Happy Fourth of July

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SCREENINGS

Brazil

cinespia cemetery screenings season 09

sunday, july 5th

brazil

directed by terry gilliam (1985, 120 mins.)

gates at 7:30 pm, film at 9:00 PM
hollywood forever cemetery
6000 santa monica boulevard at gower
no reservation necessary.
$10 donation tickets available at gate.
as a courtesy to other movie-goers: no tall chairs.

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A triumph of imagination, visual style and black comedy, Gilliam’s 80s sci-fi fantasy is a classic adventure. A hapless clerk tries to save the girl of his dreams and inadvertently becomes an enemy of the state. Breathtaking sets, wild cinematography, and fairy tale themes create a strange and darkly beautiful world. Hilarious supporting roles include Bob Hoskins and Robert DeNiro as rivaling plumbers.

DJ carlos nino spins before and after the screening

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SCREENINGS

Jaws

cinespia cemetery screenings season 09

saturday, july 4th

jaws

directed by steven speilberg (1975, 124 mins.)

  gates at 7:30 pm, film at 9:00 pm
hollywood forever cemetery
6000 santa monica boulevard at gower
no reservation necessary.
$10 donation tickets available at gate. parking $5.
as a courtesy to other movie-goers: no tall chairs. 

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The terrifying classic that launched the career of steven speilberg, and ushered in a new kind of horror movie. A seaside town is terrorized by an enormous shark on the busiest beach holiday of the year-fourth of July weekend. A cop, an ichthyologist and a salty old shark expert team up to try to catch the most famous and terrifying of the silver screen’s killer animals. Don’t go in the water…

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OBITUARY

Oscar-winning actor Karl Malden dies at 97

Malden starred in TV’s ‘The Streets of San Francisco’ and made famous the American Express catchphrase ‘Don’t leave home without it.’ He appeared in more than 50 films over his long career.

By Dennis McLellan

Los Angeles Times

July 1, 2009

Karl Malden, one of Hollywood’s strongest and most versatile supporting actors, who won an Oscar playing his Broadway-originated role as Mitch in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” died today. He was 97.

Click here to continue reading the Los Angeles Times obituary for Karl Malden

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SCREENINGS

Queer Icon: The Cult of Bette Davis

Queer Icon: The Cult of Bette Davis

Date/Time:Thu., July 2, 6:00pm, Thu., July 2, 8:10pm, Thu., July 2, 10:20pm

Price: $15

Fasten Your Seatbelts

San Francisco Weekly

By Michael Fox

We all have our favorite screen actresses, but none are more steadfast in their affections than gay men. Ask Doris Day, Elizabeth Taylor, or Cher, whose gay fans never wavered (unlike those fickle heteros) after the stars stepped away from the spotlight. But even these goddesses bow before the queen (or queen bitch) of gay esteem, Bette Davis. Her appeal derives from her ambisexuality in combination with such timeless personas as the holy-terror diva, the stalwart solitaire, and the camp heroine. Bay Area filmmaker Mike Black’s new documentary, Queer Icon: The Cult of Bette Davis, considers this fascinating phenomenon through a mix of vintage film clips and fresh interviews with a wealth of mostly local figures, such as impresario Marc Huestis and historian Matthew Kennedy. Actor Matthew Martin, who channels the star of All About Eve and Dark Victory onstage, supplies his unique perspective on the special place she has in gay men’s hearts. More than simply a lovefest, Queer Icon questions whether gays still need a role model like the fabulous Miss D. The film will surely find an enthusiastic audience when it plays the queer capitals of New York and Los Angeles, but tonight’s world premiere is bound to be an only-in-San-Francisco event. It won’t be tedious, darling.

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BLOGS

The Circus of death

Line of fans and mourners waiting to view

the body of actor Rudolph Valentino in 1926

Fellow blogger and Rudolph Valentino expert, Donna Hill, has posted an interesting comparison between the lives and the deaths of silent film idol Rudolph Valentino and the recently deceased “King of Pop” Michael Jackson. Check out her blog, Strictly Vintage Hollywood.

“The recent and very sudden death of the pop icon Michael Jackson gave me pause to reflect on interesting parallels between two events 80 years apart: the uncanny similarity to the “Circus of Death” that accompanied the untimely passing of silent screen idol Rudolph Valentino.”

Click here to continue reading Donna’s article

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CELEBRITY NEWS

Michael Jackson’s will

Click here to read Michael Jackson’s Will

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OBITUARY

California-born Broadway star Harve Presnell dies

By Jana J. Monji -

LA Theater Reviews Examiner

July 1, 2009

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FUNERALS/MEMORIALS

Farrah Fawcett is remembered at downtown L.A. funeral

Los Angeles Times

June 30, 2009

The life of “Charlie’s Angels” star Farrah Fawcett was celebrated today at a private funeral in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

Her longtime companion, Ryan O’Neal, was among pallbearers who accompanied the casket, covered in yellow and orange flowers, into the Roman Catholic cathedral. 

Click here to continue reading

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INTERVIEWS

Arthur Carrington — child star

By Allan R. Ellenberger

Have you watched an old movie from the 1930s or 40s and one of the cast is an infant or little baby and wonder, “whatever happened to that kid?” Yes, no, maybe, well I have and finally there’s an answer to that question for one film that can be put to rest.

If you’ve ever seen the Bette Davis film, That Certain Woman (1937) co-starring Henry Fonda, Davis has a child who appears at two different ages over the course of the film. The elder child was played by Dwayne Day (his only film according to imdb), however Jackie Merrick as an infant was played by one year-old Arthur Carrington.

Now Arthur Carrington is probably not a name that film historians can rattle off a bio for, however in his own small way, he has contributed to film history.

Arthur was born to Hiram and Pearl Carrington on April 20, 1936 in Willow Brook (near Compton), California. He began appearing in films through his cousin Dawn Bender, who, the same year he appeared in That Certain Woman, was cast as the infant daughter of Kay Francis in the Warner Bros. film, Confession (1937). Bender later appeared in small roles in such films as Till We Meet Again (1944), A Song to Remember (1945) and The Actress (1953). Her last film was the classic, Teenagers From Outer Space (1959). However, she is probably best known for her appearances on radio, specifically for the role of Margaret Barbour on the radio drama, One Man’s Family.

Other family members also had bits in films. His sister Marilyn had a small role in the classic, The Grapes of Wrath (1940). Two other cousins, Bill and Carol Roush also appeared in films.

One year-old Arthur Carrington with Bette Davis in That Certain Woman (1937)

Carrington received the role as the infant Jackie Merrick in That Certain Woman when a casting call went out and he was placed in a line-up with several other babies. Director Edmund Goulding, walking back and forth, finally proclaimed him as the “most beautiful” of the bunch and a career was born.

Of course Carrington remembers nothing about the film or of Bette Davis. However, his mother told him that at one point Davis came to her and asked if she would consider letting her adopt Arthur. Mrs. Carrington, who politely turned her down, felt that Davis evidently fell in love with Arthur and thought the family was poor and could use the money. That wasn’t the case.

There were some films he appeared in that he remembers nothing about. There are memories of meeting the Lone Ranger and getting to hold his gun. At some point he must have appeared in a Randolph Scott film because his mother had some harsh words about the actor. “She said that Randolph Scott was the biggest idiot and never knew his lines,” Carrington recalled. He didn’t know why she felt so strongly.

A year following his stint in That Certain Woman, Carrington was set to appear in a Clark Gable film – presumably Test Pilot (1938) with Myrna Loy. Gable wanted to make sure that Arthur would feel comfortable and carried him around the set and showed him the planes. Little Art clearly embarrassed his mother at one point when the two year-old complained about Gables bad breath.

Regardless, things didn’t quite work out when Arthur came down with Scarlet Fever and the set had to be shut down until it was determined the illness did not spread. Carrington recovered but lost the part.

Talking with Carrington you can tell he is totally unimpressed with his film appearances as a child. When asked about it, he remembers very little until you jog his memory and then you may get a few nuggets. His mother Pearl, who died in 1998, had all the stories. “My mother was the one you should have talked to,” Carrington said. “She was very much a people person and enjoyed meeting all the actors that I worked with.”

He recalls that his mother was not a typical “stage mother” and never pushed him to do anything. This point was proven when he appeared in one of his last films, The Corn is Green (1945), once again with Bette Davis. As an eight year-old playing one of the many students, director Irving Rapper wanted to give Arthur a line.

So his mother took him aside and asked: “Do you think you’d like to say a line?”

“No, I don’t think I would,” Arthur replied. So that was the end of it. He said a ‘stage mother’ would have went berserk.

Summing up his career Carrington said: “Working as a child in films was a great opportunity if you had the talent. I just wasn’t that interested.”

As a teenager, he sometimes tried to impress his friends with his former career. “I once told a buddy that I was in The Corn is Green with Bette Davis,” Carrington recalled. “Evidently he didn’t believe me or wasn’t that impressed because he just rolled his eyes and said, ‘Yeah the corn sure is green.’”

Art Carrington and his wife Willeta and their dog Shotsie 

In his early 20s, Carrington met Willeta Atherton and married her on October 11, 1959. They had two children, Debra and Arthur Jr. and have two grandchildren. Today Carrington is a retired Long Beach postal worker who spends much of his time traveling across the country with his wife, visiting celebrity graves. I guess its hard to leave show business for good.

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