The Jean Harlow Blogathon: Day 6 & 7

March 6, 2011.Reading time 10 minutes.

I really can’t believe the last day of the Jean Harlow Blogathon is here. So much thought and planning and preparation and excitement and now… it’s nearly over. It’s been a heck of a great ride, and the contributions that poured in from all over the world have been, in a word, superlative. The entire […]

City of Dreadful Joy: Random Ponderings on the Paradoxical Mechanics of a City in Search of Self.

January 3, 2011.Reading time 11 minutes.

Confession: I love Los Angeles. It’s not my favorite city in the world– that crown rests in the heart of my old home across the Pond– but I’ve pretty much reconciled to the fact that I do love Los Angeles. Problem is, I hate L.A. Yes. There is a difference. For me, Los Angeles is […]

Adventures of a Hollywood Secretary

October 19, 2010.Reading time 6 minutes.

A fixture on my bookshelf is a sweet little curiosity entitled Adventures of a Hollywood Secretary: private letters from inside the studios of the 1920s. Edited and annotated most attentively by film historian Cari Beauchamp, it is a collection of letters penned by a young woman named Valeria Belleti who moved to Los Angeles from […]

Marty Scorsese & the Great LACMA Crusade

August 14, 2009.Reading time 7 minutes.

I heart Marty Scorsese. And when he goes and does things like this, well, it just sends me all aflutter. First, a bit of background. For nearly four decades, the film program at the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art has been a primary venue for film lovers to gather for some of the most […]

Pledge Your Support to Save the Century Plaza Hotel!

April 30, 2009.Reading time 3 minutes.

The infinitely noble Los Angeles Conservancy has just issued this important alert for all interested in preserving the architectural heritage of Los Angeles: THE CENTURY PLAZA HOTEL: ONE OF AMERICA’S 11 MOST ENDANGERED HISTORIC PLACES The National Trust for Historic Preservation named the Century Plaza Hotel to its list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places on Tuesday, April […]