impresses Dad. The subversive sissy crisis is averted and David voices a familiar theme: “Be a man. Stand on your own two feet.”
A crisis befalls the otherwise happy Naughtons when Bertha, the German maid whose standard response is “ach”, leaves. Two weeks without a maid is hell, Claudia and David state. At this moment we are treated to prevailing racism when Claudia interviews women for the mother’s helper job. A “mammoth Negress reeking of perfume” applies, says Claudia, and the Naughtons say the job has been filled which is a lie.
Women were examining their roles in print in 1940s. In a humorous memoir, “The Egg and I”, Betty Macdonald describes her ill advised first marriage Her life as a child bide on a broken-down chicken farm in rural Washington State was made into a successful movie that spawned the Ma and Pa Kettle characters that were a cash cow for Universal-International Pictures in the 1950s. Macdonald never offers an opinion on the marriage but she steers us in the right direction.
I couldn’t put it down once I got into “Claudia and David” as I continue my study of ‘40s books and movies.
This was one in a series of “Claudia” books by Franken and was read by many women including my mother . It must have made a lasting impression on Mom because it was partly responsible for how my sister Claudia got her name. The book was made into a movie in 1946 and was a sequel to the original “Claudia” movie.
Claudia Naughton is the central character and the husband character, David, is never fully developed. “Like the person you love, that’s marriage, and it’s exciting,” says David. Otherwise, he is either sexy and loving or vain, rude, abusive and narrow minded reducing Claudia to tears. In brighter moments there is a bit of escapism for the average reader in that Claudia has a full-time live in maid and accompanies her successful architect husband on a transcontinental flight to Hollywood where she buys an $800 dress which women in that time could only dream about. She also drags the unwilling David to a seance which he dismisses as bunk.
Despite leading a life less ordinary, Claudia confesses that her marriage is less than ideal. She complains that she is “stagnating” and would like to be like “women who function with a job” so she could be treated like a human being. David is quite dismissive at hearing this and she never mentions it again. When the author touches on a defining moment one of the characters gets sick and the plot abruptly shifts.
One of the more disturbing interludes in the book for me is when David discovers that their six year old son Bobby can’t make an acceptable fist to defend himself . David opines that the boy has a “streak of the sissy” and this is not acceptable since he won’t be good at skating or other sports. Claudia to the rescue: She teaches the boy how to skate and he impresses Dad. The subversive sissy crisis is averted and David voices a familiar theme: “Be a man. Stand on your own two feet.”
A crisis befalls the otherwise happy Naughtons when Bertha, the German maid whose standard response is “ach”, leaves. Two weeks without a maid is hell, Claudia and David state. At this moment we are treated to prevailing racism when Claudia interviews women for the mother’s helper job. A “mammoth Negress reeking of perfume” applies, says Claudia, and the Naughtons say the job has been filled which is a lie.
Women were examining their roles in print in 1940s. In a humorous memoir, “The Egg and I”, Betty Macdonald describes her ill advised first marriage Her life as a child bide on a broken-down chicken farm in rural Washington State was made into a successful movie that spawned the Ma and Pa Kettle characters that were a cash cow for Universal-International Pictures in the 1950s. Macdonald never offers an opinion on the marriage but she steers us in the right direction.
Saturday, August 06, 2011
Dogma Gone Wild: "Big Love" HBO Soap Opera
Both the TV soap operas “Madmen” and “Big Love” are riveting with common themes and characters -- power greedy buccaneer entrepreneurs who are calculating and manipulative. Both are patriarchal figures. In the foreground of “Big Love” is strict adherence to an impossible behavior code that presents challenging conflicts for the participants. (I have always resisted behavior codes in my own special way).
These series are real American stories -- Madison Avenue and the contemporary Utah religious sect.
“Big Love” was referenced in a recent article in GQ magazine about American religions with the memorable line that "atheists in Manhattan and Southern Baptists in Alabama can agree on one thing: Mormons are crazy.” In the shows I watched there was no disclaimer distinguishing LDS from the FLDS which is a separate sect pursuing polygamy.
The central character Bill in “Big Love,” an aggressive entrepreneur, has several wives simultaneously and therein lies his joy and predicament. This is a cautionary tale for those contemplating multiple marriage arrangements. They have their down side as the series “Big Love” depicts in lurid detail. I concluded that the series prompted the LDS church to air commercials on the TV networks portraying LDS members as "regular citizens" and not monsters.
Bill is caught in the spinning vortex as a result of his actions and those of his wives with different agendas that he can’t control through force of will or by citing his destiny as prescribed by The Prophet. The series with its excellent acting and writing has concluded on HBO but DVDs are available for most seasons.
These series are real American stories -- Madison Avenue and the contemporary Utah religious sect.
“Big Love” was referenced in a recent article in GQ magazine about American religions with the memorable line that "atheists in Manhattan and Southern Baptists in Alabama can agree on one thing: Mormons are crazy.” In the shows I watched there was no disclaimer distinguishing LDS from the FLDS which is a separate sect pursuing polygamy.
The central character Bill in “Big Love,” an aggressive entrepreneur, has several wives simultaneously and therein lies his joy and predicament. This is a cautionary tale for those contemplating multiple marriage arrangements. They have their down side as the series “Big Love” depicts in lurid detail. I concluded that the series prompted the LDS church to air commercials on the TV networks portraying LDS members as "regular citizens" and not monsters.
Bill is caught in the spinning vortex as a result of his actions and those of his wives with different agendas that he can’t control through force of will or by citing his destiny as prescribed by The Prophet. The series with its excellent acting and writing has concluded on HBO but DVDs are available for most seasons.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Memories of Mom, 1914 to 2011
SPOKANE -- A short distance from Mt. Nebo Cemetery in Spokane is Fort George Wright where Mom took me and my sister, Claudia shopping at the Post Exchange in about 1945.Mom was an Army wife when Dad was drafted, serving with the occupation forces in Japan post World War Two. Dad was not amused and Mom must surely have felt stressed raising two children by herself while we all lived with our grandparents and rented out our house on 29th Avenue. With the post war economy Dad tried to figure out a way to support the family, returning for a short time to a retail sales job that he disliked. Dad’s story is similar to the Dana Andrews character in the movie “The Best Years of Our Lives” in that he wound up in the junk business.
We held graveside services Friday at Mt. Nebo in Spokane for Mom, Gertie Zarkin, 96, who died May 20 in a Seattle convalescent facility.
With Mom I could share my joys and some frustrations, including a byline story in the Idaho Statesman or a photo I took of Lucky Peak Reservoir in winter that I was sure was a masterpiece. I enshrined it in a frame from Grand Central that I refinished and mailed to Mom for Mother’s Day. When Mom and Dad left Spokane she gave me the photo with the card pasted to the back. Now it hangs on my living room wall.
Mom at 96 remembered as a child being on a train from Toronto to Spokane and that the soldiers returning from World War One were courteous and attentive to Mom’s family.
Recently Mom would ask: “Are you keeping busy in retirement?” So I had pleasant conversations with Mom when I visited her in Seattle. She was an avid reader and years ago subscribed to the Readers’s Digest book club. She loaned me her books including Betty Macdonald’s “The Egg and I” when I was in grade school, but she would not let me read “Marjorie Morningstar” or “Peyton Place.”
Mom loved the lake and she is pictured here at Spirit Lake, Idaho, in the late 40s where the local movie house showed “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” which she wouldn’t let us see because scary movies gave us bad dreams. (See post on “Beer Hall Babies”.) Cousins Jan and Stan got to see that movie which my son Mike showed me a couple of years ago. Memories of my Mom.
Friday, May 06, 2011
Spokane's Dark Side: Rex Adult Theater
While some prefer to remember Spokane, WA, for its beautiful parks and lovely churches, I have a 55-year-old memory of the notorious Rex Theater on Riverside Avenue. This was too real to be a dream.
To say that the Rex was a BYOB “girlie show” movie house for gentlemen of dubious distinction is being kind. But to a hormonal 15-year-old the lurid poster advertising burlesque queen Patti Waggin in the feature “Too Hot to Handle” was something I never forgot. Not that I could see the movie because it was adults only and I was working. Then again who was going to negotiate with the imposing cashier, one stout tough looking bleached blonde.
For all I knew the publisher of the Spokesman-Review and local ministers could have been Rex regulars but I imagined it was a cheap place to enjoy a bottle of muscatel and take a nap.
Mom and Dad never took us to skid row so how did I find the Rex of my youth? After classes at Lewis and Clark High School, I delivered drugs for a downtown pharmacy and deliveries took me to west Riverside Avenue where I passed by the Rex Theater and saw the lurid poster with a nearly naked Miss Waggin for ADULTS ONLY.
No one will probably ever admit to the existence of the Rex Theater but me.
I realized that this was not a dream but the Waggin movie really existed. As I opened the pages of the Oldies.com movie catalogue I found the movie of my lost youth under the “exploitation” listings. So 55 years later I realize a youthful dream, I buy the DVD and watch THTH. The Rex was real according to the online document, “Washington State Movie Houses,” with 350 seats open from 1949 -59 at 326 Riverside Avenue. It also operated as the New Rex and the El Ray. I was fortunate to grow up in an era where movie houses had character and were distinctive if not colorful, That era lasted about 30 years as theaters were being torn down in the 50s. and 60s.
The DVD is pristine and features comics Harry Savoy and Mannie King, much like Abbott and Costello but with a lot of nauughtiness. (“I’ve got diabetes and you’ve got a couple of lulmps yourself. I went to a gay 90s party. The men were all gay and the women were in their 90s. I’ve never seen a waitress with such big tips”. Cop: “I’ve been pounding my beat for five years.” Comic: And you look it.”
Vegas has made an attempt to revive burlesque with the Absinthe show.
For more on the Paris sensation Ms. Waggin, go to www.pattiwaggin.com. A book is available, “Fan Letters to a Stripper” by Bob Brill.
To say that the Rex was a BYOB “girlie show” movie house for gentlemen of dubious distinction is being kind. But to a hormonal 15-year-old the lurid poster advertising burlesque queen Patti Waggin in the feature “Too Hot to Handle” was something I never forgot. Not that I could see the movie because it was adults only and I was working. Then again who was going to negotiate with the imposing cashier, one stout tough looking bleached blonde.
For all I knew the publisher of the Spokesman-Review and local ministers could have been Rex regulars but I imagined it was a cheap place to enjoy a bottle of muscatel and take a nap.
Mom and Dad never took us to skid row so how did I find the Rex of my youth? After classes at Lewis and Clark High School, I delivered drugs for a downtown pharmacy and deliveries took me to west Riverside Avenue where I passed by the Rex Theater and saw the lurid poster with a nearly naked Miss Waggin for ADULTS ONLY.
No one will probably ever admit to the existence of the Rex Theater but me.
I realized that this was not a dream but the Waggin movie really existed. As I opened the pages of the Oldies.com movie catalogue I found the movie of my lost youth under the “exploitation” listings. So 55 years later I realize a youthful dream, I buy the DVD and watch THTH. The Rex was real according to the online document, “Washington State Movie Houses,” with 350 seats open from 1949 -59 at 326 Riverside Avenue. It also operated as the New Rex and the El Ray. I was fortunate to grow up in an era where movie houses had character and were distinctive if not colorful, That era lasted about 30 years as theaters were being torn down in the 50s. and 60s.
The DVD is pristine and features comics Harry Savoy and Mannie King, much like Abbott and Costello but with a lot of nauughtiness. (“I’ve got diabetes and you’ve got a couple of lulmps yourself. I went to a gay 90s party. The men were all gay and the women were in their 90s. I’ve never seen a waitress with such big tips”. Cop: “I’ve been pounding my beat for five years.” Comic: And you look it.”
Vegas has made an attempt to revive burlesque with the Absinthe show.
For more on the Paris sensation Ms. Waggin, go to www.pattiwaggin.com. A book is available, “Fan Letters to a Stripper” by Bob Brill.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Escape to a “Cinema Paradiso” Dream World
Some of us grew up in the pre-televison era of Saturday matinees with theaters filled with screaming kids, so the 1989 Italian somewhat biographical epic “Cinema Paradiso” brings back a lot of wonderful memories. It was a great time to be a kid so here’s a movie about growing up with movies.
I was fortunate enough to attend classes this term on the power of music where fellow students introduced us to the beautiful “Cinema Paradiso” love theme with solos by James Galloway and Chris Botti from this timeless classic by director Giuseppe Tornatore.
You will need to see the movie to fully appreciate the music because it’s a touching coming of age epic, somewhat like Peter Bogdanovich’s “Last Picture” show with attractive young actors. But this is set in post war rural Italy and while it’s reminiscent of Fellini’s biographical "Armacord", “Cinema Paradiso” is more evocative for those of us who are trying to write our life stories.
There’s a good reason why Baltimore’s Little Italy festival annually features “Cinema Paradiso” because it’s a magnet for young lovers. Originally criticized for being overly sentimental, the movie found an international audience in 1990 when it won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.
“Cinema Paradiso” was restored on DVD to its original full three-hour length and will delight you with everything that makes Italy so hauntingly beautiful.
I was fortunate enough to attend classes this term on the power of music where fellow students introduced us to the beautiful “Cinema Paradiso” love theme with solos by James Galloway and Chris Botti from this timeless classic by director Giuseppe Tornatore.
You will need to see the movie to fully appreciate the music because it’s a touching coming of age epic, somewhat like Peter Bogdanovich’s “Last Picture” show with attractive young actors. But this is set in post war rural Italy and while it’s reminiscent of Fellini’s biographical "Armacord", “Cinema Paradiso” is more evocative for those of us who are trying to write our life stories.
There’s a good reason why Baltimore’s Little Italy festival annually features “Cinema Paradiso” because it’s a magnet for young lovers. Originally criticized for being overly sentimental, the movie found an international audience in 1990 when it won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.
“Cinema Paradiso” was restored on DVD to its original full three-hour length and will delight you with everything that makes Italy so hauntingly beautiful.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Betty, Roy Neal, Arthur Godfrey and Me
In her otherwise unremarkable autobiography, “Here We Go Again,” Betty White describes co-hosting coverage of the Rose Bowl Parade (possibly in 1964) with legendary Arthur Godfrey. This was very likely at the time I was working at NBC News as an editorial assistant. White had previously co-hosted coverage of the parade with NBC newsman Roy Neal (space agency reporter). I distinctly recall Neal’s comments in the Burbank newsroom that Godfrey was very difficult or something to that effect. Godfrey could be downright subversive.
White confirms the “challenge” that Godfrey presented for the NBC crew. While the action was on the street, Godfrey was describing off camera nonsense of little interest to most viewers. Although Neal was not involved in that year’s broadcast, he had some role in arrangements involving Godfrey.
Godfrey was his own man and would tweak the nose of his sponsors on CBS, defying people to find any chicken in Lipton chicken noodle soup. Yet advertisers in the 50s made him and CBS radio and TV quite rich, I am sure. By the time he wound up at NBC covering the parade his career was in its twilight.
White’s book shows a photo of her covering the parade with Neal, who was a delightful man and treated me like a human being which is more than I can say of some others at NBC news in 1964. Neal sported a cigarette holder which gave him quite a continental look unlike the other heavy smokers in the windowless NBC newsroom. We never gave a thought to second hand smoke back in the 60s, confined in that converted RCA warehouse.
A couple of years ago I bought a “Life With Elizabeth” DVD which features White’s very early syndicated sitcom that started on LA’s KLAC-TV (now KCOP). It was the usual air head comedy but it was about all we had in the mid 50s on KHQ-TV. Also syndicated on the same channel was Liberace, with whom White enjoyed a “date.” Guess things went well with Betty and Lee, but she never dated any of the stars of Hollywood, Chicago and Texas wresting, all very popular on KHQ and KXLY in the 50s. Gorgeous George and Betty? Nah!
Also working at NBC Burbank were Jack Latham, news anchor, and an African American editorial assistant, whose name escapes me. Both are featured in the AIP movie, "Wild in the Streets," as news anchors. Latham had worked at KHQ in Spokane and was a very thoughtful, kind man. Elmer Peterson and Cecil Brown, both with long radio careers, were commentators on the KNBC nightly broadcasts. We were very old looking in '64. My big moment: When Peter Lorre died in '64 they needed movie footage and I suggested the AIP horror movie, "The Raven," so they sent me to AIP where I picked up a 35mm print of that movie. I had touched ground at nirvana-- American International Pictures. It doesn't get better than that.
White confirms the “challenge” that Godfrey presented for the NBC crew. While the action was on the street, Godfrey was describing off camera nonsense of little interest to most viewers. Although Neal was not involved in that year’s broadcast, he had some role in arrangements involving Godfrey.
Godfrey was his own man and would tweak the nose of his sponsors on CBS, defying people to find any chicken in Lipton chicken noodle soup. Yet advertisers in the 50s made him and CBS radio and TV quite rich, I am sure. By the time he wound up at NBC covering the parade his career was in its twilight.
White’s book shows a photo of her covering the parade with Neal, who was a delightful man and treated me like a human being which is more than I can say of some others at NBC news in 1964. Neal sported a cigarette holder which gave him quite a continental look unlike the other heavy smokers in the windowless NBC newsroom. We never gave a thought to second hand smoke back in the 60s, confined in that converted RCA warehouse.
A couple of years ago I bought a “Life With Elizabeth” DVD which features White’s very early syndicated sitcom that started on LA’s KLAC-TV (now KCOP). It was the usual air head comedy but it was about all we had in the mid 50s on KHQ-TV. Also syndicated on the same channel was Liberace, with whom White enjoyed a “date.” Guess things went well with Betty and Lee, but she never dated any of the stars of Hollywood, Chicago and Texas wresting, all very popular on KHQ and KXLY in the 50s. Gorgeous George and Betty? Nah!
Also working at NBC Burbank were Jack Latham, news anchor, and an African American editorial assistant, whose name escapes me. Both are featured in the AIP movie, "Wild in the Streets," as news anchors. Latham had worked at KHQ in Spokane and was a very thoughtful, kind man. Elmer Peterson and Cecil Brown, both with long radio careers, were commentators on the KNBC nightly broadcasts. We were very old looking in '64. My big moment: When Peter Lorre died in '64 they needed movie footage and I suggested the AIP horror movie, "The Raven," so they sent me to AIP where I picked up a 35mm print of that movie. I had touched ground at nirvana-- American International Pictures. It doesn't get better than that.
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Does Anyone Remember Speedy, Beanie, Cecil
It was dejavu all over again this past week on TV with the revival of little Speedy in the Alka Seltzer commercials and TV Pioneers showcased “Time for Beanie”. Does anyone remember these 50s icons?
A lad of 12 I was watching with Dad and sis every weeknight at 6:30pm on KHQ-6 Beanie, Cecil and Tear Along the Dotted Lion. Watching a clip from the show last night on the PBS TV Pioneer show brought back many fond memories of a cheesy kids show that even adults could enjoy thanks to Stan Freeberg’s sly humor (the oy ga vault). Beanie was a kinescope from Los Angeles, where it was hugely popular. Living in the Spokane TV market we missed Soupy Sales, Bozo the Clown and WCCO’s “Axel” or anything of that caliber. We had to settle for the “Salty” show on KXLY early evenings sponsored by Hillyard Furniture. Salty was a low rent puppet show, but what else was there to watch in the 50s?
Seattle’s KOMO had “The Captain Puget Show” in which I played a small part as a public relations assistant in 1962, ushering brats into the peanut gallery to watch the Captain pitch products and show cartoons. I remember one little snot who made a big deal about his father who was an executive at KAYO Radio, one of several Top 40 stations in Seattle. The Captain was a boring, cranky character and a far cry from the antics of WGN’s Bozo or most other kids shows. I believe that KTNT in Tacoma had Brakeman Bill.
The animated character Speedy in the Alka Seltzer commercials was also quite compelling as was cute Willie the Penguin who promised us kids that Kools were really the best smokes. So Speedy is back in HD but I am afraid Willie is but a foggy memory.
A lad of 12 I was watching with Dad and sis every weeknight at 6:30pm on KHQ-6 Beanie, Cecil and Tear Along the Dotted Lion. Watching a clip from the show last night on the PBS TV Pioneer show brought back many fond memories of a cheesy kids show that even adults could enjoy thanks to Stan Freeberg’s sly humor (the oy ga vault). Beanie was a kinescope from Los Angeles, where it was hugely popular. Living in the Spokane TV market we missed Soupy Sales, Bozo the Clown and WCCO’s “Axel” or anything of that caliber. We had to settle for the “Salty” show on KXLY early evenings sponsored by Hillyard Furniture. Salty was a low rent puppet show, but what else was there to watch in the 50s?
Seattle’s KOMO had “The Captain Puget Show” in which I played a small part as a public relations assistant in 1962, ushering brats into the peanut gallery to watch the Captain pitch products and show cartoons. I remember one little snot who made a big deal about his father who was an executive at KAYO Radio, one of several Top 40 stations in Seattle. The Captain was a boring, cranky character and a far cry from the antics of WGN’s Bozo or most other kids shows. I believe that KTNT in Tacoma had Brakeman Bill.
The animated character Speedy in the Alka Seltzer commercials was also quite compelling as was cute Willie the Penguin who promised us kids that Kools were really the best smokes. So Speedy is back in HD but I am afraid Willie is but a foggy memory.
Thursday, November 04, 2010
We Will Miss Jan Barer Curran, writer, friend
With the yellow fall leaves falling to the ground it is most ironic that news of the death of my cousin Janice reached me this day. I will miss sharing with her. More than a cousin, she was my friend. She was an amazing journalist and storyteller with a great sense of humor. She will be well remembered by many wonderful people in Palm Springs where she has supportive friends and was a reporter with the Sun for many years,Jan could count among her friends the late President Ford, Sonny Bono, Artie Shaw and the actor Mel Ferrer. The collection of photos in her home of fabulous people she knew in her Palm Springs life is fresh in my memory.
I enjoyed my short time with Jan. Just recently we exchanged e-mails on Hollywood actors she knew based on autobiographies I sent her. She was a source for a biography on Bob Hope that a writer was researching when I visited her in 2005 in Palm Springs where we saw a performance by 40s era swing singer Beryl Davis who was a good friend of Jan’s.
More than that Jan was a caring mom and supportive of her wonderfully creative children. She made sure that I had copies of all the books written by her and her children. I recently wrote a review posted on the internet and led a discussion on her last book, “Active Senior Living”, for a senior group in Minnesota. I shared the book with her Auntie Gertie, my 96-year-old mom, who said she enjoyed Jan’s book.
Jan was a fighter and an inspiration. We grew up together in Eastern Washington and the Idaho Panhandle, having fun times at Loon Lake, Spirit Lake, Diamond Lake and Walla Walla, and she was a gracious host and supportive when I lived in Northern California in the 60s. I have many fond memories of cousin Jan.
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
War Heroes Unwelcome In Two Films
Returning war heroes are met with indifference, disrespect and hostility in two Hollywood movies, one from 1946, “The Best Years of Our LIves,” and more recently -- “Home of the Brave”.
In “Best Years,” they work menial jobs before the war but in conflict they are given heavy responsibilities to carry out missions that lead to victory in Word War II. How incredibly grim to return home to that menial job or to be unemployed with no direction to the future. At least in war, they were defeating evil regimes and enjoying buddy camaraderie.
Some returning veterans, like my Uncle Sam Zarkin, used the GI Bill to get a college education and pursued a career in business management. Returning with the occupation troops in what was left of Japan, my father, Phil Zarkin, became a scrap metal junk dealer much like the hero aviator Fred (played by Dana Andrews), in “Best Years”. The similarities are daunting between fiction and real life.
In 1946 when “Best Years” was released it was quite topical with soldiers and sailors having been wrenched from their families and now finding themselves in a strange world where they needed to reinvent themselves to survive. Imagine their anger and frustration upon realizing that the best years of your life may be wasting away.
I don’t know if my dad, somewhat of an isolationist when it came to wars, was proud of his work in Japan with the occupation forces as a telephone lineman, but he should have been because he helped desperate people build a future for themselves from the rubble of a horrendous war. Incredibly uncanny is the fact that the soldiers and sailors in “Home of the Brave” return from Iraq to Spokane, Wash. So it was with my dad who came back to Spokane and how incredibly stressful it must have been for him working in low paying retail sales before he found his future in the junk business.
Both movies touch on the nightmares of shell shock or post traumatic stress syndrome. In “Best Years,” one character advises her husband to “forget the war --- put it behind you”. But how can you ever forget the horrors of war?
In “Best Years,” they work menial jobs before the war but in conflict they are given heavy responsibilities to carry out missions that lead to victory in Word War II. How incredibly grim to return home to that menial job or to be unemployed with no direction to the future. At least in war, they were defeating evil regimes and enjoying buddy camaraderie.
Some returning veterans, like my Uncle Sam Zarkin, used the GI Bill to get a college education and pursued a career in business management. Returning with the occupation troops in what was left of Japan, my father, Phil Zarkin, became a scrap metal junk dealer much like the hero aviator Fred (played by Dana Andrews), in “Best Years”. The similarities are daunting between fiction and real life.
In 1946 when “Best Years” was released it was quite topical with soldiers and sailors having been wrenched from their families and now finding themselves in a strange world where they needed to reinvent themselves to survive. Imagine their anger and frustration upon realizing that the best years of your life may be wasting away.
I don’t know if my dad, somewhat of an isolationist when it came to wars, was proud of his work in Japan with the occupation forces as a telephone lineman, but he should have been because he helped desperate people build a future for themselves from the rubble of a horrendous war. Incredibly uncanny is the fact that the soldiers and sailors in “Home of the Brave” return from Iraq to Spokane, Wash. So it was with my dad who came back to Spokane and how incredibly stressful it must have been for him working in low paying retail sales before he found his future in the junk business.
Both movies touch on the nightmares of shell shock or post traumatic stress syndrome. In “Best Years,” one character advises her husband to “forget the war --- put it behind you”. But how can you ever forget the horrors of war?
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Idahoans Duane, Nancy Visit Twin Cities
Brave warriors of global travel, Duane and Nancy Mitchell, arrived form Caldwell, ID this week. Duane and I lived in Mrs. Cook’s boarding house in Boise in the mid to late 60s. I left for college and he married Nancy a month later so they will be celebrating their 41st wedding anniversary in early October.They recall that we went bowling and played tennis. Also we went for an evening swim at nearby Lucky Peak reservoir. The Mitchells are to be commended for not forgetting Mrs. Cook when they visited her in a senior residence some years ago.
Through the years they have reached out to others including exchange students from around the world who have stayed in their home in Caldwell, a short distance from Nampa and Boise. Somewhat of a bond with the Mexican student Oscar must have developed because the Mitchells visited Oscar’s family in Guadalajara in 1998.
Highlights of the Twin Cities brief tour included the Cathedral at St. Paul and Underwater World at the Mall of America. On their own they walked downtown to Walgreen’s where they bought post cards and made new friends amongst the homeless who gather at the nearby vacant RKO Orpheum Theater. (Unlike Boise where the Egyptian Theater has been restored to its mystic glory).
They brought a copy of the Idaho Free press which told of a pro-marijuana demonstration at the State Capitol in Boise. Also, there are preliminary plans to build a rail line connecting Nampa and Boise. I am sure that the BoiseGuardian.com is all over that story which is interesting that in a Republican state public officials are chasing federal dollars to improve transportation. I guess the taxpayer revolt is much over blown.
Duane adds that highways are being enlarged to accommodate growing traffic problems and of course this involves more public expenditures. I may yet visit the Treasure Valley again.
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Book Review: “The Murdered Family” by Vernon Keel
Miscarriage of justice carried out by devious cops on the North Dakota prairie is the compelling focus of Vernon Keel’s novel “The Murdered Family”.
Well researched and suspenseful with insightful detail, this book is based on a true crime -- the 1920 murders of the Wolf family and their hired hand on their farm near Turtle Lake. It’s a novel since the last two chapters are drama based on speculation about the murderers from facts gathered by Keel, a mass communications research scholar, journalism educator and reporter.
More than another “In Cold Blood,” the author provides a pre-Depression snapshot of the harsh and bewildering lives of German Russian immigrants to the North Dakota prairie. The man convicted of the brutal killings, Henry Layer, was ill equipped to match wits with a cunning Bismarck police chief, his hired thugs and conniving politicians. (Keel doesn’t say this but I am convinced ot this having read the book).
The role of the news media as a social institution is a sidebar where regional and local newspapers are important in a community where information is otherwise dispersed through word of mouth or via the local telephone operator. In one case, the Bismarck news reporter takes dictation from the angry police chief without questioning his statements, yet the Bismarck Tribune plays an important role in reporting the story.
The premise of the prosecution was that Layer killed the Wolfs over a dispute about his cattle grazing on the Wolf farm. It’s entirely plausible that tempers could flare over such an event. I recall at least one rural crime in southern Idaho over water from an irrigation ditch when I was a reporter for the Idaho Statesman.
(Vernon Keel was my supervisor when I was a graduate student in Agricultural Journalism at the University of Minnesota in 1969-70 and helped me navigate my way through graduate school).
Well researched and suspenseful with insightful detail, this book is based on a true crime -- the 1920 murders of the Wolf family and their hired hand on their farm near Turtle Lake. It’s a novel since the last two chapters are drama based on speculation about the murderers from facts gathered by Keel, a mass communications research scholar, journalism educator and reporter.
More than another “In Cold Blood,” the author provides a pre-Depression snapshot of the harsh and bewildering lives of German Russian immigrants to the North Dakota prairie. The man convicted of the brutal killings, Henry Layer, was ill equipped to match wits with a cunning Bismarck police chief, his hired thugs and conniving politicians. (Keel doesn’t say this but I am convinced ot this having read the book).
The role of the news media as a social institution is a sidebar where regional and local newspapers are important in a community where information is otherwise dispersed through word of mouth or via the local telephone operator. In one case, the Bismarck news reporter takes dictation from the angry police chief without questioning his statements, yet the Bismarck Tribune plays an important role in reporting the story.
The premise of the prosecution was that Layer killed the Wolfs over a dispute about his cattle grazing on the Wolf farm. It’s entirely plausible that tempers could flare over such an event. I recall at least one rural crime in southern Idaho over water from an irrigation ditch when I was a reporter for the Idaho Statesman.
(Vernon Keel was my supervisor when I was a graduate student in Agricultural Journalism at the University of Minnesota in 1969-70 and helped me navigate my way through graduate school).
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
"Active Senior Living" by Jan Curran - excellent
"Active Senior Living “, a shopworn marketing phrase, is also the title of a new book by Jan Curran, a resident of a California senior apartment complex and a former reporter and columnist for the Contra Costa Times and The Desert Sun in Palm Springs where she hobnobbed with retired movie stars and politicians.
In this ‘fictionalized memoir” Curran describes realistic dilemmas facing seniors who courageously try to live independently and avoid moving into “assisted living,” which may be the new name for nursing homes. In the independent living building, a nurse regularly evaluates present and prospective residents to determine if they are healthy enough to live independently and if they aren’t they need to make other arrangements. The corporation that owns the independent living building also operates a nearby assisted living facility, but assisted living expenses are out of the reach for some seniors trying to live independently.
Rather than being overwhelmed by these momentous decisions, residents band together to offer emotional support to each other -- a shoulder to lean on in tough times. “Life at the Inn is full to the brim with bountiful friends who just happened to be priceless octogenarians,” said Curran who was a 60 something “youngster” when she moved there from the desert.
Rather than an expose or sob stories about senior citizens being exploited, “Active Senior Living” is a testament that people like Curran with low expectations about senior living arrangements can open themselves to new friendships, share memories and experience life with renewed vigor. “Ages blur and friends become family,” she writes.
Curran’s innate reporting skills and her empathy for others come through as she gently probes and intervenes to help others who face overwhelming mental and physical challenges.
The book is somewhat reminiscent of the Betty Macdonald novels of the 1940s -- “The Egg and I” and “The Plague and I,” where humor is found in living on an island chicken farm and recovering from tuberculosis. Rather than “Ma and Pa Kettle,” Curran encounters 90-something would-be Romeos (with or without Viagra) aggressively seeking her companionship. Compassionate rather than mean-spirited is her approach to the 300-pound matron in the shocking pink K-Mart sweat suit and the 90-year-old widow with extensive cosmetic surgery who looks 55.
(Jan Curran, a vivacious socialite and newspaper reporter, reluctantly movies into an active senior living comples (the Inn) to recuperate from cancer. She tackles the surprises and challenges of her new life with warmth wit and courage, meeting a colorful cast of unforgettable charcters in an often hilarious and yet profoundly moving story of friendship and hope.
Curran is an award wining journalism and former columnist for the Contra Cost Times and The Desert Sun. She’s also been a fashion model, a realtor, a publicist and co-author of the book The Statue of Liberty is Cracking Up. She is retired and living in Southern California.
Jan says: I'm an award winning journalist, never took a class in writing! Been writing since I was a kid. Send me any questions you want answered.
The book is doing so well on Amazon for the Kindle it is just amazing. I have 16 5 star reviews up there now! And getting all sorts of emails from fans asking for a sequel. There are now 94 fans of the book on a Facebook fan page , so that is amazing, too.
In this ‘fictionalized memoir” Curran describes realistic dilemmas facing seniors who courageously try to live independently and avoid moving into “assisted living,” which may be the new name for nursing homes. In the independent living building, a nurse regularly evaluates present and prospective residents to determine if they are healthy enough to live independently and if they aren’t they need to make other arrangements. The corporation that owns the independent living building also operates a nearby assisted living facility, but assisted living expenses are out of the reach for some seniors trying to live independently.
Rather than being overwhelmed by these momentous decisions, residents band together to offer emotional support to each other -- a shoulder to lean on in tough times. “Life at the Inn is full to the brim with bountiful friends who just happened to be priceless octogenarians,” said Curran who was a 60 something “youngster” when she moved there from the desert.
Rather than an expose or sob stories about senior citizens being exploited, “Active Senior Living” is a testament that people like Curran with low expectations about senior living arrangements can open themselves to new friendships, share memories and experience life with renewed vigor. “Ages blur and friends become family,” she writes.
Curran’s innate reporting skills and her empathy for others come through as she gently probes and intervenes to help others who face overwhelming mental and physical challenges.
The book is somewhat reminiscent of the Betty Macdonald novels of the 1940s -- “The Egg and I” and “The Plague and I,” where humor is found in living on an island chicken farm and recovering from tuberculosis. Rather than “Ma and Pa Kettle,” Curran encounters 90-something would-be Romeos (with or without Viagra) aggressively seeking her companionship. Compassionate rather than mean-spirited is her approach to the 300-pound matron in the shocking pink K-Mart sweat suit and the 90-year-old widow with extensive cosmetic surgery who looks 55.
(Jan Curran, a vivacious socialite and newspaper reporter, reluctantly movies into an active senior living comples (the Inn) to recuperate from cancer. She tackles the surprises and challenges of her new life with warmth wit and courage, meeting a colorful cast of unforgettable charcters in an often hilarious and yet profoundly moving story of friendship and hope.
Curran is an award wining journalism and former columnist for the Contra Cost Times and The Desert Sun. She’s also been a fashion model, a realtor, a publicist and co-author of the book The Statue of Liberty is Cracking Up. She is retired and living in Southern California.
Jan says: I'm an award winning journalist, never took a class in writing! Been writing since I was a kid. Send me any questions you want answered.
The book is doing so well on Amazon for the Kindle it is just amazing. I have 16 5 star reviews up there now! And getting all sorts of emails from fans asking for a sequel. There are now 94 fans of the book on a Facebook fan page , so that is amazing, too.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Yes, Boise Was My Dead Horse But I love It Now
It was the 60s, a revolution and a war were underway, and I was stuck in Boise, Idaho, capital of famous potatoes.
I was quite proactive in getting off the dead horse I was riding in Boise for 4 years when I contacted universities and applied to graduate schools in 1969. By September 69 I left my own private Idaho where I was a reporter for the Idaho Statesman.
But it was my coworker, Ralph Nichols, who suggested I go to graduate school, because that’s what he had dreamed of but never accomplished. Maybe that was his way of telling me to get out of town. So with a clear goal in mind I was able to endure the craziness of my supervisor Jim Golden, the city editor. It wasn’t long before I would take the graduate entrance exam at the College of Idaho in Caldwell with an upset stomach.
My Statesman job was not always a dead horse; in fact I had researched and written comprehensive reports on pollution, urban renewal, city planning and zoning as local government reporter. What more was there to do having written the story on Hot Cha Hinton the 300 pound go go girl (that was Betty Penson’s assignment, not my idea). It was the 60s.
I look back wistfully at my Idaho years but I was isolated, lonely and I had virtually lost my close friend Ralph when he married and moved to nearby Nampa. Quoting a line from the movie The Graduate, I told Ralph I was drifting. I had no social life although I beat that dead horse to death, dating women who really didn’t interest me. I was inching loser to 30.
I was to be in a major metropolitan area with a large Jewish community, a decent university and a host of urban issues. It was Los Angeles or Minneapolis and having lived n LA for two years I knew I didn’t want to do that again. With my undergraduate dubious scholastic achievements, I was lucky to get into grad school.
In Boise I was living in Mrs. Cook’s boarding house with four other young men and her grandchildren. For about 13 years, I had very limited access to a TV set I could call my own. Mrs. Cook’s daughter in law when born again and made vain efforts to convert me to Christianity when she would visit from Mt. Home. When the Ladies Circle would meet at Mrs. Cook’s house I would disappear which wasn’t easy when I was working nights and trying to entertain myself during the day.
As Fagan told the boys in Oliver, I needed a change of scenery. In September of 69 I packed my Magnavox radio and my typewriter into my Plymouth Satellite and headed east. Farewell Boise.
I was quite proactive in getting off the dead horse I was riding in Boise for 4 years when I contacted universities and applied to graduate schools in 1969. By September 69 I left my own private Idaho where I was a reporter for the Idaho Statesman.
But it was my coworker, Ralph Nichols, who suggested I go to graduate school, because that’s what he had dreamed of but never accomplished. Maybe that was his way of telling me to get out of town. So with a clear goal in mind I was able to endure the craziness of my supervisor Jim Golden, the city editor. It wasn’t long before I would take the graduate entrance exam at the College of Idaho in Caldwell with an upset stomach.
My Statesman job was not always a dead horse; in fact I had researched and written comprehensive reports on pollution, urban renewal, city planning and zoning as local government reporter. What more was there to do having written the story on Hot Cha Hinton the 300 pound go go girl (that was Betty Penson’s assignment, not my idea). It was the 60s.
I look back wistfully at my Idaho years but I was isolated, lonely and I had virtually lost my close friend Ralph when he married and moved to nearby Nampa. Quoting a line from the movie The Graduate, I told Ralph I was drifting. I had no social life although I beat that dead horse to death, dating women who really didn’t interest me. I was inching loser to 30.
I was to be in a major metropolitan area with a large Jewish community, a decent university and a host of urban issues. It was Los Angeles or Minneapolis and having lived n LA for two years I knew I didn’t want to do that again. With my undergraduate dubious scholastic achievements, I was lucky to get into grad school.
In Boise I was living in Mrs. Cook’s boarding house with four other young men and her grandchildren. For about 13 years, I had very limited access to a TV set I could call my own. Mrs. Cook’s daughter in law when born again and made vain efforts to convert me to Christianity when she would visit from Mt. Home. When the Ladies Circle would meet at Mrs. Cook’s house I would disappear which wasn’t easy when I was working nights and trying to entertain myself during the day.
As Fagan told the boys in Oliver, I needed a change of scenery. In September of 69 I packed my Magnavox radio and my typewriter into my Plymouth Satellite and headed east. Farewell Boise.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Beach Blanket Bingo Film Here in '65
MALIBU -- At a beach near Malibu named after actor Leo Carrillo (Poncho on The Cisco Kid TV show) I am tracing the foot steps of Frankie Avalon and Annette Funichello who filmed the classic, “Beach Blanket Bingo” 44 years ago for American International Pictures (AIP) here.Visible in he background is the rock where an aged Buster Keaton (or his stunt double) fished in the movie. “Sink your toes in the sand and get ready to rock and roll” with Frankie and Annette is the hype that an AIP publicist wrote but as you can see there wasn’t much barefoot action here on this December day with temperatures in the 50s.
I was living in Glendale when AIP made history with the beach movies but I might as well have been in Bangladesh for all I knew about surfing and the Beach Boys then. In recent years as I try to cope with Minnesota winters I have been drawn to anything that relieves the winter blues including beach movies. The movie is full of “fun, frolic and song” with Don Rickles, Harvey Lembeck, handsome John Ashley, Paul Lynde and a very young LInda Evans included in the star studded cast.
As luck would have it, Angelinos this day were experiencing what a Barbie doll reporter on KTLA cooed was “bitter cold” which translates to a low of 40 or a summer day in Minneapolis. Hearty Southlanders testified on Channel 5 regarding their brave efforts to stem the threat of frostbite which included firing up all appliances that emit heat.
Later I was on the patio at our Mailbu beach motel collecting my thoughts when a fellow traveler joined me, barely visible through a thick cloud of cigarette smoke with his portable radio blaring gospel music. All this was jarring my serenity until I learned that I was in the company of an erstwhile Hollywood screenwriter recently transplanted from England who was fairly confident about his chances to break into the movies or TV at the very least. Hope springs eternal.
So it was no surprise that when we stayed a night at the LAX Marriott no less than the frenzied followers of sci fi and horror had gathered to commune about their mutual obsessions at “LosCom”. I was invited to join the festivities. I repeatedly asked the attendees of all ages dressed as characters in a Hammer gothic horror movie if they were professional writers. Not a writer in the crowd but many I suspect have turned the pages of a few comic books. To be charitable, this event looked like a lot of fun with the Horror Film Festival featuring such luminaries such as Patrick Kilpatrick and possibly Sean Young who star in “Parasomnia” -- a cinematic effort about a psychic serial killer who invades the mind of a distressed damsel. Hasn’t this been done?
For those who worship at the altar of bad movies, this must be the place. I plan to return soon.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Spirit Lake's Fireside Lodge in '48 Recalled
Mom, who is 95 years young, remembers summers at Spirit Lake Idaho and Fireside Lodge in 1948.Fireside Lodge was probably at Settllemeyers resort on Spirit Lake and was basically a beer hall in 1948. I have fond memories of that time, going with my cousins to the beer hall on the resort and playing music on the jukebox. Later my Aunt Dora (shown in downtown Spirit Lake) and family stayed at nearby Conklin's resort which had a convenience "grocery" store where we shopped. We could walk between the two resorts and there was a burnt out cabin along the path which was quite spooky for little kids.
The July 4 hydroplane races were a huge event at the Lake and we watched. This attracted a lot of out of town beer drinkers as I recall. I stepped on a broken beer bottle in the lake and had to be taken to town where the doctor stitched me up and gave me a tetanus shot. Still have the scar on my foot.
We would go to the downtown movie theater (Auntie Dora standing in front of theater) where they showed "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" which Mom wouldn't let us see. The theater was quite primitive with folding chairs instead of theater seats. But that was before TV in post war times. There was a cafe in t own and no doubt a grocery store.
Spirit Lake is a short distance from Twin Lakes where we went by school bus for swimming lessons. Twin Lakes was more swimmer friendly with sandy beaches and a very gradual drop off.
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