BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: FILM #12

"In Hollywood a starlet is the name for any woman
under thirty who is not actively employed in a 
brothel."
              Ben Hecht
**
CEDRIC HARDWICKE WITH LIVER IN HIS EARS

“I sat in the furnace blast of sunshine wondering 
idly why Hollywood trees hold so little sap and 
provide so little shade, breathing with some 
difficulty around the pieces of prime calves’ liver 
which were plugging each nostril. Two more pieces 
of the stuff were stuck into each ear. Over the 
scene hung the odor of a butcher’s shop, which 
the increasing heat was doing nothing to sweeten.
  “The purpose of the liver was to insure that in 
the action about to unfold before the motion picture 
cameras a dog would lick my face with every 
appearance of devotion….”

Sir Cedric Hardwicke, as told to James Brough. 
A Victorian in Orbit (Garden City, New York: 
Doubleday &
Company, Inc. 1961)
**
STREET NAME

The main street of Kingman, Arizona, near his 
birthplace of Flagstaff is named Andy Devine
 Boulevard.
IMDB Trivia

**

WHAT MAKES A SCI-FI FILM A CLASSIC

“ What counts in sci-fi movies (and what makes 
a sci-fi movie a classic ) is the gimmicky, 
eerie metaphor-– the disguised form of the thing 
you fear, or are set off by.”

Pauline Kael. The New Yorker (November 26, 1970)

**
THE $40,000 ROSE

“John Huston made a movie in which he wanted a rose, 
and the production department agreed that he would 
have it. This was in Africa – it could have been
 The African Queen –and he refused to shoot until 
he had it. They were on location that day, and he 
said “ Where’s the rose?” Somebody said, Well, we 
thought we’d get an orchid. “No, I want a rose.” 
Can we shoot that scene next week?
“No, we’re going to shoot it now . I want the rose.”
       “So they stopped  shooting for a day and a 
half while they scouted out roses in Paris, flew 
somebody to pick it up and package it and fly it 
down in a case. And, of course, they didn’t just 
buy one rose. They bought two dozen, so they’d have 
them on hand. They called it the $40,000 rose, 
because that’s how much it cost by the time they got it.”

Tony Curtis and Barry Paris. The Autobiography 
(New York: William Morrow and Company, 1993). 
**

ALFRED HITCHCOCK AND NORTH BY NORTHWEST

“Hitchcock had a permit to film on the immortalized 
heads of these four presidents. But, as legend has 
it, once government officials heard the scene involved 
a fight and two deaths, they banned the production. 
Hitchcock used long shots of the real Mount Rushmore 
in the film, but for the chase on the stone faces, 
he had a 91-foot canvas painted. 
...
Hitchcock had a permit to film on the immortalized 
heads of these four presidents. But, as legend has 
it, once government officials heard the scene involved 
a fight and two deaths, they banned the production. 
Hitchcock used long shots of the real Mount Rushmore 
in the film, but for the chase on the stone faces,
 he had a 91-foot canvas painted. Several hands 
worked on it, and, as was often the case, the full 
list of artists remains unknown. for a reason...

“Art of the Hollywood Backdrop: Cinema’s Creative 
Legacy” is on at the Boca Raton Museum of Art 
through January 22, 2023

Jensen Davis is an Associate Editor for AIR MAIL

***

MARGOT KIDDER PLAYED LOIS LANE IN 4 SUPERMAN 
FILMS STARRING CHRISTOPHER REEVES

Although Margot Kidder was born in Yellowknife, 
the road that is named Lois Lane in Yellowknife 
is actually named after a long time Yellowknife 
resident Lois Little and not after her character 
in the movies.

IDMB TRIVIA
**

THE CHILD STAR JANE WITHERS GROWS OLD
Jane withers.

**

I Love You, Maria -- Feature Film Fundraising
Fundraising video from BURNHAM HOLMES



I Love You, Maria -- Feature Film Fundraising
Great news! We are making a feature film based 
on our award-winning Zoom Shorts episode \"I
 Love You, Maria\"! But we need your help. Please 
take a look at our fundraising video and 
IndieGoGo page. Lots of great perks. We greatly 
appreciate any contribution. Even if you can't 
contribute, sharing the page helps immensely. 
Thank you for helping ...
www.youtube.com


Short interview with director and actor:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B3IQSzQfvM